Doctor Who 'to remain on-screen until at least 2020'

Doctor Who will remain on TV for at least another five years, according to its executive producer Steven Moffat.

"I thought it would last 10 years," he told Doctor Who magazine. "It's going to do a minimum of 15."

Last month the sci-fi drama celebrated the 10th anniversary of its relaunch, having been brought back by the BBC in March 2005.

"Ten years on, our ratings are pretty much the same," Moffat went on. "It's extraordinary".

He said the show's international ratings had gone up, adding: "You're meant to go down!"

First broadcast in 1963, Doctor Who celebrated its 50th anniversary in November 2013.

"As long as the people looking after it are passionate about it... there's absolutely no reason why it can't do another 50 years," said Ben Stephenson, the BBC's outgoing head of drama commissioning.

The next series is due to be shown in the autumn, with Peter Capaldi returning as the time-travelling Time Lord.

Moffat took over from original Doctor Who "showrunner" Russell T Davies in 2009 and is also the executive producer of BBC One's Sherlock series.