i envisage that the moff will be writing series 8 then passing his magic pen onto another head writer for series 9,,my worry is that 'head writer' may not be a life long fan of drwho and might not give it the respect it deserves

i wonder if the moff has more say in picking his successor or its down to the heads of the BBC and really he should be a life long fan of DRWHO

He has said he will have no say in the matter. Though I'm sure if he recommended someone the BBC would at least consider them.



As to when he goes, I would have said after Series 8 but now that he's got a new Doctor to play with he may stay on longer.


Depends on what stories he comes up with for Doc #12 I guess and if they need to be told over more than one Series.

couldnt imagine a head writer that wasnt really a fan of the drwho,,just a good writer in it for the money ,,think it would start to get silly .im a moff fan even although what happened to comic-con so i hope he stays till series 15 lol

Were the writers back in the old days fans of Who? It was, to be fair, only Pip n Jane who didn't know what the hell they were writing back then! I would say that there are a lot of very competent sci fi writers out there who would love to make their mark on the genre!

To be truthful maybe a non fan would be a good idea.

Maybe I should send them my ideas for a season.

I don't want Moffat to go. Anytime soon. And when he does I am sure the next showrunner will come from one of the existing crop of writers. Whithouse or Gatiss. Gatiss for me. His episodes have been variable but he gets the show.

I worry about the time when a non-fan gets hold of the show. Yes they might freshen things up. But equally they could abandon what makes it so special. I think you need to understand the history of the show to do it justice.

I do understand your worries but I honestly cant imagine that the head writer would be there if he wasn't a fan of the show. This show isn't Casualty or Eastenders where writers are inter-changeable and themes get recycled. Its sci-fi and hard to write for by all accounts so needs some-one special.

I would imagine Moffat does have considerable imput with the producers to choosing a successor. I hope they choose someone who has a cult writing background but they will need someone with loads of experience either way. Personally I like Ben Richards. I enjoyed Outcasts and Spooks.

I think Moffat will stay until Capaldi leaves; unless Capaldi stays for longer than Tennant. With all the characters he's introduced so far he's had a story mapped out for them from the word go; River, Amy and Rory, Eleven, and Clara. I think Clara's is the first story he SEEMS to have ended before the character leaves. Unless he does the same with Twelve I can't see him leaving until Thirteen is introduced.

I think it'll be difficult passing on Who to be honest; Moffat has written the show into a corner where it's become such a high end piece of drama it would take someone with similar skills to continue it. I'm not slating RTD here, I love his take on Who, but if we had had Moffat before RTD, ie, reverse their order, I don't think Who would still be as popular as it is now. It would almost feel like a step backwards. The production values right now just feel so high that to go to anything less would feel like the show was moving backwards.

I agree, I think he will stay until the end of the 12th Doctor's era.

Mark Gatiss is the most obvious choice for the next showrunner. I hope he gets to take over after Steven Moffat.

if gatiss takes over we will have stories like jammy dodgers defeating the daleks ,,bertie bassett monsters and mr sweet ,,i just dont think he can cut it ,,maybe neil cross but dont know if hes a fan

In defence of Jip and Pain Baker ...

I reckon their scripts are excellent. There might be a problem in the transition from script to screen though.

The cliffhangers are excellent (Vervoids come to life, Mel caught in bubble trap, Doctor rolling down hill towards pit).. They always use the companions well (Mel unwiring the ankle-bombs in time and the Rani, Peri doing some botany in Mark of the Rani). They know to keep the monsters hidden and creepy (Tetraps and Vervoids both kept offscreen and lurking). There are ingenious ideas and memorable characters and situations (bubble traps, Mogarians, vionesium, luddites). And, of course, THE RANI!

They could easily fill the script vaults by inviting fan fiction submissions! They would need an editor though to tidy things up and a writing panel to select the ones going forwards to filming.

Definitely going to be either Gatiss or Whithouse who takes over from the Moff. I'd quite like Paul Cornell though.

I actually respectfully disagree with you there. Moffat would have had the difficult task to make Who popular in the first place, and that wasn't not an easy task. He also wouldn't have had all the money to spend on production without the original success of the 2005 reboot. If RTD had followed Moffat, and Moffat had managed to make it successful in the first place, then RTD would have more money to spend on the production (if that makes sense) now.

Could be Chibnall.


And I'm sure I'm alone in this, but I want Moffat to leave so he can finally do that Press Gang reunion special.

well WHOever takes over im sure we will still have our crap stories,,mediocre stories and our best in the world type stories ,,just the main story for the season might not be as complex or interesting as it has been ,,possible to have a POLL ? anyone do that on here?

I think it will be John Barrowman. That way we can finally see a female Doctor played by Lacey Turner in bed with The Master. After sex, the Doctor gets pregnant, lighting up a cigarette she says "Well that solves the bloody regeneration problem!" What would a child by The Doctor and The Master be called? Brian perhaps? Or maybe "The Yoof"? What about Student Doctor?.

Didn't RTD choose Moffat though?

When Moffat does leave as showrunner, I hope he still writes episodes because he doesn't get chance to write episodes like he used to because he has to do the main stories instead.

I wish he would leave soon. Haven't connected at all with his convoluted version of the show and a lot if the choices he's made have just been plain naff... The title sequences, the theme, the characters of Amy River and Rory, the new Daleks, the tiny Tardis interior, the episode with the naff Cybermen (another wasted opportunity to make them great enemies on a par with the Borg).

If Gatiss takes over, I will cry into my Moffat DVDs until he leaves. It's one thing to hate a new Doctor before you've experienced him, but I've experienced plenty of Gatiss and have absolutely no desire to watch any episode or show with that man at the helm (I'll inevitably watch anyway in the desperate hope it's somehow good anyway).

He may well have highly recommended him but it wouldn't have been down to RTD to actually give him the job.

aww wouldve loved to do a poll on this but alas ive not done enough posts humph!!! ,,wouldve good to see who the favourite would be ,,would be gatiss i suppose ,,with hopefully a few episodes from RTD and SM to help him through the season