Doctor Who fans promised best-ever cliffhanger - and double finale

DOCTOR Who fans have been promised the show's greatest ever cliffhanger — as plans emerged to split the next series into two.

Producer Steven Moffat revealed plans for a "mid-season finale" next summer during an appearance at the Edinburgh International Television Festival yesterday.

Moffat — who appeared at the festival with Scot Karen Gillan, who plays the Doctor's assistant Amy Pond in the series — pledged to deliver a "huge cliffhanger" and an "earth-shattering climax" to keep fans on the edge of their seats over the summer.

"We will now have two first nights and two finales, twice as many event episodes as we had before."

Moffat said this year's Christmas special, will feature Michael Gambon as Scrooge and Matt Smith's Doctor as "the ghost of Christmas past".

Moffat also revealed that he thought Gillan was "wee and dumpy" when he saw footage of her on a video audition. But when he met her in person, he said, he was "expecting a beachball and met this giant flame-haired goddess who is slightly too tall for my comfort".

Moffat dismissed criticism that Amy Pond was "too sexy" for a children's series, saying he had been "roaring with laughter" at some of the media coverage.

"One article said 'when did Doctor Who assistants have to be sexy?' I thought: 'Since the beginning of the show!' We have had assistants in a bikini in the past. We are in the nursery now compared with that."

Moffat said the idea of the Doctor being played by a woman should not be dismissed, but the departure of David Tennant had not been the right time for a sex change. "We had to convince the audience it was not a new man, it was the same one."