Doctor Who boss Steven Moffat steps down after his final mini-episode

Steven Moffat
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Stephen has officially left the series...

Doctor Who boss Steven Moffat has stepped down from the sci-fi series following his last episode.

Stephen has announced his departure before returning again, but has confirmed this is his final ever Doctor Who episode.

He confirmed the news via his official Instagram account, telling fans he'd no longer be writing for the series.

Alongside a sneak peak of his episode The Best of Days, which revealed Matt Lucas and Pearl Mackie starred, he reflected on his Doctor Who journey.

Steven wrote, "Really pleased - mostly because of what everybody else did. Now. Permit me the self-indulgence.

A photo posted by on

"I planned to leave with The Husbands Of River Song. Then it was The Doctor Falls. And then it was Twice Upon A Time. And then I novelised Day Of The Doctor and that was going to be the very end.

He concluded by saying, "And then Chris got me to write “Terror Of The Umpty Ums” and Emily got me writing online minisodes. But this - THIS - finally ... is ... IT! Bang! Kerpow! I’m out of here! So with that in mind can I just say ... the title is quite perfect."

Steven Moffat has been writing for Doctor Who since 2009, and has made the decision to officially leave the sci-fi series.

He's written for Doctors such as Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi.

Steven Moffat

Steven Moffat and Peter Capaldi (Credit: Getty)

Peter Capaldi even revealed that he'd done uncredited writing work for his run on the series.

Speaking at a panel at Fan Expo Boston 2019, he said, "Steven will not take credit for the incredible jobs he did on some other writers’ things, and some of the incredible invention that he brought some scripts that were in trouble."

He's also known for his work on BBC's Sherlock, the 2020 adaptation of Dracula, and 2007's Jekyll.

Who knows what he'll get up to next?

Lucy Buglass
Senior Staff Writer

Lucy joined the WhatToWatch.com team in 2021, where she writes series guides for must-watch programmes, reviews and the latest TV news. Originally from Northumberland, she graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Film Studies and moved to London to begin a career writing about entertainment.


She is a Rotten Tomatoes approved film critic and has a huge passion for cinema. She especially loves horror, thriller and anything crime-related. Her favourite TV programmes include Inside No 9, American Horror Story, Stranger Things and Black Mirror but she is also partial to a quiz show or a bit of Say Yes to the Dress