As the outgoing showrunner of ‘Doctor Who,’ Steven Moffat is heading into a well-deserved break. With the impending release of his last episode – the Christmas special coming in just a few short weeks where current Doctor Peter Capaldi will regenerate into the Thirteenth Doctor, Jodie Whittaker – Moffat finds himself in a place where he hasn’t been in well over a decade: not in charge of the future of the franchise.
In a recent interview, Moffat spoke at length about his experience on the show; of particular note were a few keen bits. First, he spoke about his thoughts and feelings as the transition to handing off duties to new showrunner Chris Chibnall began:
“I wondered what I’d be like in the final days as I fell from grace into the archives – but I’m just really quite enjoying it. I am enjoying talking to the new lot. I was here talking to them … they are all so excited and kind of nervous and that’s lovely. Predictably I’m quite liking that, for the first time in about ten years, I don’t have a deadline.”
He also spoke about what he’d like to do differently during his run if he had it to do all over again:
“I’d be less visible [in the public eye] probably. I haven’t really enjoyed that very much. I mean I’m saying that at a press round table, it’s too bloody late now! I never really thought about it [in the beginning], I just assumed I had to do what I was told, as far as all the publicity was concerned.”
“I’d always be trying to convince Matt Smith or Karen Gillan back in the day to turn up somewhere or to do some interview. If I don’t do it and say ‘Well you go ahead and do it’ then it doesn’t look very good. But being visible as a writer is not… we are not designed by nature to be seen by people, let’s be honest. We should be concealed as far as possible.”
Lastly, Moffat shared a bit of insight about his “handoff” work with Chibnall:
“I told him everything we were doing and talked him through it. I talked him through the whole finale a bit before I wrote it just to make sure I wasn’t bumping against anything he was about to do. Which I wasn’t. The whole year he’s been getting every draft of every script that’s been going on so he can see what really happens. But he’s still doing the job so thank god.”
Fans don’t have much longer to wait to see Moffat’s final episode, as it will premiere in just a few short weeks!
The ‘Doctor Who’ Christmas Special, “Twice Upon a Time,” airs on December 25, 2017, on BBC America.