Comfortably one of the most popular guest stars over the past decade of Doctor Who has been Carey Mulligan. She appeared in 2008’s Blink, regarded as one of the very best episodes of modern Who, from the pen of Steven Moffat. And when it came time to cast a new companion for the Doctor, fans wanted to see Mulligan’s character, Sally Sparrow, return to the show.

This, when it was revealed that Freema Agyeman wouldn’t be returning for Doctor Who series four, speculation was rife that Carey Mulligan would be an option.

As it happened, Russell T Davies hired Catherine Tate to reprise the role of Donna instead. But in a new interview in the Radio Times, Steven Moffat has admitted that Mulligan – now a major presence in movies, of course – was in line for a return role on the show.

“Blink, I say immodestly, is a very famous episode and yet Carey Mulligan, who was the star of it, I’m almost certain wouldn’t even remember being in Doctor Who”, Moffat admitted.

“I don’t think she was much of a fan. They liked her so much, they said ‘do you want to be the next companion?’, but she said no. She was amazing”.

Moffat isn’t specific about when that offer went in, but he makes it sound like it was under the previous stewardship of the show. Thus, the offer would have come from Davies, and likely have been for series four.

The full interview with Steven Moffat is in the new issue of the Radio Times, on sale now…