(Photo: BBC)

In January, the BBC announced that Steven Moffat would depart as showrunner of Doctor Who following 2017’s Season 10 and that Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall would take over. Since then, there’s been some speculation concerning Peter Capaldi and if he would remain on as the Doctor after Moffat’s departure, or if he’d exit alongside his showrunner the same way David Tennant did when Russell T. Davies left in 2010.

Moffat tells Doctor Who Magazine that, as far as he knows, Capaldi is in for the long haul.

"I have no reason to suppose that I’m writing out a Doctor", Moffat says in the magazine’s latest issue. "Peter is loving the role, and long may he do so."

Moffat also says his exit from Doctor Who will be much less grand than Davies’ final episode, The End of Time, which saw the return of every companion and major supporting character from the previous four seasons.

"The departure of a showrunner doesn’t mean anything to the audience", Moffat explained. "Most of the audience doesn’t know that I exist, so they’d go blank if I attempted to wave goodbye to them. Oh, the embarrassment that would be. So I’m damned if I’m imposing my departure on the show. I just want to do a good one, before I hand over to Chris [Chibnall]."

Doctor Who is taking 2016 off the air, but is currently filming Season 10, which will see the official debut of Pearl Mackie as new companion Bill (though she made her introduction starring alongside Capaldi in a short released in April). The annual Doctor Who Christmas Special will also air in December.

Via Den of Geek