Steven Moffat confirms series ten character names are ‘coincidence’
He’s the man behind nearly ten years of gripping storylines for famous BBC show, Doctor Who.
Steven Moffat, Doctor Who’s showrunner and executive producer since 2009, has been integral to show’s recent successes, with the latest series of the famous sci-fi show set to be his last.
The writer has now addressed a popular fan theory that claims the new series’ first episode played homage to the very first incarnation of the Doctor – William Hartnell.
Fans will have noticed that star Peter Capaldi’s current assistant is called Bill (played by Pearl Mackie), the shortened version of the name William.
In episode one she met a girl called Heather, and in real life Heather Hartnell was William’s wife.
In the new issue of Doctor Who magazine, Steven clears up the theory, claiming that the naming overlap was ‘not on purpose.’
He said: ‘I toyed with lying, and pretending I’d done something clever, but no-one ever believes that, so I admitted it was a coincidence.
‘But was it really?’, he teased. ‘Had those names lodged somehow, mysteriously emerging as I typed my way into a whole new era of Doctor Who? No, because it was just a coincidence.’
Moffat will bow out of the show with the 2017 Christmas special at the same time as Capaldi also makes his exit. He is handing over the reins to Broadchurch’s Chris Chibnall.