Doctor Who Renewed for Season 8

It's not exactly a surprise, but the BBC has officially confirmed that its hit series Doctor Who will continue for an eighth season next year, thereby entering its second half-century.

The focus for everyone is, of course, on the Nov. 23 fiftieth anniversary, which will boast a special 3D anniversary episode featuring Matt Smith, David Tennant, John Hurt, Billie Piper, Jemma Redgrave, Joanna Page... and the Zygons (of all things--though they'll look great in 3D), surrounded by the movie about Who's origins, the 2013 Christmas special, vats of hoopla from the BBC and sundry people connected with the series past and present, and surprises yet to come, or so they say. 

But showrunner and head writer Steven Moffat "is already plotting a brand new run of adventures for the Doctor," the network announced on their blog. As there was some tenuous (and very baseless) fan debate about whether Moffat would--or should--be back following the anniversary festivities, this in itself is news. But Moffat, like his predecessor Russell T. Davies famous for being a dyed-in-the-wool Who fan for decades before joining the series, seems to be having the time of his life in a job where he gets to write the silliest plots he can think up and make people take them seriously. He may have to have his hands pried off the franchise.

When asked by BuzzFeed whether season 8 was already mapped out, Moffat said, "Yes, I'm afraid we have to work quite a long way in advance. The next season is plotted out. I always end up complaining about it, but it's quite fun. I'm just making up nonsensical adventures, what's wrong with that?"

What about Matt Smith? Despite an increasingly busy schedule--he's currently wedging a movie called (appropriately) How to Catch a Monster for writer-director Ryan Gosling into his Who commitments--Smith has confirmed to DigitalSpy that he'll be back for season 8. "We come back and shoot the Christmas special over the summer," he explained, "then we go on to the next series, which will either start filming at the end of this year or at the start of 2014."

Idle speculation has turned to the future status of the character played by John Hurt, who figures both in the resolution of season 7.5 and the anniversary special; but as usual you won't get a straight answer out of anyone at the Doctor Who office. But as River Song has reminded us on more than one occasion, who needs spoilers anyway? Just knowing that Who will resume in 2014 is contentment itself.