Nobody could accuse Doctor Who of being small, or not having visions of expanding it’s viewership and scope through such endeavours as the World Tour and sales to countries as far away as India, yet current producer Steven Moffat expected the show to decline during his run at the helm, telling the Radio Times that he believed he would preside over the “decent decline” of the series:

“I’ll be honest, I thought when I took it over, and it was more or less said to me. I took over about half-way through the ten years, I thought I was there to preside over the gentle, respectable and decent decline, because that’s what happens to shows that run for a long while.”

Moffat went on to say a natural decline in a show’s popularity and interest is just reality:

“They don’t plunge off a cliff, but they go gently down. Every big show gets slightly less big; that’s a reality.”

Speaking of plunging off a cliff…

No… not that!

Steven Moffat promised fans an epic cliffhanger to episode 11 of the forthcoming Series 9, and it now appears the show runner is in a panic over the episode. Speaking at the BAFTA tenth anniversary event in New York, Moffat says the episode is a “ludicrous challenge”:

“When episode 11 comes up in the next series of Doctor Who, you’ll see just how ludicrous a challenge I’ve set myself. Dear god! I’m in a state of panic about it. Even now, sitting here I am thinking, when I get back tonight could I just try another way of doing it? Remaining calm and knowing that even though the director is joining next week you’re going to have to wait until it’s right.”

But not too long! Doctor Who Series 9 will broadcast in the autumn/fall of this year.