Smith departed Doctor Who at Christmas in ‘The Time of the Doctor’.

Speaking to Doctor Who Magazine in an interview in the latest issue, Moffat commented: “When I started writing Matt’s Doctor, I thought, ‘What if everything he was involved in was in some way a consequence of a battle he was fighting in his last episode?’”

The showrunner continued: “That’s what I was thinking. So there’s a battle out there in his last episode, and, as a result of a battle that he hasn’t got involved in yet, things are coming back in time and getting at him. And he won’t know what they are, or understand what they are, until he gets there.”

He added: “That was the plan. And that’s what we’ve done!”

Peter Capaldi completed his first full day of Doctor Who filming earlier this week as production began on the new series.

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

What did you think of Matt Smith’s final episode? Let us know below…

> Order ‘The Time of the Doctor’ on DVD on Amazon.

> Order ‘The Time of the Doctor’ on Blu-ray on Amazon.

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