His episodes for the recent series may have divided fan opinion, but Neil Cross is to return to DOCTOR WHO and pen at least one episode for Peter Capaldi’s first series as the Twelfth Doctor.

Speaking to stuff.co.nz, Cross explained:

“I am going back. I have got story ideas tucked away, but if I told you about them I would have to kill you. There’s a whole bunch of stuff I want to do. Steven is clearly very busy with the 50th anniversary special and Christmas special, but I have to find out from Steven what his intentions for the Doctor are and what sort of stories he wants me to write. I am really excited about writing for Peter Capaldi, and equally sad not to have the opportunity to write for Matt Smith again. I think Matt Smith has been the most outstanding Doctor to date.”

Cross, who made his name as the man behind LUTHER and much of SPOOKS, wrote the sci-fi bonanza THE RINGS OF AKHATEN and the spooky HIDE for Matt Smith’s 2013 series.

Living in Wellington, he’s keen on writing a New Zealand set episode and has backed a campaign to have one filmed there. Whether known Who fan Peter Jackson would be up for directing is not confirmed; it would be fascinating to see his take on the format, as long as the BBC were able to rein him in with regard to the 45 minute screen time. Unlike Steven Moffat, Jackson’s not in to the whole brevity thing.

Current Doctor Smith is set to pack away his bow tie this Christmas, with Capaldi boarding the TARDIS in time for series eight in 2014.

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