Steven Moffat has revealed how the upcoming Doctor Who Christmas special almost didn’t happen, due to the changing hands between writers.

The upcoming special titled Twice Upon A Time is set to be Peter Capaldi’s last outing as the Doctor, with writer Steven Moffat also bowing out from the show and being replaced by Broadchurch’s Chris Chibnall.

Speaking to Digital Spy however, Moffat revealed how this year’s festive episode almost didn’t materialise because Chibnall wanted to start series 11 in January rather than take the reins at Christmas.

‘There was one big glitch, which was Christmas,’ Moffat said. ‘I was going to leave at the end of series 10 – I had my finale planned and what I wanted to do with it. I had a good notion of that.

‘Then I learned at a drinks event that Chris didn’t want to start with a Christmas, so at that point they were going to skip Christmas. There’d be no Christmas special and we would’ve lost that slot.’

He was worried missing the festive special this year would result in Doctor Who losing the annual Christmas slot altogether, and revealed how it took Capaldi some convincing to remain on board for a few more months.

‘Doctor Who would’ve lost that slot if we hadn’t [done a special] because Christmas Day is so rammed,’ Moffat added.

‘So I said, probably four glasses of red wine in, “I’ll do Christmas!” and then had to persuade Peter [Capaldi] that’s how we were leaving.

‘Then I had to work out how you could get mortally injured in one episode and spend an hour regenerating on Christmas Day, which I hopefully have done!’

Capaldi has also recently teased how his regeneration will be ‘emotional’ when he appears alongside David Bradley’s First Doctor.

If you’re eagerly anticipating Jodie Whittaker’s turn as the Doctor, you may have a long wait, with Steven Moffat recently teasing a release date of autumn 2018.