Moffat plays down 'Tintin' reports

Doctor Who's new showrunner Steven Moffat has played down reports about his decision to pull out of the second Tintin movie.

In a recent newspaper interview with Moffat, it was claimed that the screenwriter had cancelled a "£1 million deal" to work with Steven Spielberg on another film about the comic book character. He has already penned the first movie in a planned trilogy.

The decision came after he was offered the role of Who's lead writer and executive producer.

Speaking after the report was published, Moffat said: "The [writers'] strike just meant that I was unable to finish my work on the Tintin films given my new commitments."

He also described the figures quoted about his salary in the article as "entirely speculative and wildly inaccurate".

Moffat will take over from Russell T Davies on the next full series of Who, which will air in 2010.