01 - Steven Moffat
02 - Frank Cottrell Boyce
03 - Jamie Mathieson
04 - Helen Raynor
05 - Stephen Thompson
06 - Steven Moffat
07 - Jamie Mathieson
08 - Helen Raynor
09 - Gareth Roberts
10 - Phil Ford
11 - Jamie Mathieson
12 - Steven Moffat
What potential ideas? She's had one idea (Harry Potter) and that wasn't terribly original. But sure, I doubt we'll see eye to eye on that. I would like to see new writers whose best work is ahead of them, possibly even on Doctor Who.
I doubt there were many old school Doctor Who fans who would have put Russell T. Davies or Steven Moffat forward as suggestions for writers they'd love to see on a relaunched series back in the day (I know they already had strong reputations as TV writers but not in fantasy / science-fiction). I don't think there was a big clamour to see the writer of 'Dimensions in Time' return. Hell, does anyone think Douglas Adams would have ever worked on Doctor Who once he was a big name? No, he worked on it when he was young and eager and wanting to get on in his writing career. That's how they got one of the most talented science-fiction writers of his generation to contribute.
Honestly, I don't care what ideas Rowling or Joss Whedon may have. They already used their big ideas in their own creations and would be hacking scripts for Doctor Who.
The point about Joss Whedon is that he is a good writer. It's one thing having a good story idea, but another to convert it into a good episode of Doctor Who (exhibit A: Evolution of the Daleks.) You may be right that Whedon's best days are behind him (there's no following 'Buffy' really), but I'd much rather see him 'hacking' for Doctor Who than the show providing some sort of work experience for new writers.
I'm not sure why you're holding up Douglas Adams as an exemplar - his reputation as a writer for Doctor Who is largely based on one serial of which he was only co-writer and which was not based in on his own idea. He certainly didn't give his best ideas to the show.
4. Jaime matherson - queen bodicia gets time transported to modern day.. how who why
5 & 6.. ste moff and phil ford.. a meteroite carrying ice droplets from mars to earth.. when the infected water becomes frost humans become possesed and only ice warriors can help.. follow up to waters of mars
7. R banks stewart.. adaptation of zygon who fell to earth
8. Rtd - a super-voc robot and single cyberman are forced to battle for entertainment on a distant planet in a wressling ring ...
9. Moffat.. the patience of angels. The doctor is confronted with his worst fear.. his exact opposite. Because the dr travels freely in time the exact opposite is frozen in time .. and now their roles are switched.. only a clever rouse with the weeping angels can reverse things in this doctor lite episode
Episode 1 - Steven Moffat (tone-setter)
Episode 2 - Neil Cross (Far-future alien planet)
Episode 3 - Jamie Mathieson (Murder mystery)
Episodes 4 and 5 - Steven Moffat (Horror, emotional ending)
Episode 6 - Chris Chibnall (Fun romp of some kind)
Episode 7 - Neil Gaiman (Abstract monster)
Episodes 8 and 9 - Paul Cornell (UNIT story, big first part cliffhanger)
Episode 10 - Mark Gatiss (Fun romp of some kind)
Episode 11 - Ken Levine (Dystopian civilization, dark)
Episodes 12 and 13 - Steven Moffat (Huge-scale finale - intergalactic war)
1) Steven Moffat (tone setting of the series)
2) Russell T Davies (a bit of a straight forward monster-of-the-week would be fun!)
3) Neil Gaiman
4&5) Jamie Mathieson (a two parter from him could be very interesting indeed)
6) Gareth Roberts (obligatory light character episode)
7&8) Toby Whithouse (Very good writer IMO, possibly a bit more of a psychological two parter?)
9) Russell T Davies (Bit more of a character drama, given that is RTD's specialty)
10) Mark Gatiss (He's going to be there so may as well include him. A bit more of a comedic and historic episode to break up the serious string of episodes.)
11) Phil Ford (A scary one. And Ford can certainly do scary.)
12&13) Steven Moffat (obligatory finale)
That's the line-up I think would work very well IMO. I really want Mathieson to be given the chance to really shine with a 90 minute adventure!
I would go with this list but i would swap Mark Gatiss for Tony Curtis
I'm not sure why you're holding up Douglas Adams as an exemplar - his reputation as a writer for Doctor Who is largely based on one serial of which he was only co-writer and which was not based in on his own idea. He certainly didn't give his best ideas to the show.
Sorry, bit of a long response time on this one but I've not looked at the thread since I last posted.
I used Douglas Adams as an example simply as he is probably the most famous and respected (outside of the show) author to have written for it, My point wasn't that he 'gave his best work to the show', but that such a prestige writer only has material in the Doctor Who archives because he created it (just) before he established his reputation: ie. it was early work. Doctor Who managed to find a great writer at the beginning of his career and has wonderful material like City of Death and the Pirate Planet (I'm aware not everyone would consider them wonderful but that quibble is beside the point) in its catalogue because of that. I think there is everything to be said for new writers in favour of old hacks living on their reputation.
Im surprised nobody has mentioned Richard Curtis i would have him back writing for a couple of episodes.
How many ideas does he have? He's not really a fantasy / Sci-Fi writer. Perhaps having ticked the Doctor Who box on hi CV he feels no desire to write another.I would be surprised if they hadn't approached him given how well received 'Vincent and the doctor' was, particularly as it seems to have been a favourite with the production team too.
Comments
02 - Frank Cottrell Boyce
03 - Jamie Mathieson
04 - Helen Raynor
05 - Stephen Thompson
06 - Steven Moffat
07 - Jamie Mathieson
08 - Helen Raynor
09 - Gareth Roberts
10 - Phil Ford
11 - Jamie Mathieson
12 - Steven Moffat
I think my head would explode from all the overcomplicatedness of those scripts! And as for Steven Moffat...
The point about Joss Whedon is that he is a good writer. It's one thing having a good story idea, but another to convert it into a good episode of Doctor Who (exhibit A: Evolution of the Daleks.) You may be right that Whedon's best days are behind him (there's no following 'Buffy' really), but I'd much rather see him 'hacking' for Doctor Who than the show providing some sort of work experience for new writers.
I'm not sure why you're holding up Douglas Adams as an exemplar - his reputation as a writer for Doctor Who is largely based on one serial of which he was only co-writer and which was not based in on his own idea. He certainly didn't give his best ideas to the show.
I agree with you about Rowling though.
1. Steven Moffat - Opener
2. Steven Moffat - Dark Future Dystopia
3. Mark Gattiss - History, Regency.
4+5. Jamie Mathieson - Two Parter, original concept.
6. Russell T Davies - Return of one of RTD's companions? Perhaps Donna. Would love to see Donna vs Capaldi
7. Steven Moffat - Psycological horror a la Listen, or Blink.
8.Stephen Thompson - A romp in the veign of time heist, fun and clever.
9+10. Paul Cornell - A slower paced adventure, some breathing space for the series, something more mature.
11. David Renwick - Doctorlite episode, some of that Jonathan Creek Mystery stuff, no Aliens, a human affair.
12+13. Steven Moffat - Big finale, timey wimey, big budgety. With a Paul McGann co-starring role.
Male heavy, but perhaps tellingly, I know barely any female writers.
3. Rtd: autons on a space station
5 & 6.. ste moff and phil ford.. a meteroite carrying ice droplets from mars to earth.. when the infected water becomes frost humans become possesed and only ice warriors can help.. follow up to waters of mars
8. Rtd - a super-voc robot and single cyberman are forced to battle for entertainment on a distant planet in a wressling ring ...
9. Moffat.. the patience of angels. The doctor is confronted with his worst fear.. his exact opposite. Because the dr travels freely in time the exact opposite is frozen in time .. and now their roles are switched.. only a clever rouse with the weeping angels can reverse things in this doctor lite episode
11 & 12.. rtd and moffat.. the two doctors 10 and 12 are forced by the time meddler to rescue davros before the explosion of the crucible...
I'm happy to wait five years if necessary.
Episode 2 - Neil Cross (Far-future alien planet)
Episode 3 - Jamie Mathieson (Murder mystery)
Episodes 4 and 5 - Steven Moffat (Horror, emotional ending)
Episode 6 - Chris Chibnall (Fun romp of some kind)
Episode 7 - Neil Gaiman (Abstract monster)
Episodes 8 and 9 - Paul Cornell (UNIT story, big first part cliffhanger)
Episode 10 - Mark Gatiss (Fun romp of some kind)
Episode 11 - Ken Levine (Dystopian civilization, dark)
Episodes 12 and 13 - Steven Moffat (Huge-scale finale - intergalactic war)
1 - Steven Moffatt
2 - Jamie Mathieson
3 - Neil Cross
4, 5 - Toby Whithouse
6 - Rona Munro
7 - Paul Cornell
8, 9 - Jamie Mathieson
10 - Neil Gaiman
11 - Steven Moffatt
12, 13 - Steven Moffatt
Xmas Special - RTD
I would go with this list but i would swap Mark Gatiss for Tony Curtis
Sorry, bit of a long response time on this one but I've not looked at the thread since I last posted.
I used Douglas Adams as an example simply as he is probably the most famous and respected (outside of the show) author to have written for it, My point wasn't that he 'gave his best work to the show', but that such a prestige writer only has material in the Doctor Who archives because he created it (just) before he established his reputation: ie. it was early work. Doctor Who managed to find a great writer at the beginning of his career and has wonderful material like City of Death and the Pirate Planet (I'm aware not everyone would consider them wonderful but that quibble is beside the point) in its catalogue because of that. I think there is everything to be said for new writers in favour of old hacks living on their reputation.
Listen was a pretty new idea wasn't it?
How many ideas does he have? He's not really a fantasy / Sci-Fi writer. Perhaps having ticked the Doctor Who box on hi CV he feels no desire to write another.I would be surprised if they hadn't approached him given how well received 'Vincent and the doctor' was, particularly as it seems to have been a favourite with the production team too.