I was looking around the forums and saw the "Time for Moffat to go?" thread, and it started to make me wonder.

I really like what Moffat has done with the show, Series 5 being pure gold for me, and have genuinely enjoyed everything since then. If he stayed for a few more years, I wouldn't complain at all.

However, I don't want him to stay too long since by a certain point it would be nice to see the show be done with a fresh perspective.

The problem is though that while Moffat's stories under RTD were the best of that era, none of the writers under Moffat have seemed to keep consistent quality of that level. There have been some very good stories written by some very good writers, but no one has managed to wow me to the level I think they should.

Out of all the writers that have written under Moffat, who do you think is the best for succeeding him? What would they have to do in order to up their game to be contenders for the job of running Doctor Who?

Like I said, I like what Moffat has done for the show, but I'd like to see someone take over in a few years, but I'd rather Moffat stay on longer than he should, than the show go to someone I don't have confidence in.

(Personally, I think Neil Cross has potential. Both his stories were very good, so I'd like to see what else he could come up with.)

Someone who can steer the show to where it is far less fantasy/ fairy tale like. I hate all that 700 years have passed by from one scene to the next and token appearances of aliensike the cybermen who deserve more credit

Toby Whithouse or Howard Overman, preferably the former...

I'd love to see what Whithouse could do with The Mara

Also I think giving the Xmas Specials to guest writers like Neil Gaiman etc could work really well

Somebody with a smaller ego.

I was the one who brought the topic up in the other thread the OP mentioned, and as I said there I really worry there's no-one suitable. What is needed to keep the current standard is an original, first-class writer with humour and imagination, who also has huge fan knowledge and appreciation of the show. The show has been lucky enough to have two such people since it relaunched. But there's no evidence of a third I'm afraid.

I'm sure this thread will be full of people naming their favourite Who writers but the fact is none of them have had the consistency Moffat has had. Nowhere near. And to be honest, very few of them would even scrape into the Moffat / RTD dominated popular top 20 episodes even once. Not good. RTD relaunched the show extremely sucessfully with his own variation on the classic style. Moffat was the man who wrote all the best stories by a large common consensus and then successfully continued the show more or less in the same vein as RTD, with a few of his own tropes and quirks additionaly thrown in. That's the kind of pedigree needed.

Gattiss, Whithouse, Chibnall etc etc... sorry, but only the most myopic Moffat hater could objectively claim their input to the show is anywhere near to the kind of input Moffat had prior to being 'showrunner'.

There's no point saying Neil Gaiman - he would not give up his successful career as a novelist and his globe-trotting lifestlye to live in Wales and exec a TV programme. Besides which, he's not really an experienced TV writer(he himself has given Moffat a lot of credit for 'The Doctor's Wife')and in fact, only one of his Doctor Who episodes to date was really well received.

As I also said in that other thread, a few years ago Robert Shearman would have appeared to fit the bill. Unfortunately he's barely been involved with the TV show and is nowhere near the scene right now. From what I gather he didn't enjoy his experience of writing for the show.

Toby Whithouse definitely. I think they'd be mad to look elsewhere. Show running is a much different job than just writing the eps and he has experience of successfully running a genre show and has written for DW so understands it.

Moffat did some mistakes (like 2010 recap or splitting seasons etc.), but he is still the best person for showrunner. His era is fantastic and he wrote many brilliant episodes like Blink, Pandorica, Snowmen, Library, TNOTD etc. Also, he is the best in creating monsters. So I think he should stay as long as possible.
If he left, I think the best showrunners would be Paul Cornell or Neil Cross (although I am not sure how it would be accepted by some fans who, for some strange reason, hate Rings of Akhaten).
But, as I said, Moffat is still the best choiceand he should stay. Season 8 will probably be similar to 5 because of the new Doctor.

Someone who will continue to give the BBC huge ratings with the show, increases it's popularity worldwide (particularly the States) and will secure it's future for years to come. How about Steven Moffat?

He'd get my vote.

Just depends on whether or not he'd want the job.

It is rather all encompassing sort of one.

Not Gatiss.

This, could not have said it better

Toby Whithouse is 'tempted'
http://metro.co.uk/2013/03/11/toby-w...r-who-3536822/

My heart says Gatiss, but my brain says Whithouse.

Just please not Chibnall. NOT CHIBNALL. I've disliked all his scripts for the show. Especially the Silurian two-parter. Power of Three was almost on the money, but he screwed up the ending totally. He's more suited to drama like Broadchurch than Sci-Fi, IMO.

I love Gatiss, but not on Doctor Who. The Unquiet Dead was marvellous, but the rest just haven't hit the mark for me.

Whithouse seems like the most natural fit, but I do fear the show would lose something. He's solid, but I'm not convinced he's exceptional. I wouldn't be against it, but I wouldn't get excited about it, either.

It's tough, isn't it! I think the closest to an obvious fit will be MacRae, but not yet, in a few years time. He's run his own show, his Doctor Who episodes have ranged from good to marvellous, quite inventive, might be something there? We'll see how Cross gets on, too. I'll give him a pass for Rings of Akhaten, as it was a bit of a rush - hastily written on the heels of Hide, which was brilliant, and creative, and rather brave. I think a new showrunner needs to be a bit of a pioneer.

Crikey. Where are all the women?

agree completely, he's so hit and miss on individual episodes it would be a disaster. was going to say this earlier just didn't want to be mean by being the first

I'm going to say Chris Chibnall.

He has proved that he can write superb stories - notably Broadchurch - so it would be a good choice to have him. Yes I know that some will criticise this and cite the Silurian two-parter. But all writers have off days. Particularly Moffat with Lets Kill Hitler and The Wedding of River Song - two of the worst episodes ever written. Russell had an off day himself with Love and Monsters.

But give him a chance and I bet he will surprise a lot of his critics.

Steven Moffat for now. But when the time comes how about a show runner that doesn't do much writing but has strong sense of story and a vision of where he or she wants to take series, a continuity person, and a team of writers? It's the US model. Sorry, I've no suggestion for the names, but a team seems to me a good way of increasing the chances of good quality.

My vote would be Mark Gatiss. I'd like to see what he does taking over the overall arc. Taking into consideration his non-Who material, I think at his heart, he can bring back the stronger emotional threads of RTD that are sorely lacking ever since Moffit took over.

I like Gatiss but I don't think he'd move the show on enough from where it's at now and despite him being a great writer and a highly knowledgeable fan I don't think his writing for Doctor Who is his, or the show's, best.

I fear Chibnall would be something of a step backwards and as I've enjoyed the tone of Moffat's series more than Davies, that's not something that would be to my personal taste.

So like I say, for me it would be a toss-up between Whithouse and Overman ...

...It would be close were it not for Overman's asociation with Merlin and Atlantis but I find both of those shows ridiculous and wouldn't want Doctor Who to go that kind of silly.

Toby Whithouse for the win...
He writes good characters, knows how to construct a strong series arc and I really think he's the man to take the show where it needs to go next.

I don't understand why some forum members keep crediting Moffat for increasing the show's popularity in the states/rest of the world. It's just not true. Classic Who had a global viewership New Who could only dream of (100m+). And the success of the new show in the US today is as much down to RTD as Moffat - and Tennant remains the most popular and successful Doctor among US audiences.

Personally. I think the BBC is already talking to whoever is coming next and I bet it's Chibnell.

Gatiss, Chibnall or Whithouse.

Forgive me for not making the assumption that previous episodes will have any bearing on their capabilities as EP. Apologies, Mr. Moffat.

I think it's almost safe to assume one of those three will take over after Moffat leaves.

It will be interesting to see if the Beeb specifically looks for someone who is not a fan of the show, in the way both RTD and Moffat are, just to go for something completely different.

Which is why I said 'continue'. Being the first NuWho (which is what I'm talking about) showrunner, Davies obviously started it but viewing figures have increased during Moffat's tenure, certainly in the States. That's a fact.

I thought the BBC America figures were still in the region of about a million and a half, which the earlier seasons were also getting.