Stephen Moffat on the Next Series of Doctor Who

New Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat gave one of his first real interviews about the upcoming new series with Matt Smith as Doctor number Eleven at the annual Screenwriters' Festival in Cheltenham.

Some of the highlights from the interview are:

• About the TARDIS, Stephen Moffat confesses to a partiality to the Peter Cushing TARDIS
• He refutes that his stories are darker than Russel T. Davies's pointing out that ''Midnight'' was much darker than anything he has ever written on Doctor Who.
• SM says that Doctor Who is a show for kids and that this is where the 1996 movie erred.
• SM says he's writing the show for himself, and that writing Doctor Who is challenging because it's a mix of different genres.
• He will write a total of six episodes out of thirteen.
• About the casting of Matt Smith, SM again talked about the fact that they were actually looking for a man in his mid-30s to 40s and that Smith, the third to audition, was the perfect guy despite his 26 years.
• He describes Smith's Doctor as: "He’s the best one of course! In a new, different, strange way. Considering he’s so young he comes across as surprisingly ancient. He’s not going to be the youthful doctor that people might expect – he’s a proper grown-up. The Doctor has to be played not just by someone with great acting ability but someone who you can’t take your eyes off and you can’t take your eyes off Matt Smith when he walks into a room. His presence just screams ‘alpha male’ – but in a really odd way. If he walked through here now you would immediately get it. He walks like a drunk giraffe!"
• SM also iterates that the role of the companion is pivotal as the story happens to the companion and not the Doctor.
• His biggest challenge is always writing the next story and at the moment it was the finale.

Go to Digital Spy to read the full interview.