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Warning: spoilers ahead for Doctor Who's "Joy to the World"

Steven Moffat couldn't resist a parting joke at his own expense in Doctor Who's 2024 Christmas special. As the writer responsible for 1999 Comic Relief skit The Curse of Fatal Death, Moffat's long-running association with Doctor Who began before the British sci-fi franchise even embarked upon its modern era. Later contributing classic episodes such as "The Girl in the Fireplace" and "Blink" during Russell T Davies' stint as Doctor Who showrunner, Moffat eventually became Rtd's successor in 2010 - a position he held until Peter Capaldi's Doctor Who regeneration in 2017.

Finding it impossible to stay away for too long, Steven Moffat contributed "Boom" to Doctor Who season 14, and also penned 2024's Christmas special, "Joy to the World." After that, however, Moffat claims he has no plans to continue his involvement in Doctor Who season 15 and beyond, teasing that "Joy...

Doctor Who celebrated major milestones with subversive episodes, such as the 50th anniversary episode "The Day of the Doctor." "Scream of the Shalka," a canceled animated adventure, introduced Richard E. Grant as the Ninth Doctor in a unique storyline. While the Shalka Doctor was initially a mystery in the show's canon, recent episodes have provided explanations for his existence.

Doctor Who has hit some major milestones in recent years, with its 60th-anniversary episode having marked the return of David Tennant as The Fourteenth Doctor, not to mention Catherine Tate's return as fan-favorite companion Donna Noble. Looking back, Doctor Who has a long tradition of celebrating its major milestones with episodes made to subvert expectations and enthrall fans. To that point, the 50th Anniversary saw the release of "The Day of the Doctor," a feature-length epic with three Doctors facing the consequences of the Time War. But what of the 40th Anniversary?...

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Doctor Who season 14, episode 6, "Rogue."

Rtd's inclusion of a Shalka Doctor cameo in Doctor Who acts as an olive branch while also adding a twist to the show's canon. Richard E. Grant voiced an alternate Ninth Doctor, facing criticism from Rtd, which changes with a live-action return. The door is now open for Grant to become a live-action Doctor, creating a compelling moment in Doctor Who history.

Doctor Who's reintroduction of a formerly non-canon Doctor serves as a huge redemption for the actor who played him and acts as an apology from the returning showrunner. Doctor Who season 14, episode 6, "Rogue," includes a brief cameo from what is essentially just the face of Richard E. Grant. In 2003, Grant voiced an alternate Ninth Doctor who was originally intended to be part of the main canon, but the animated series ultimately became a standalone project.

Grant's version of the Time Lord,...

Warning: contains spoilers for Doctor Who episode “Rogue”.

Just three episodes ago in “Boom”, the Doctor was trapped where he stood while a countdown ticked off the seconds until his death. In “Rogue”, he found himself in the same situation, but this time with the addition of a Kylie soundtrack and some excellent flirting.

Fifteen got out of the “Boom” trap by deactivating a landmine. He got out of the “Rogue” trap by properly introducing himself, both to Jonathan Groff’s bounty hunter, and to any new viewers late to this party. Rogue had mistaken the Doctor for the shape-shifting alien Chuldur he was on 19th century Earth to track down, and was seconds away from pressing the ‘incinerate’ button when the Doctor activated Rogue’s ship scanner and explained:

“I’m not a Chuldur. I’m something much older and far more powerful. I’m a Lord of Time...

Warning: spoilers ahead for Doctor Who season 14, episode 6, "Rogue."

Doctor Who season 14 introduces a mysterious new Doctor seen among holograms of past regenerations. The new Doctor, resembling Richard E. Grant, may be the Shalka Doctor. The Fifteenth Doctor's lack of reaction to the mysterious hologram raises questions about their awareness of this new regeneration.

Doctor Who lives up to its title as season 14 sneakily introduces a mystery face into the Doctor's regeneration line, but this newcomer may actually be a ghost from the franchise's past. Doctor Who periodically likes to remind audiences of old regenerations, whether via the scribbled drawings of John Smith in "Human Nature," or when the Atraxi examined its records on Earth before promptly running away in "The Eleventh Hour." The trope resurfaces in Doctor Who season 14, episode 6, "Rogue," as Rogue's ship scans the Doctor and conjures up a series of holograms depicting past regenerations.

Rogue's...

Former showrunner Steven Moffat has revealed that he has no plans to return to Doctor Who, despite speculation and social media posts. He believes the show is fine without him. Moffat's take on the Time Lord redefined the character as a legendary figure who could effortlessly chase away monsters and help anyone feel at ease. He also gave the Doctor a chance to heal from his trauma. While Moffat's era faced criticism, his contributions to Doctor Who, such as "Heaven Sent," "Blink," and "The Curse of Fatal Death," have had a lasting impact on the fandom.

Former Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat reveals his honest answer to the chances of him returning to the series. Moffat began his involvement in the franchise between the classic series' conclusion and its revival in 2005, and would join the production of Christopher Eccleston's season as a writer. Once showrunner Russell T Davies exited,...

Key takeaways: Jodie Whittaker was not the first female to play the Doctor in Doctor Who; Joanna Lumley and Arabella Weir previously portrayed the character in unofficial productions. The Doctor is able to regenerate, allowing for different actors to take on the role, including Ncuti Gatwa, who will be the first Black Doctor. While Lumley and Weir's portrayals were not canon, Whittaker still made history as the first official female Doctor in a three-series run.

While it is true that Jodie Whittaker was the first official female lead of Doctor Who, two other women have previously portrayed the Doctor in officially licensed productions of the BBC series. When Whittaker was announced as the 13th incarnation of the Doctor in 2017, much fanfare was made about how no woman had assumed this role before, but it turns out this was not the case. Over the course of the series’ 60-year history, there...

One previous showrunner is already returning to Doctor Who in the form of Russell T Davies, but fans think another might be joining him. Steven Moffat, who took over from Davies as Doctor Who's showrunner in 2010 and remained in the role until 2017, recently posted an image of himself outside a police box on Instagram. This quickly sparked rumors of Moffat's Doctor Who return. While Moffat's potential future with the sci-fi series is not yet clear, he could still be an excellent addition to the series' writing team under Davies.

Before he was a showrunner on Doctor Who, Steven Moffat first worked on the series as a writer under Russell T Davies, during the latter's original run on the series. While Moffat's time as showrunner produced some fan-favorite episodes and featured two beloved incarnations of the Doctor -- Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor and Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor -- most...

Sylvester McCoy reflects on Doctor Who's original cancellation and credits the show's fans for ensuring its survival and eventual revival. Despite its cancellation, Doctor Who continued through audio dramas and novels, allowing fans to contribute to the show's universe. Fans-turned-creatives like Russell T. Davies and Steven Moffat played a crucial role in the successful revival of Doctor Who, ensuring its continued success for years to come.

Sylvester McCoy looks back on Doctor Who's original cancelation and eventual return, as the Seventh Doctor actor states that "Doctor Who couldn’t die because the fans wouldn’t let it". The actor was the final person to play the leading Time Lord during the BBC sci-fi series' original run, with McCoy's final 1989 adventure "Survival" marking the conclusion of the show's classic era in 1989. Despite the series' cancellation, McCoy would receive the opportunity to hand over the role to Paul McGann...

Mark Harrison Dec 2, 2016

How each Doctor responds to the Daleks for the first time reveals something about them...

Pearl Mackie was announced as the new companion for Doctor Who Series 10 back in April, with a specially filmed clip broadcast during Match Of The Day's Fa Cup semi-final. Aside from befuddling Gary Lineker, the purpose of a trailer like this, as opposed to a press release or a lavish announcement programme, is to show a character in action, and there was really no better way to define the character of Bill Potts than to show how she acted in the face of the Daleks.

See related The Man In The High Castle season 2: new trailer

The Daleks are almost as old as the show itself and different Doctors respond to them in different ways. In some eras, Dalek stories have been an early fixture of a new Doctor’s run,...

Christian Cawley is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Cast your mind back to 1999. There was no new Doctor Who on TV, save four sketches: three by Mark Gatiss as part of a Doctor Who night on BBC2 and a fourth by Steven Moffat for Comic Relief, starring Rowan Atkinson, Jonathan Pryce, Hugh Grant, Richard E Grant, Jim Broadbent, Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha....

The post How The Curse of Fatal Death Pre-Empted the Moffat Era of Doctor Who appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

From ampersands to The Apprentice, from dinner ladies to Dirty Den, here's a selection of nerdy in-jokes from Doctor Who series 2...

Last month we took a look at Doctor Who Series One as it celebrated its 10th Anniversary. Specifically, we delved deep into the murky world of in-jokes and sweet nerdy references.

Let’s take another trip back in time and have a look at the more notable and interesting references and in-jokes from Doctor Who Series Two, starring David Tennant and Billie Piper, where the credit of “Doctor Who” had been changed back to “The Doctor”. Pfft, party poopers.

New Earth

Old-skool fans would have been forgiven for being excited at the prospect, given that “New Earth” was a planet mentioned in the 1974 classic Invasion Of The Dinosaurs (though it didn’t actually exist in that story, it was a fake world). But all fans could get excited at...

Filed under: Recaps

(S05E10) Uber-writer Richard Curtis penned tonight's episode. The story is that he's a good friend of 'Doctor Who' executive producer Steven Moffat and produced the 'Doctor Who' spoof 'The Curse of Fatal Death' which Moffat wrote. Curtis' children wanted him involved with the show. If only the end result proved as inspired as 'Four Weddings and a Funeral.' Instead, it could very well be the low point of an otherwise very good season.

It wasn't a bad episode, perse. Some of the writing was quite good and Tony Curran was excellent as the impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh. However, the episode seemed to concentrate more on being a Van Gogh love-fest rather than an episode of 'Doctor Who.'

 

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Proving that everybody knows everybody in the British entertainment system, Richard Curtis, well known for writing Blackadder, Mr. Bean, Notting Hill, Love Actually, and the Bridget Jones screenplays, will be writing an episode of Doctor Who for the upcoming season, according to the BBC.

Considering Curtis's long association with Rowan Atkinson, we feel we must show you Doctor Who: The Curse Of Fatal Death, starring Atkinson as the Doctor. Curtis didn't write this, it was written by... new showrunner Steven Moffat. Hmmm...