Speaking to RadioTimes.com at the Royal Television Society Awards last night, the Doctor Who showrunner commented: “Mark [Gatiss] and I have planned [Series 3] out.”

He continued: “We haven’t started writing it yet because I’ve got God knows how many episodes of Doctor Who to get sorted first. But the way it works with Sherlock is that we starve you and then we give you a short burst and then we starve you again. It’s worked so far, we’re not going to change it.”

Earlier this month, executive producer Beryl Vertue revealed that filming on the third series will begin in “early 2013”.

Discussing when Series 3 will air, Moffat added last night: “I don’t actually know. Given that this is a show that I haven’t started writing yet, it’s a bit early to suggest scheduling. Once we hand them over, they’ll be on television quite quickly.”

The writer also dismissed rumours that Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch will appear as the Master in Doctor Who: “People really do sit in rooms and make that stuff up. Look at the filming schedules for Doctor Who and Sherlock – those two shows tend to shoot at the same time. We’d have a problem and there’s only so much I can arrange. But who knows what could happen in the future…”

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Watch a clip from the Series 2 finale…