Series 8 - Latest News

A round-up of the latest news concerning the next series of Doctor Who:

SERIES SPLIT REAFFIRMED
Moffat confirmed last year the series eight will not be split, unlike the previous two, and that it will become the standard format of broadcast from now on. He said: "We’re not going to do splits, and the same format will repeat exactly the following year like that. So it will be the traditional form."

CAPALDI TO BE A 'DANGEROUS' DOCTOR
Moffat has explained why the next Doctor is set be be a more "dangerous and difficult one" compared to previous ones from the new series.

"There would be little point in making as radical a change as we’ve made unless you’re going to go quite different with the Doctor," he says, "The last two Doctors have been brilliant, and have been your ‘good boyfriend’ Doctors. But the Doctor isn’t always like that. There is the sort of Tom Baker, Christopher Eccleston end of the spectrum, where he is mad and dangerous and difficult."

"I think it was time for the show to flip around a bit. The new version of the show is quite old now. It’s very old… We need the kick-up-the-arse Doctor, in a way, to frighten you and make you think, it’s a different show again.”

FIRST SET OF WRITERS CONFIRMED
The writers for the next series of Doctor Who have been announced. Along with Moffat penning as lead writer is Mark Gatiss (The Unquiet Dead, Cold War, The Crimson Horror) Neil Cross (Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, The Power of Three), Gareth Roberts (The Shakespeare Code, The Lodger, Closing Time) and Phil Ford (The Waters of Mars, Dreamland), the latter two of which also wrote numerous stories for The Sarah Jane Adventures. While Moffat has written the series's opening story, Ford has penned the second story, which details of other episodes yet to be revealed.

RIVER SONG FOR SERIES 8?
Moffat has stated that his is uncertain for River Song to appear in the next series of Doctor Who alongside Capaldi's Doctor.

He said "It’s always down to whether there’s a good story. My immediate instinct was that story’s probably done. Not that we saw all of it, but I never thought we should see all of it. I’m slightly tempted, because I imagine Peter Capaldi and Alex Kingston would be absolutely hilarious together…"

He adds "She could certainly have met other Doctors. So there’s nothing stopping us… but is there anything new we can do? Or is the new thing that Peter Capaldi and Alex Kingston would be very sexy together? Is that enough? We’ve always had fun with the fact that they don’t look like a couple."

"Peter Capaldi and Alex Kingston would look like a couple - that’s the thing. Whereas I thought Matt and Alex were gorgeous together, but it looked slightly strange, because he was so much younger. Alex is just great fun to have on the show. It’s when you want to throw the Doctor a bit, because what River does so well is to make him a bit on the back foot and a bit flustered."

Series eight of Doctor Who has recently began filming and is set to premiere is Autumn on BBC One and BBC One HD.