Steven Moffat has advised Chris Chibnall to "ignore" "agendas" about who should portray the next Doctor Who.
The 46-year-old screenwriter will take over from current showrunner on the popular BBC One sci-fi drama after this year’s Christmas special, and Moffat says he shouldn’t listen to other people’s ideas, including picking a female Time Lord, and should just pick the "best person" who suits his plot.
In an interview with the i newspaper, he said: "Just choose the best person for the job and any other agenda, however worthy, should be ignored.
"It has to be the best person from the Doctor Chris is writing for."
The 55-year-old writer – who also pens the script for ‘Sherlock’ – has warned Chibnall that it will be "tough" working with whoever becomes the time-travelling scientist because they will have to endure each other’s company for many years, so he does need to pick "wisely".
He said: "Chris is going to be working with the actor for quite a few years and it is a pressure cooker.
"It can be tough, so you need to choose your friend wisely. So long as it works for the good of the show, that’s fine."
However, two previous Doctors have said they’d like to see a female step up to the job.
David Tennant, 45 – who portrayed the 10th incarnation of the Time Lord from 2005 to 2010 – refused to say who he wants to succeed Peter Capaldi when he departs the sci-fi show at the end of the year, but doesn’t think there should be any restrictions on gender.
Asked if he would support a female Doctor, he recently said: "Sure. It all depends on getting the right person."
But asked who he would cast, he replied: "Oh, well, I, ah, I’m very glad it’s not my decision."
And Paul McGann – who portrayed the 8th Doctor on screen in the one-off 1996 ‘Doctor Who’ TV film and again in the 2013 mini-episode ‘The Night of the Doctor’, which preceded the 50th anniversary special ‘The Day of the Doctor’ – backed Tilda Swinton for the role.
He previously said: "Wherever you’re from there’s females yeah? There are Gallifreyan females. Steven Moffat, the writer, is fond of describing the character as ‘one character, many faces’, well how about a female one."
Steven Moffat’s Doctor advice for Chris Chibnall
