Most fans are aware that the upcoming Twelfth Doctor, Peter Capaldi, has already appeared in the Doctor Who universe. In fact, he’s appeared twice as different characters—once in ancient Pompeii, where his family turns out okay despite overwhelming disaster, and then on modern Earth in Torchwood: Children of Earth, where his family very much does not turn out okay.

Turns out, former showrunner Russell T. Davies had a plan in mind for that. And Steven Moffat is only too happy to use it….

In a video interview with Nerd3, Moffat mentioned that Davies had always had a reason behind Capaldi’s double-time in the Whoniverse. When the man was cast as the Twelfth Doctor, Davies called up Moffat to tell him how happy he was with the choice and according to the Moff:

“I said, ‘Okay, what was your theory and does it still work?” and he said, ‘Yes it does. Here it is…’”

But the best part is that Moffat is actually planning on using Davies’ idea. His plan for Capaldi’s Doctor is to “play that one out over time. It’s actually quite neat.”

This is particularly interesting considering the history of the show: The Sixth Doctor, Colin Baker, also appeared on Who quite visibly prior to his introduction as the Doctor (as another Gallifreyan, no less), but it was never addressed in the show’s canon. In the new series, previous appearances by the actresses portraying Martha Jones and Gwen Cooper were also tied together, although not always in the happiest way. This time around, it looks like we’ll get to have some real fun with it. More intriguing is getting another little snippet of Davies’ Who universe so many years after his departure as showrunner. We’re pretty darned excited for this one.