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Russell T. Davies steps down at the end of 2009.

The official BBC website has finally confirmed the long-running rumor that BAFTA- and Hugo-award winning writer Steven Moffat will be taking over as head writer/executive producer/showrunner for the fifth series of Doctor Who, which will air in 2010. This is very, very, very good news. Moffat is not only the new series’ best writer, but has a wide range of experience in television, including creating (and writing every episode of) the comedy series Coupling and writing the superb miniseries Jekyll. His first two stories for Doctor Who (“The Empty Child”/”The Doctor Dances” and “Girl in the Fireplace”) both won Hugo awards, and his third, “Blink,” is currently a Hugo nominee (winners will be announced in August). With Moffat at the helm, I think we can expect a more sophisticated and more imaginative Who. I will be very surprised if there isn’t a much greater variety in the types of the stories the show presents, with fewer episodes set on Earth, plus a more solid scientific basis and attention to logic and suspense, elements which have been hallmarks of Moffat’s scripts thus far. Nobody’s perfect, but Steven Moffat is the best hope for the future of NuWho. Bye bye, Russell.

From the official press release:
“My entire career has been a Secret Plan to get this job,” said Steven Moffat. “I applied before but I got knocked back cos the BBC wanted someone else. Also I was seven. Anyway, I’m glad the BBC has finally seen the light, and it’s a huge honour to be following Russell into the best - and the toughest - job in television. I say ‘toughest’ cos Russell’s at my window right now, pointing and laughing.”

As had previously been announced, Doctor Who will be on hiatus for the year 2009 (due to David Tennant appearing in a London production of Hamlet), with several specials airing sporadically, rather than a full series. Interestingly, the press release alludes to four specials in 2009, rather than the three that had been previously announced. Russell T. Davies will remain the exec producer for these specials, and then step down as the new team prepares for the fifth series in 2010. Speculation continues to broil as to whether Tennant will regenerate at the end of the final special, but no announcement has been made as of yet.

Full story on Moffat’s appointment can be read here.

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