Steven Moffat wants to play next Doctor Who

20 June 2017

Steven Moffat thinks he should play the next Doctor Who.

Steven Moffat

The 55-year-old writer is set to walk away from his executive producing role on the sci-fi show - a position he's held since 2008 - later this year but he has admitted it would be "awesome" if he was chosen to take over from Peter Capaldi as the time-traveller.

Speaking to the Radio Times magazine, he said: "I think it should be me. That would be awesome. It's about time they let a writer play the lead. I mean, I've been making up everything he says for years, so I can totally do it."

Moffat - who is also showrunner, writer and executive producer of 'Sherlock' - announced last year that he was planning to step down from his position at the end of 2017 and will hand over the reins to 'Broadchurch' mastermind Chris Chibnall.

But his decision to leave wasn't an easy one and he spent "two years" deliberating it.

He added: "I seem to have been reminiscing my way out of the door for about two years. It's the longest departure in human history.

"I never intended to do it for ever and the workload is staggering. I'm just at the end of my toughest ever year in which I'll have done - in a bout a year - three 'Sherlocks' and 14 'Doctor Whos'. That's been shattering. 'Doctor Who' has to move on and be different and shed me like a scale of a mighty dragon as it shambles off to another battle."

Although fans of the show are devastated to see him go, Moffat is adamant he won't make the last series about his departure and wants to make sure Peter - who announced he was stepping down as the titular character a few months later after holding the role for four years - is given a "grand" finale.

He explained "I'll strike a balance between not revealing spoilers and trying t oget people to watch. I'm honour-bound as a writer not to give a damn about my departure. Three's no story about me leaving, the kids don't know I exist ... It's about giving Peter a grand, several-stage finale and trying to refresh the story that Doctor Who gets involved in with a tremendous crisis, during which he gets in some way mortally injured and has to turn into another actor."