"Doctor Who Definitely Going to Last Five More Years," Showrunner Confirms

Peter Capaldi is now well into his second season as Doctor Who, and it looks as though he'll be there for some time. Showrunner Stephen Moffat has confirmed that Capaldi will be back next season, and despite falling ratings, the future of the the long-running sci-fi adventure is secure.

In an interview with Variety, Moffat said that Capaldi, who replaced Matt Smith to become the twelfth Doctor in 2014, was "going nowhere." In terms of the future of the show, Capaldi said: "It is definitely going to last five more years, I've seen the business plan. And I think we can go past that. It's television's own legend. It will just keep going.

"Doctor Who is the all-time perfectly evolved television show. It's a television predator designed to survive any environment because you can replace absolutely everybody. Most shows you can't do that with. Most shows have a built-in mortality.

"But here is a show that sheds us all like scales; a show that can make you feel everything except indispensable. It will carry on forever, because you can replace every part of it."

"It's a joyful show," he continues. "Tokenly, it's got a touch of genocide now and then, and the screaming death of innocence. But through it all it has an optimistic, joyous figure. A nice man, a nice silly man in his phone box flying around and doing good. That's what keeps us all safe. Who doesn't want to believe that?"

Moffat's words will come as comfort to fans. UK ratings for this current run of Doctor Who--the ninth since it rebooted in 2005--have seen a considerable drop from previous seasons. However, the show remains popular overseas, particularly in the US, where its recent season premiere scored the highest ratings to date.

In other Who-related news, Den of Geek have reported that K9, the Doctor's robotic dog companion from older seasons of the show, is to receive the big screen treatment.

A film called K9: Timequake has been scheduled for a 2017 release. The character last appeared in Doctor Who in 1989, and although he did feature in the more recent spin-off show The Sarah Jane Adventures, it isn't thought that K9 would link to the current version of Doctor Who.