In retrospect, the return of Billie Piper as Rose Tyler to Doctor Who in its fourth season wasn’t really a raging success. Seemingly introduced just to be farmed off with a Doctor clone to play with for all eternity, the character had run its course when she was sent into one of those can-never-be-unlocked-until-a-script-conference-says-so parallel universes back at the end of Doomsday.

Which makes it all the more refreshing that Steven Moffat has already confirmed that the character won’t be returning to the show, at least not while it’s under his stewardship. It seems, although he hasn’t said it directly, that Moffat wasn’t the biggest Rose Tyler fan, describing her as ‘needy’.

There’s no word yet on future companions for the Doctor, and given that Moffat’s season five doesn’t go before the cameras until next year, we simply expect a series of guest stars across the four forthcoming specials before anything firm is announced.