Who do you think is most likely to take over from Steven Moffatt when he steps down as show runner? Who are the likelist contenders and what type of the salient features of Doctor Who would they tease out to consolidate their vision for the show? I think the four likeliest people would be :

Mark Gatiss
Tom McRae
Toby Whithouse
Gareth Roberts

Apologies if there is already a thread on this topic

I would like it to be Gary Russell.

Neil Gaiman! We can dream...

He's not a TV producer, and the BBC could never afford him.

I was thinking of posting the exact same thing. Literally, those were the exact words I was going to use....spooky.

Hence the dream part...

Great minds and all that...

Out of those, Tom MacRae - if we could have episodes of the calibre of The Girl Who Waited nearly every week, I'd be on cloud 9

I second the dream of having Neil Gaiman though, that would be awesome!

I've a feeling it will be someone who hasn't written for the show so far. Moffat was pretty much a given considering hoe well received his episodes were during RTD's era, but there really hasn't been a single, consistent writer in Moff's era who has delivered stand-out eps every time they put one out. Consequently, there's no real driving force for any of them to be the next showrunner.

The other way to lok at it is that "new blood" is often a very good way to reinvigorate a show. Having someone fresh in charge after several years of Moffat would hopefully keep the creativity new and different. Of course, such a move could go spectacularly wrong, but there are plenty of good writers with showrunning experience out there and there must be many who are also Doctor Who fans.

I've a feeling Gatiss will take over, because he's written episodes since series 1 in 2005 and he works with Moffat on Sherlock.
Unfortunately, a lot of fans hate him, so he would be a very unpopular choice.
Personally I don't mind. Some people believe that Moffat's writing has dropped in quality since he took over, so perhaps some people will hold opposite beliefs with regards to Gatiss. Maybe his writing will increase in quality. Who knows? If it's Doctor Who, I'll like it.

I'd say Tom McRae, Crash of the Elyssium really captured the essence of Doctor Who.

Just to point out a Show Runner does need to be more than just a writer. They're a producer (and, at least going by RTD's account, quite a bit more) and have to be able to juggle a whole lot of balls at once, not least of which is bringing the whole show forward and making 13 scripts feels like a cohessive whole. Moffat fell into that category as he's done the job before and has a fair bit of experience at bringing series to the screen. Plus his wife is a producer which probably doesn't hurt.

Some like Gatiss, for example, doesn't really have that background. He's written Who and other shows and has been a co-producer but hasn't really got a huge background in creating a full-blown project. Finding the right mix of writer, producer and public personality is going to be very difficult and may, IMO, result in a real left field choice for the next Who runner.

Hopefully Russell T Davies

The Digital Spy forums.

I think its fair to say that there's not a chance in hell of that.

I would love to see Toby Whithouse take on the role... none of his three contributions in Series 2, 5 or 6 have been poor and he has tackled a wide variety of themes, genres and settings in his episodes already. His range has quite some scope to it, and I'd love to see an episode/two-parter from him in Series 7... I think he superbly balances the domestic zest we got with RTD and the fantasy charm we get from Moffat.

When given space to breathe Gareth Roberts delivers great stories too. I quite like Mark Gatiss as well... he has quite a negative reputation these days but I loved Night Terrors, and for all of its faults Victory of the Daleks had a great script.

agreed! with all of what you have said!

With Whithouse i think that he should do a two-parter in series 7. I have liked/loved his episodes! and he does deal with a range and a scope.

Plus....Being Human...need i say more as to why he is amazing as a show runner Which will mean when The Moff decides to leave Whithouse will be a worthy successor, he would have written for more series of the show and of course he may have other projects too

And i love Mark, i hate how slammed he gets...and VIctory Of The Daleks was a superb episode i felt! While not the best "Dalek" episode, it was definitely a fave of mine

Tom MacRae i think could prove himself too. He has dealt with Cybermen and .....The girl Who Waited! and throughout The Moffs running of the show he too can grow and develop and handle more stories across the series!

Given that it is very early days and we don’t know how long Moffat intends to stay it’s difficult to really answer this question.

However people should remember that (as noted above) running Doctor Who involves much more than simply writing episodes and overseeing the writing of others. Whoever sits in the show runner chair will be a hands on executive producer and will be expected to be involved in all aspects of the production. People should also remember that Doctor Who is an expensive flagship BBC1 drama and that the BBC will expect and get someone with experience who they likely have an existing relationship with to take over on the show.

For example there’s a suggestion that Moffat was the obvious replacement for RTD because his episodes were well received but that’s not the case at all. Moffat was the obvious replacement because he has experience running shows and a pre-existing relationship with the BBC. The second the BBC commissioned Jekyll it was obvious Moffat would eventually replace RTD as show runner on Doctor Who. Although that was thrown into doubt when TinTin came along obviously…

As things stand from the current crop of writers for the show Toby Whithouse and Gareth Roberts look like the most viable Moffat replacements to me and I’d give the edge to Whithouse myself. Of course if Chris Chibnal can be tempted back to British television he would certainly be an option as well.

Mark Gatiss can't write for shit, but I have a feeling it will be him.

I would like either Tom MacRae, Toby Whithouse or MAYBE Gareth Roberts but Gatiss needs to stay away from producing, and being head writer.

Gareth or Tom. Maybe even Toby.
But never Neil, his storys have been ok at best. Never liked them, Victory of the Daleks was a 3/5. Night Terrors was just ugh.

I'd stop watching if he got control of the arcs.

Paul Cornell seems to have been erased from time unfortunately, why is that? He should write more stories for the show.

Anyone but Roberts. He's just too in love with old-skool Who and still struggles with a characterisation of the Doc that isn't more about the forced wackiness than the depth that Moff and RTD imbued him with.

i think mark gatiss was fantastic in league of gentlemen, however, for me, his doctor who episodes are routinely the worst episodes of the series.

If he took over as show runner ild still give it a go but i have a feeling i would eventually turn off.

however i think if he made the storylines simpler the general public would probably end up coming back.

What he said.


Paul Cornell is currently very busy writing for DC Comics, and has been for the past several years. The demands of writing monthly series' probably allow little time for other writing.

I'll third this.

I think you mean Mark Gatiss.



I haven't disliked Gatiss' stories, but I would agree that they aren't anywhere near the standard as other episodes and I too have a feeling he will take over. However, as I've mentioned earlier, maybe he will take us all by surprise with his brilliance? Who knows?