Traditionally DOCTOR WHO has debuted in the Spring of each year since its return in 2005, but in an announcement that will surprise nobody familiar with all the recent uncertainty surrounding 2012’s Who output, that will not be the case for season 7.

Talking with the good folks at Doctor Who Magazine, showrunner Steven Moffat has revealed that we won’t be seeing our favourite Time Lord return until the autumn. Here’s what he had to say regarding the decision:

“Doctor Who in the summer? All that running down tunnels, with torches, and the sunlight streaming through your windows and bleaching out the screen? All those barbecues and children playing outside, while on the telly there are green monsters seething in their CGI-enhanced lairs? It’s just not right is it? Be honest.

For me, as a kid, when the afternoon got darker and there was a thrill of cold in the air, I knew that even though summer was over, the TARDIS was coming back! So yes, that’s part of the plan, that’s part of the reason for this little delay. But it’s not the whole story.”

It’s a fair point, but what of the mysterious ‘not the whole story’ part? It’s going to be very interesting to find out what the BBC has up its sleeve.

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