We got a crossover in Asylum of the Daleks. We saw a version of Clara. Not at the time knowing she would be the "impossible" girl . Splintered through time and space when she jumped into the doctors timeline.
So assuming Clara exits in the finale or 2015 Christmas special we could soon see or hear about a new companion. If the Doctor meets them at christmas and asks them to join him at the end.
Otherwise they will join at the start of S 10 and begin filming in January 2016. If they stick to a August to November slot
I really couldn't give a toss who is 'showrunner'. All I care about is...
Is The Doctor any good?
Is the companion any good?
Are the episodes engaging and entertaining?
At the moment Capaldi is brilliant, Coleman superb, episodes watchable and most are very rewatchable. Doctor Who is more enjoyable to me, at the moment, than anytime since series 1. If that's down to Moffat then he can stay forever for me.
I really couldn't give a toss who is 'showrunner'. All I care about is...
Is The Doctor any good?
Is the companion any good?
Are the episodes engaging and entertaining?
At the moment Capaldi is brilliant, Coleman superb, episodes watchable and most are very rewatchable. Doctor Who is more enjoyable to me, at the moment, than anytime since series 1. If that's down to Moffat then he can stay forever for me.
But that's not what the show's about. Where's the change?
But that's not what the show's about. Where's the change?
Change for change sakes? No thanks. If ousting Moffat will improve the show then fine. At the moment the BBC are struggling to find a replacement so are sticking with what they know.
What exactly do you want changed? What is so bad about current Doctor Who that is all Moffats fault?
Change for change sakes? No thanks. If ousting Moffat will improve the show then fine. At the moment the BBC are struggling to find a replacement so are sticking with what they know.
What exactly do you want changed? What is so bad about current Doctor Who that is all Moffats fault?
There's nothing bad about it. It's just that Moffat is going to outstay his welcome by doing series 10 and I'd rather he left while he's on a high. It's time for a new showrunner; my choice would be Mark Gattis if I were the BBC.
There's nothing bad about it. It's just that Moffat is going to outstay his welcome by doing series 10 and I'd rather he left while he's on a high. It's time for a new showrunner; my choice would be Mark Gattis if I were the BBC.
What if Gattis doesn't want the job, what's plan B?
You look back at doctor who's history. Its all about change. The doctor regenerates, the companions change, the producer changes. If this had not been so doctor who would have finished in the 1960s.
What gets me is the sheer arrogance of certain people who believe no one can replace Moffat...
I know. No-one is irreplaceable.
While we're getting a bit hot under the collar, am I the only one who gets irritated when actors and production staff have their names spelled incorrectly?
It's Mark Gatiss, not Gattis, Toby Whithouse, not Whitehouse and the other day I even saw Steven Moffat written as Stephen Mophatt. (not to mention the inability of many people to get Christopher Eccleston's name correct, or Peter Davison's etc etc...)
Surely if you are bothering to write about these people it's not too much to ask that you have the decency to spell their names correctly.
I really couldn't give a toss who is 'showrunner'. All I care about is...
Is The Doctor any good?
Is the companion any good?
Are the episodes engaging and entertaining?
At the moment Capaldi is brilliant, Coleman superb, episodes watchable and most are very rewatchable. Doctor Who is more enjoyable to me, at the moment, than anytime since series 1. If that's down to Moffat then he can stay forever for me.
This is all I care about, in fact I wasn't even aware of the fact that there was one main showrunner, or who he was until about series 3, I just knew the show was great.
Unlike you though, the fact that I care about those points is the reason I think it's time for Moffat to go, because at the moment I see it as:
Is the doctor any good? -
yes he is, but I don't feel so far he has been given enough material/prominence to show the full range of what he seems capable of in the role
Is the companion any good? -
No, most obnoxious companion since 2005 hands down for me. Plus her having to go home every episode, and the subplot about her relationship with the world's most boring man wasted so much screen time last series that could have extended the actual plots of the episodes, not to mention an entire episode that was wasted on it (the caretaker).
Are the episodes engaging/entertaining?
Single episodes are hit and miss, as is the case with every series, but it feels like their used to always be more good than bad, but over the past few years it's about equal, so more of the bad one's now than there used to be.
There hasn't been one single fully explained, completely makes sense, story arc since series 4, and for that reason there isn't one of Moffat's series that I can enjoy as a whole.
All just My opinion of course. I was one of the one's thinking how good it would be when I heard he was taking over after having a perfect record of good episodes in the RTD era, but It has turned out almost the opposite of what I expected.
What gets me is the sheer arrogance of certain people who believe no one can replace Moffat...
Couldn't agree more. It's as if people have convinced themselves there is only one professional writer left in Britain. I don't think the problem is so much that there is no one good enough to replace him, but more that they are probably struggling to find someone willing to take on the commitment of how much of your year it takes up to actually do the job.
What if Gattis doesn't want the job, what's plan B?
I get the impression that while Gatiss is happy to write for the show, he probably has no desire to run the show. The guy has a tonne of side projects (both in terms of writing and acting) he does. Showrunning Doctor Who would restrict that and although I like him as a writer, I don't think he'd be a great choice for successor though.
You look back at doctor who's history. Its all about change. The doctor regenerates, the companions change, the producer changes. If this had not been so doctor who would have finished in the 1960s.
Hinhcliffe out...Williams in. A good change? For many, this change is seen as the start of a decline in popularity from which the show never recovered. The change was driven by the BBC meddling with the creative vision of PH and his team and installing a man that was more in keeping with what they wanted...
Doctor Who is no longer the same programme that it was in the 60/70/80's and the BBC is facing the biggest upheaval in it's culture and funding since the 1920's. It can ill afford to take any considerable risks with the programme at this moment as Doctor Who is very much part of its strategy to cope with any potential changes. Much of the series 7 debacle was out of Moffats hands, he is not totally blameless but nor is he totally at fault. What has come out of that mess, and the subsequent leaks of emails and scripts, is the creation of much more autonomy and control for the DW Production office. Commercial, creative and production decisions are now less prone to interference from BBC internal politics, and soon the BBC will be a mess of departments fighting over ever decreasing revenue. Moffat is a very important member of the team that is ensuring that Doctor Who will be better able to protect and sustain itself for a long time and upsetting this delicate process would be 100% detrimental to our programme.
It is clear that the modern world that Doctor Who finds itself in demands that production is planned years in advance. Series 10 is next years series and it needs planning now.
I don't believe that Moffat is unaware of Doctor Who history and what the show is all about or the need to refresh it's creative direction. I'm almost certain that Moffats successor is not only known to him, and those that need to know these things, but that the main stumbling block to replacement is availability of the right person. If that means another guaranteed 26 episodes of Moffat and Capaldi then I will settle for it gladly.
What gets me is the sheer arrogance of certain people who believe no one can replace Moffat...
I think you probably need to look up the definition of the word arrogance because your random insult wouldn't even make sense in this context even if it were true.
I haven't seen anymore saying that Moffat is replaceable. What I have seen are plenty of people, myself included, commenting on the rumours that the BBC were looking at alternatives but couldn't find anymore who wanted the job.
If the rumours are true then I guess were left with three stark choices:
1) Moffat continues until a suitable replacement is found.
2) The show is taken off air because no one can be found to run it.
3) The BBC widen their net and presumably recruit someone who they didn't feel was suitable for the job.
I know which of those alternatives I would prefer.
It's all very well and good for posters to suggest all sorts of people who they think could replace him, but if they don't want the job, aren't available or the BBC deems them not suitable then it's all rather meaningless.
Goodness me, can you imagine what the forums would have been like if they'd existed when that change was made!
If people struggle with the differences between RTD and Moffat, which, if you remove the bells and whistles, have broadly speaking, very similar visions of the show imagine how they would have coped with that stark contrast between those two producers.
I know I would have been one of the ones on the forum urging Williams to be removed ASAP. Cannot stand his era and still can't bear to watch many of those episodes.
I get the impression that while Gatiss is happy to write for the show, he probably has no desire to run the show. The guy has a tonne of side projects (both in terms of writing and acting) he does. Showrunning Doctor Who would restrict that and although I like him as a writer, I don't think he'd be a great choice for successor though.
Plus, with Gattis as with Moffat, people would still be moaning about his commitment to who vs his commitment to sherlock
I think you probably need to look up the definition of the word arrogance because your random insult wouldn't even make sense in this context even if it were true.
I haven't seen anymore saying that Moffat is replaceable. What I have seen are plenty of people, myself included, commenting on the rumours that the BBC were looking at alternatives but couldn't find anymore who wanted the job.
If the rumours are true then I guess were left with three stark choices:
1) Moffat continues until a suitable replacement is found.
2) The show is taken off air because no one can be found to run it.
3) The BBC widen their net and presumably recruit someone who they didn't feel was suitable for the job.
I know which of those alternatives I would prefer.
It's all very well and good for posters to suggest all sorts of people who they think could replace him, but if they don't want the job, aren't available or the BBC deems them not suitable then it's all rather meaningless.
Out of your options, I'd prefer option 3, as I get a sense that at the moment they are only thinking along the lines of people currently involved, or people who have guest written for the show before, whereas if they were to look a bit out of that comfort zone, they may well find someone better than if they only picked from that small group.
Lets not forget that the writer just has to be a good writer, not only do they not have to have written for the show before, they don't necessarily have to be someone known for sci fi either. After all, RTD hadn't written for the show before he took on the role, and wasn't a writer particularly known for sci fi either, and he turned out to be pretty amazing at the job.
I do think it's perfectly understandable though that a job that takes up so much of the year is a big ask for anyone to take on, so finding someone with the talent and the commitment could take time. I just wish they'd started the search earlier so that they'd found someone new for series 10.
Hinhcliffe out...Williams in. A good change? For many, this change is seen as the start of a decline in popularity from which the show never recovered. The change was driven by the BBC meddling with the creative vision of PH and his team and installing a man that was more in keeping with what they wanted...
I know what you mean, the quality of the show is now perceived to have fallen under Williams, but it's popularity remained extremely strong and ratings actually rose. Some of Season 17 had the highest viewing figures ever seen on Doctor Who even though now it's frequently seen as a poor season. But at the time, the BBC would have considered Williams' tenure as a roaring success.
Fandom existed in 1977 - nothing like the vocal, argumentative monster it is today, but it was, nonetheless, a small and argumentative group. Surprising though it may seem, Hinchliffe was not considered by the fans of the 1970s to be the brilliant producer that he's considered today. The President of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society wrote a famously scathing review of The Deadly Assassin in which the production team was blamed for all sorts of perceived failings in the series at the time.
In 1977 Williams was then seen by many fans as a breath of fresh air. By the end of season 17 he was mostly reviled by fans and incoming producer JNT was hailed as the saviour of Doctor Who. Never mind that JNT's first season in charge saw an appalling dive in ratings.
Fast forward to RTD leaving - at the time many fans couldn't wait to see the back of him and welcomed Moffat with open arms. Now, after 5 years, some fans are baying for Moffat's blood.
Out of your options, I'd prefer option 3, as I get a sense that at the moment they are only thinking along the lines of people currently involved, or people who have guest written for the show before, whereas if they were to look a bit out of that comfort zone, they may well find someone better than if they only picked from that small group.
Lets not forget that the writer just has to be a good writer, not only do they not have to have written for the show before, they don't necessarily have to be someone known for sci fi either. After all, RTD hadn't written for the show before he took on the role, and wasn't a writer particularly known for sci fi either, and he turned out to be pretty amazing at the job.
I do think it's perfectly understandable though that a job that takes up so much of the year is a big ask for anyone to take on, so finding someone with the talent and the commitment could take time. I just wish they'd started the search earlier so that they'd found someone new for series 10.
I think the BBC would be taking quite a risk with option 3, which they don't seem to be prepared to make. They have taken some risks with their writers in recent series, with people such as Neil Cross and Frank Cottrell-Boyce, who aren't known for their sci-fi writing and their episodes seem to have been not been particularly popular on these forums at least.
If they were to approach someone who hasn't written for the series at all, it begs the obvious question of why haven't they?
It was a different situation when RTD approached them. He was already a well respected writer but at that point Doctor Who wasn't well regarded amongst most viewers, and in TV terms it had been dead for several years anyway so really the BBC had nothing to loose except the costs of making the first series. Now that RTD has preformed this miraculous revival the BBC has an international hit on their hands and a sure fire money spinner so I can understand that they wouldn't want to take the same risk again and hire an 'unknown' to role. Even if they were well regarded at writing other dramas I think they would want to see how they would write for Doctor Who first.
I do agree though in that I hope they can find a suitable replacement soon though. As someone who has broadly liked Moffat's era I do feel that I am becoming too familiar with his style of writing now, the way that he writes plots and characters etc has made some episodes rather too predictable for me.
I think the BBC would be taking quite a risk with option 3, which they don't seem to be prepared to make. They have taken some risks with their writers in recent series, with people such as Neil Cross and Frank Cottrell-Boyce, who aren't known for their sci-fi writing and their episodes seem to have been not been particularly popular on these forums at least.
If they were to approach someone who hasn't written for the series at all, it begs the obvious question of why haven't they?
It was a different situation when RTD approached them. He was already a well respected writer but at that point Doctor Who wasn't well regarded amongst most viewers, and in TV terms it had been dead for several years anyway so really the BBC had nothing to loose except the costs of making the first series. Now that RTD has preformed this miraculous revival the BBC has an international hit on their hands and a sure fire money spinner so I can understand that they wouldn't want to take the same risk again and hire an 'unknown' to role. Even if they were well regarded at writing other dramas I think they would want to see how they would write for Doctor Who first.
I do agree though in that I hope they can find a suitable replacement soon though. As someone who has broadly liked Moffat's era I do feel that I am becoming too familiar with his style of writing now, the way that he writes plots and characters etc has made some episodes rather too predictable for me.
BIB1
I would have thought it would be Moffat and not the BBC who would be picking individual writers to work on the show.
The BBC would be the ones picking a showrunner but it's then up to the showrunner to pick writers.
BIB2
While RTD did (along with various others inc Mark Gatiss) approach the BBC in the 1990's with the idea to bring back the show when the actual revival happened in 2003 it was the BBC who decided to bring the show back and then approached RTD.
BIB1
I would have thought it would be Moffat and not the BBC who would be picking individual writers to work on the show.
The BBC would be the ones picking a showrunner but it's then up to the showrunner to pick writers.
BIB2
While RTD did (along with various others inc Mark Gatiss) approach the BBC in the 1990's with the idea to bring back the show when the actual revival happened in 2003 it was the BBC who decided to bring the show back and then approached RTD.
Yeah sure, I expect the show runners do pick the writers but what I meant was that if writers such as those who aren't best known for writing sci-fi wrote some classic episodes then I dare say the BBC would be more open to thinking outside of the box when it comes to selecting the next showrunner.
Re: The second point. That's very interesting. I didn't realise that so I stand corrected. Would Moffat also have been a possibility to re-launch the show then, given that he had already written some Doctor Whoy things before? Interesting on that occasion the BBC did go with the unknown, in terms of Doctor Who, and it worked out so well.
Really the whole thing was a massive gamble, reinventing Saturday night TV, relaunching a programme that was considered a joke by the vast majority of the public, it seems quite uncharacteristic for the BBC to be so bold. I don't blame them for being more risk averse at the moment though...
Yeah sure, I expect the show runners do pick the writers but what I meant was that if writers such as those who aren't best known for writing sci-fi wrote some classic episodes then I dare say the BBC would be more open to thinking outside of the box when it comes to selecting the next showrunner.
Re: The second point. That's very interesting. I didn't realise that so I stand corrected. Would Moffat also have been a possibility to re-launch the show then,given that he had already written some Doctor Whoy things before? Interesting on that occasion the BBC did go with the unknown, in terms of Doctor Who, and it worked out so well.
Really the whole thing was a massive gamble, reinventing Saturday night TV, relaunching a programme that was considered a joke by the vast majority of the public, it seems quite uncharacteristic for the BBC to be so bold. I don't blame them for being more risk averse at the moment though...
RTD wrote a Doctor who Novel in the 90's (recently adapted by Big Finish) and had written two scifi series' for children so he wasn't exactly new to the genre.
I suppose Moffat might have been approached if RTD hadn't been able to do it, like you said he had some TV DW experience with Curse of Fatal Death.
But since RTD had been wanting the BBC to bring back the show for years it's very unlikely he would have turned down the chance once offered.
Dalekbuster. You spend half your time on this forum calling for old doctors/companions/monsters etc to return again and again. And then have the nerve to call someone else out for not recognising the show is all about change (even though said poster knows this full well and is one of the smartest people on here). Do make your mind up.
Oh and the comment claiming those who don't think there is a natural successor to Moffat waiting in the wings are arrogant? Learn to use your words properly because you're talking utter nonsense. It's not remotely arrogant. Shall we discuss the arrogance of every whiny Ming Mong on here and across the internet who blather on and on about how bad Moffat is and who seem to think running a show like Doctor Who is easy? They're the arrogant ones. They couldnt even write a pre-titles sequence that was fit for broadcast if their lives depended on it.
Dalekbuster. You spend half your time on this forum calling for old doctors/companions/monsters etc to return again and again. And then have the nerve to call someone else out for not recognising the show is all about change (even though said poster knows this full well and is one of the smartest people on here). Do make your mind up.
It's always nice to see old Doctors, companions and monsters return and I do think there needs to be a balance between new and returning elements to keep the show's continuity strong. But Moffat is IMO staying too long and it's time for a fresh take on the show.
Comments
So assuming Clara exits in the finale or 2015 Christmas special we could soon see or hear about a new companion. If the Doctor meets them at christmas and asks them to join him at the end.
Otherwise they will join at the start of S 10 and begin filming in January 2016. If they stick to a August to November slot
Is The Doctor any good?
Is the companion any good?
Are the episodes engaging and entertaining?
At the moment Capaldi is brilliant, Coleman superb, episodes watchable and most are very rewatchable. Doctor Who is more enjoyable to me, at the moment, than anytime since series 1. If that's down to Moffat then he can stay forever for me.
But that's not what the show's about. Where's the change?
Change for change sakes? No thanks. If ousting Moffat will improve the show then fine. At the moment the BBC are struggling to find a replacement so are sticking with what they know.
What exactly do you want changed? What is so bad about current Doctor Who that is all Moffats fault?
There's nothing bad about it. It's just that Moffat is going to outstay his welcome by doing series 10 and I'd rather he left while he's on a high. It's time for a new showrunner; my choice would be Mark Gattis if I were the BBC.
What if Gattis doesn't want the job, what's plan B?
Toby Whitehouse.
I'm praying Gatiss isn't plan A.
I know. No-one is irreplaceable.
While we're getting a bit hot under the collar, am I the only one who gets irritated when actors and production staff have their names spelled incorrectly?
It's Mark Gatiss, not Gattis, Toby Whithouse, not Whitehouse and the other day I even saw Steven Moffat written as Stephen Mophatt. (not to mention the inability of many people to get Christopher Eccleston's name correct, or Peter Davison's etc etc...)
Surely if you are bothering to write about these people it's not too much to ask that you have the decency to spell their names correctly.
This is all I care about, in fact I wasn't even aware of the fact that there was one main showrunner, or who he was until about series 3, I just knew the show was great.
Unlike you though, the fact that I care about those points is the reason I think it's time for Moffat to go, because at the moment I see it as:
Is the doctor any good? -
yes he is, but I don't feel so far he has been given enough material/prominence to show the full range of what he seems capable of in the role
Is the companion any good? -
No, most obnoxious companion since 2005 hands down for me. Plus her having to go home every episode, and the subplot about her relationship with the world's most boring man wasted so much screen time last series that could have extended the actual plots of the episodes, not to mention an entire episode that was wasted on it (the caretaker).
Are the episodes engaging/entertaining?
Single episodes are hit and miss, as is the case with every series, but it feels like their used to always be more good than bad, but over the past few years it's about equal, so more of the bad one's now than there used to be.
There hasn't been one single fully explained, completely makes sense, story arc since series 4, and for that reason there isn't one of Moffat's series that I can enjoy as a whole.
All just My opinion of course. I was one of the one's thinking how good it would be when I heard he was taking over after having a perfect record of good episodes in the RTD era, but It has turned out almost the opposite of what I expected.
Couldn't agree more. It's as if people have convinced themselves there is only one professional writer left in Britain. I don't think the problem is so much that there is no one good enough to replace him, but more that they are probably struggling to find someone willing to take on the commitment of how much of your year it takes up to actually do the job.
I get the impression that while Gatiss is happy to write for the show, he probably has no desire to run the show. The guy has a tonne of side projects (both in terms of writing and acting) he does. Showrunning Doctor Who would restrict that and although I like him as a writer, I don't think he'd be a great choice for successor though.
Hinhcliffe out...Williams in. A good change? For many, this change is seen as the start of a decline in popularity from which the show never recovered. The change was driven by the BBC meddling with the creative vision of PH and his team and installing a man that was more in keeping with what they wanted...
Doctor Who is no longer the same programme that it was in the 60/70/80's and the BBC is facing the biggest upheaval in it's culture and funding since the 1920's. It can ill afford to take any considerable risks with the programme at this moment as Doctor Who is very much part of its strategy to cope with any potential changes. Much of the series 7 debacle was out of Moffats hands, he is not totally blameless but nor is he totally at fault. What has come out of that mess, and the subsequent leaks of emails and scripts, is the creation of much more autonomy and control for the DW Production office. Commercial, creative and production decisions are now less prone to interference from BBC internal politics, and soon the BBC will be a mess of departments fighting over ever decreasing revenue. Moffat is a very important member of the team that is ensuring that Doctor Who will be better able to protect and sustain itself for a long time and upsetting this delicate process would be 100% detrimental to our programme.
It is clear that the modern world that Doctor Who finds itself in demands that production is planned years in advance. Series 10 is next years series and it needs planning now.
I don't believe that Moffat is unaware of Doctor Who history and what the show is all about or the need to refresh it's creative direction. I'm almost certain that Moffats successor is not only known to him, and those that need to know these things, but that the main stumbling block to replacement is availability of the right person. If that means another guaranteed 26 episodes of Moffat and Capaldi then I will settle for it gladly.
I think you probably need to look up the definition of the word arrogance because your random insult wouldn't even make sense in this context even if it were true.
I haven't seen anymore saying that Moffat is replaceable. What I have seen are plenty of people, myself included, commenting on the rumours that the BBC were looking at alternatives but couldn't find anymore who wanted the job.
If the rumours are true then I guess were left with three stark choices:
1) Moffat continues until a suitable replacement is found.
2) The show is taken off air because no one can be found to run it.
3) The BBC widen their net and presumably recruit someone who they didn't feel was suitable for the job.
I know which of those alternatives I would prefer.
It's all very well and good for posters to suggest all sorts of people who they think could replace him, but if they don't want the job, aren't available or the BBC deems them not suitable then it's all rather meaningless.
Goodness me, can you imagine what the forums would have been like if they'd existed when that change was made!
If people struggle with the differences between RTD and Moffat, which, if you remove the bells and whistles, have broadly speaking, very similar visions of the show imagine how they would have coped with that stark contrast between those two producers.
I know I would have been one of the ones on the forum urging Williams to be removed ASAP. Cannot stand his era and still can't bear to watch many of those episodes.
Plus, with Gattis as with Moffat, people would still be moaning about his commitment to who vs his commitment to sherlock
Out of your options, I'd prefer option 3, as I get a sense that at the moment they are only thinking along the lines of people currently involved, or people who have guest written for the show before, whereas if they were to look a bit out of that comfort zone, they may well find someone better than if they only picked from that small group.
Lets not forget that the writer just has to be a good writer, not only do they not have to have written for the show before, they don't necessarily have to be someone known for sci fi either. After all, RTD hadn't written for the show before he took on the role, and wasn't a writer particularly known for sci fi either, and he turned out to be pretty amazing at the job.
I do think it's perfectly understandable though that a job that takes up so much of the year is a big ask for anyone to take on, so finding someone with the talent and the commitment could take time. I just wish they'd started the search earlier so that they'd found someone new for series 10.
I know what you mean, the quality of the show is now perceived to have fallen under Williams, but it's popularity remained extremely strong and ratings actually rose. Some of Season 17 had the highest viewing figures ever seen on Doctor Who even though now it's frequently seen as a poor season. But at the time, the BBC would have considered Williams' tenure as a roaring success.
Fandom existed in 1977 - nothing like the vocal, argumentative monster it is today, but it was, nonetheless, a small and argumentative group. Surprising though it may seem, Hinchliffe was not considered by the fans of the 1970s to be the brilliant producer that he's considered today. The President of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society wrote a famously scathing review of The Deadly Assassin in which the production team was blamed for all sorts of perceived failings in the series at the time.
In 1977 Williams was then seen by many fans as a breath of fresh air. By the end of season 17 he was mostly reviled by fans and incoming producer JNT was hailed as the saviour of Doctor Who. Never mind that JNT's first season in charge saw an appalling dive in ratings.
Fast forward to RTD leaving - at the time many fans couldn't wait to see the back of him and welcomed Moffat with open arms. Now, after 5 years, some fans are baying for Moffat's blood.
Notice a trend here? Nothing changes does it?
I think the BBC would be taking quite a risk with option 3, which they don't seem to be prepared to make. They have taken some risks with their writers in recent series, with people such as Neil Cross and Frank Cottrell-Boyce, who aren't known for their sci-fi writing and their episodes seem to have been not been particularly popular on these forums at least.
If they were to approach someone who hasn't written for the series at all, it begs the obvious question of why haven't they?
It was a different situation when RTD approached them. He was already a well respected writer but at that point Doctor Who wasn't well regarded amongst most viewers, and in TV terms it had been dead for several years anyway so really the BBC had nothing to loose except the costs of making the first series. Now that RTD has preformed this miraculous revival the BBC has an international hit on their hands and a sure fire money spinner so I can understand that they wouldn't want to take the same risk again and hire an 'unknown' to role. Even if they were well regarded at writing other dramas I think they would want to see how they would write for Doctor Who first.
I do agree though in that I hope they can find a suitable replacement soon though. As someone who has broadly liked Moffat's era I do feel that I am becoming too familiar with his style of writing now, the way that he writes plots and characters etc has made some episodes rather too predictable for me.
BIB1
I would have thought it would be Moffat and not the BBC who would be picking individual writers to work on the show.
The BBC would be the ones picking a showrunner but it's then up to the showrunner to pick writers.
BIB2
While RTD did (along with various others inc Mark Gatiss) approach the BBC in the 1990's with the idea to bring back the show when the actual revival happened in 2003 it was the BBC who decided to bring the show back and then approached RTD.
Yeah sure, I expect the show runners do pick the writers but what I meant was that if writers such as those who aren't best known for writing sci-fi wrote some classic episodes then I dare say the BBC would be more open to thinking outside of the box when it comes to selecting the next showrunner.
Re: The second point. That's very interesting. I didn't realise that so I stand corrected. Would Moffat also have been a possibility to re-launch the show then, given that he had already written some Doctor Whoy things before? Interesting on that occasion the BBC did go with the unknown, in terms of Doctor Who, and it worked out so well.
Really the whole thing was a massive gamble, reinventing Saturday night TV, relaunching a programme that was considered a joke by the vast majority of the public, it seems quite uncharacteristic for the BBC to be so bold. I don't blame them for being more risk averse at the moment though...
RTD wrote a Doctor who Novel in the 90's (recently adapted by Big Finish) and had written two scifi series' for children so he wasn't exactly new to the genre.
I suppose Moffat might have been approached if RTD hadn't been able to do it, like you said he had some TV DW experience with Curse of Fatal Death.
But since RTD had been wanting the BBC to bring back the show for years it's very unlikely he would have turned down the chance once offered.
Didn't Mark Gattis as well?
Oh and the comment claiming those who don't think there is a natural successor to Moffat waiting in the wings are arrogant? Learn to use your words properly because you're talking utter nonsense. It's not remotely arrogant. Shall we discuss the arrogance of every whiny Ming Mong on here and across the internet who blather on and on about how bad Moffat is and who seem to think running a show like Doctor Who is easy? They're the arrogant ones. They couldnt even write a pre-titles sequence that was fit for broadcast if their lives depended on it.
It's always nice to see old Doctors, companions and monsters return and I do think there needs to be a balance between new and returning elements to keep the show's continuity strong. But Moffat is IMO staying too long and it's time for a fresh take on the show.