Ever since his debut with The Doctor's Wife back in 2011, each new series of Doctor Who has been preceded by the question of whether sci-fi and fantasy writer Neil Gaiman will be writing an episode. Well, for series 9 that question is answered – and it isn't good news.

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Speaking to RadioTimes.com, Gaiman confirms that, "I'm not writing for series 9 right now, just because of ridiculous work commitments I'm trying to get out from under. 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."

Gaiman, who last wrote for the show with 2013's Nightmare in Silver, says that the problem with writing for Doctor Who at the moment isn't just because of his own workload, but because a Doctor Who script is a long, hard task.

"The problem for Doctor Who for me is it's an enormous time commitment," he says, "partly because you're reinventing an entire world with every episode. And you're trying something thats 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…"

"How Steven Mofatt 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!'"

Speaking earlier this year, Gaiman revealed his plans for what sort of episode he would like to do with Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor.

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"I haven't done an episode set on Earth yet," he said, "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."