Image: Gage Skidmore/Flickr (Creative Commons)
Steven Moffatt, the showrunner for Doctor Who since 2010, has announced that he will be stepping down after six years with the show. The news was first reported by the Radio Times and confirmed by the BBC via Twitter.
Steven Moffat will step down as Head Writer & Exec Producer after S10… Chris Chibnall to take over! pic.twitter.com/iMhNoEAegy
— Doctor Who Official (@bbcdoctorwho) January 22, 2016
His successor will be Chris Chibnall, the man behind Broadchurch starring David Tennant and Olivia Colman. Chibnall has also written in the past for Doctor Who and Torchwood, where he was the lead writer for the first two series.
Steven Moffat’s last series, however, won’t air until 2017. The BBC has decided to air the tenth series in spring 2017, with Chibnall’s first series as showrunner airing in 2018.
According to Charlotte Moore, the controller of BBC One (and soon, all of the BBC channels and iPlayer), they decided to move it to next year because of the Olympics and the UEFA European Championships – both will air on the BBC.
“I have decided to schedule Steven’s big finale series in Spring 2017 to bring the nation together for what will be a huge event on the channel,” Moore told the Radio Times. “2016 is spoilt with national moments including the Euros and Olympics and I want to hold something big back for 2017 – I promise it will be worth the wait!”
The BBC, however, has also said that there will be a Doctor Who episode airing in 2016 – the annual Christmas special.