Steven Moffat has considered bringing 'true' historical stories back to 'Doctor Who'

Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat has revealed that he has “actively courted” the idea of writing a ‘true’ historical episode.

In the show’s early years, historical adventures were largely fact-based and did not feature monsters or alien threats.

Historical stories in the eras of William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton’s Doctors included ‘Marco Polo’, ‘The Aztecs’, ‘The Reign Of Terror’, ‘The Romans’ ‘The Crusade’, ‘The Myth Makers’, ‘The Gunﬁghters’, ‘The Smugglers’ and ‘The Highlanders’.

However, the format fell out of favour and ‘pure’ historical stories have not been seen in Doctor Who since the 1960s.

Fan Nick Mays wrote in to Doctor Who Magazine, asking: “Would you ever consider doing a ‘true’ historical story, with no sci-fi elements apart from the TARDIS and the sonic screwdriver? Like they used to do in ye olden days?”

Current executive producer Steven Moffat responded: “Well, yes. Sort of. I’ve actively courted the idea a couple of times, but so far it hasn’t worked out.”

He explained: “If I’m honest, I never loved the ‘true’ historical ones as much. Objectively I can see that they were often very good, and often better than the loopier sci-fi around them. But between you and me, I rather like loopy sci-fi with bonkers monsters, and insane unfeasible plots…”

He added: “…there’s a file on my computer of notes and scraps of ideas … and there it is, an idea for a historical that I’d completely forgotten about. And it’s not half bad … If it happens, it’s your fault. Remember that.”