Doctor Who: Steven Moffat reveals “spooky” cut scene that referenced Torchwood

During a live fan watchalong of 2014’s Listen, Moffat showed fans a scene that didn’t make it to screen.

Peter Capaldi wearing a suit with his hand up to his mouth standing in front of a blackboard covered in chalk scrawls of scientific and mathematical formulae

Published: Thursday, 21 May 2020 at 6:01 pm

It’s fair to say that the regular Doctor Who rewatches of past episodes have been a goldmine for fans, with former writers, cast and other creatives revealing all sorts of intriguing behind-the-scenes details from the BBC sci-fi series.

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And now ex-showrunner Steven Moffat has added a new bit of material to the pile, revealing a “spooky” cut scene from his 2014 episode Listen which saw the Doctor and Clara check out a mysterious library.

Called The Fifty Room and described as a "library of the lost", the location was apparently the home of "the rarest, most important, most dangerous texts in human history", and in a nod for fans of Who spin-off Torchwood, the Doctor noted that the library had been in their possession before he stole it.

The cut scene from Listen revealed by Steven Moffat

In the cut script shared by Steven Moffat (and which you can read above), the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) and Clara (Jenna Coleman) head into this library, where the Doctor is attempting to solve a mystery before the main action of the episode kicks off.

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While in there, the Doctor reveals an intriguing bit of the future – apparently at some point he destroys Twitter, though not before Moffat could share these tidbits – before he and Clara notice a word scrawled on a chalkboard, setting up a scene that did actually make it to screen.

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In the end, apparently the Fifty Room was one location too many for the tightly-budgeted episode, and it hit the cutting room floor – but at least now it can live on in the memories of trivia-obsessed Doctor Who fans. True immortality, beyond even what the Doctor could imagine.

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Doctor Who returns to BBC One in late 2020/early 2021 – check out what else is on with our TV Guide

Authors

Radio Times commissioning editor Huw Fullerton. He sits in front of a shelving unit, looking at the camera and smiling. He wears glasses and has a moustache

Huw FullertonCommissioning editor

Huw Fullerton is a commissioning editor for Radio Times magazine handling comedy, entertainment and specialist drama. In a previous regeneration, he covered all things sci-fi and fantasy for RadioTimes.com.

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