More Doctor Who For At Least 5 Years

Good news for fans of Doctor Who as the series will be on to at least 2020.

Speaking on the long-term plans for the series, Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat told the Radio Times, “I thought it would last ten years. I didn’t think it would last ten years with BBC Worldwide trying to get me in a room to talk about their plan for the next five years!”

The new Doctor Who series debuted back in 2005 and continues to be a major draw for the BBC, with last season averaging about 2.3 million viewers an episode.

“It’s going to do a minimum of 15 [years]. I mean, it could do 26! That’s not to say its easy. Ten years on, our ratings are pretty much the same,” Moffat told Doctor Who magazine. “Actually, internationally, bigger. No show does that! You’re meant to go down! Doctor Who just stays. It’s extraordinary!”

Moffat did say the BBC expected Doctor Who to lose ratings as the show progressed through the year as it’s “not easy finding new Doctors” and “there’s nothing easy about doing Doctor Who,” – however, just the opposite happened.

“Because it’s such an amazing format, because you can constantly revive it and re-imagine it, then as long as the people looking after it are passionate about it and the BBC is passionate about it, there’s absolutely no reason why it can’t do another 50 years,” Moffat said.

Series 9 of Doctor Who is expected to debut in the Fall and is currently filming in Cardiff, Wales. Game Of Thrones‘ Maisie Williams was recently announced as a special guest star.