Gatiss told Blogtor Who: “The Doctor Who story I’ve always wanted to do is about Laika the dog, the Russian dog they put in space. I think I had a dream about it once where there was just him in his capsule – what a lonely thing!”

The Sherlock co-creator added: “I thought, wouldn’t it be fascinating if something else got in, like The Quatermass Experiment? And Laika came back to Earth, still alive, but not alone…”

Gatiss recently stated that a Doctor Who spin-off featuring Commander Strax, Madame Vastra and Jenny is unlikely due to time constraints: “A lot of people would like to see it – but I’m not sure if anyone has the time to do it.”

> Find out all the latest details in our Series 8 news summary.

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