Moffat stepping down from Doctor Who, Christmas special only for 2016

Doctor Who is getting a new showrunner, the show's official Twitter account has confirmed. Steven Moffat, who took over as head writer and executive producer in 2010, will step down after season 10 finishes. He will be replaced by Chris Chibnall, a current writer on the series.

Chibnall wrote episodes such as "The Hungry Earth," "Cold Blood," and "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship," all of which prominently featured dinosaurs … or dinosaur-like creatures. I would say that if you were to define Moffat by his creation, the Weeping Angels, you could similarly define Chibnall by his stories which brought back classic Who species, the Silurians. Those stories, by the way, eventually led to the creation of Vastra, a lesbian dinosaur-person from the center of the Earth. Lest you think he's a one-trick pony, Chibnall also created Broadchurch, a crime drama centered on the death of a young child. So, there's some range there.

Unfortunately for hungry Who fans, this shakeup means that only a Christmas special will air in 2016. Season 10, starring Peter Capaldi as The Doctor, will air in 2017, and Chibnall will begin his tenure in 2018.

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