Bad news for Neil Gaiman fans – the sci-fi and fantasy writer has admitted he is too busy to pen an episode for series nine of Doctor Who.

Neil has delighted fans of the BBC series in the past by writing plots for the Time Lord, but although he is keen to work with Peter Capaldi as the Doctor, it won’t be in series nine.

He told Radio Times: “I’m not writing for series nine right now, just because of ridiculous work commitments I’m trying to get out from under.

Neil Gaiman
(Daniel Bockwoldt/DPA)

“I am determined to write for Peter Capaldi. As long as Peter is Doctor Who, I will write for him. And every time I’m in the UK, I go and see the Doctor Who people. I go see [producer] Brian Minchin and Steven Moffat, and none of us are going to let me go off the boil.”

Neil added: “The problem for Doctor Who for me is it’s an enormous time commitment, partly because you’re reinventing an entire world with every episode. And you’re trying something that’s never been done before with every episode.

“Then you write it, then you give in a script, then they tell you how much it would actually cost to shoot your script as written. Then you write a different script, then they tell you how much that script would cost, but they tell you you’re in the right direction. Then it’s the third script…

Peter Capaldi Doctor Who
(BBC)

“How Steven Moffatt does it and Sherlock, and retains his sanity, I do not know. I just look at him and I am in awe. Here’s me going, ‘Look at me! I am so proud of myself! Every two or three years I do an ep of Doctor Who!’”

In the past, Neil has hinted about what a new episode from him would feature: “I haven’t done an episode set on Earth yet and I haven’t created a new monster. So there are boxes left to tick.

“And there’s part of me that feels… I haven’t scared anybody yet. I’d love to do something that sends adults behind the sofa too and makes them wee.”