'Doctor Who' Is Set To Continue For At Least Five More Years, Says Steven Moffat

'Doctor Who' showrunner Steven Moffat has assured fans of the series’ future, saying he expects the show to last at least five more years. Moffat was speaking to Doctor Who magazine as the series celebrates 10 years since its 2005 revival on the BBC.

Speaking about the show’s success Moffat said, “I thought it would last ten years. I didn’t think it would last ten years with BBC Worldwide trying to get me in a room to talk about their plan for the next five years!”

“It’s going to do a minimum of 15. I mean, it could do 26!” the showrunner continued. However Moffatt was quick to point out that keeping the long running showing going wasn’t the easiest job.

More: Steven Moffat: 'Doctor Who' Movie & 'Sherlock' Crossover Are Not On The Cards

“That’s not to say its easy," he continued . "It’s not easy to find new people. It’s not easy to find new Doctors. That could be the danger – that you start to think that it’s easy. There’s nothing easy about doing 'Doctor Who'.”

But the show is one of the few who has managed to keep consistently high ratings over a decade. “Ten years on, our ratings are pretty much the same. Actually, internationally, bigger. No show does that! You’re meant to go down! Doctor Who just stays. It’s extraordinary!” Moffatt added.

“When I first took it over, the BBC said to me, ‘We’ve done all our calculations. The ratings will now fall. Expect to lose quite a bit. We don’t mind that. We’re going to keep it going. So long as it’s a good show we won’t mind if the ratings stop being quite as amazing as they were. That’s absolutely fine.’ And they didn’t. They pretty much stayed the same.”

More: New 'Doctor Who' Game Will Teach 6-12 Year Olds Computer Coding

But while fans might be overjoyed with Moffat’s five year estimate Ben Stephenson, the head of BBC drama has even bigger plans in mind. “Because it’s such an amazing format, because you can constantly revive it and re-imagine it, then as long as the people looking after it are passionate about it and the BBC is passionate about it, there’s absolutely no reason why it can’t do another 50 years,” Stephenson said.

So after 10 years since the BBC brought it back to life, it looks like 'Doctor Who' is going to keep on regenerating for the foreseeable future. The show's ninth series, which features Peter Capaldi as the Doctor, is set to air on the BBC beginning this autumn.