Is Steven Moffat about to hand the keys to the TARDIS to a brand-new Doctor Who showrunner for season nine?

(Before we go on, please remember to take this with a grain of salt.)

Right, so, according to Doctor Who Worldwide, current Doctor Who showrunner extraordinaire Steven Moffat could be on his way out of the beloved BBC sci-fi series, to be replaced by ... Anthony Horowitz, author of the Alex Rider book series, the Diamond Brothers series, the Power of Five series, the Sherlock Holmes novel The House of Silk and the second upcoming Tintin flick.

Horowitz has also written for a string of TV drama series that includes Robin of Sherwood, Poirot, Midsomer Murders, Foyle’s War, Collision and Injustice. He also created Crime Traveller.

Philip Morris — a "well-connected" missing episode hunter (he returned “The Enemy of the World” and “The Web of Fear” to the BBC archive back in 2013), has apparently stated publicly that Horowitz is the one who is talked about to be THE ONE to follow in the glorious but difficult footsteps of Russel T Davies and Steven Moffat, and pull showrunner duties on Doctor Who. Doctor Who Worldwide also seems to think that if this rumor comes from Morris, then it should be taken seriously.

However, Anthony Horowitz has taken to Twitter to say that it was unlikely he’d be the next Who showrunner.

Well, that's all fine and dandy, but you guys know the expression: "The lady Anthony Horowitz doth protest too much, methinks."

Still, even if Horowitz is saying NO right now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s not a shred of truth to this story. We've got to remember that everybody on Doctor Who lies in order to try and hide info no one wants out early.

Rumors have been swirling about for some time now that season eight could be Moffat’s last, since he’s increasingly in demand for his services here in the good ol' U.S. of A following Sherlock’s immense and well-deserved success at the Emmys. Yet back in the July edition of Doctor Who Magazine, Moffat hinted that he was planning the finale for season nine of the show.

Other (MUCH MORE LIKELY than Horowitz) names that have been linked to the role of future Doctor Who showrunner include Mark Gatiss, Neil Cross, Toby Whithouse and Chris Chibnall.

Anthony Horowitz is currently hard at work on the screenplay for the Adventures of Tintin sequel for Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson. The film is set to be released in 2015. If you guys will recall, it was Steven Moffat who penned the first entry in the series, before quitting the job in order to become the new Who showrunner.

What do you guys think? Do you believe there's any truth to this rumor?

(via Doctor Who Worldwide)