Was that the Paul McGann nite? If it was , then yes, he did well there. I don't disagree with everything he's done!

I think Robert Shearman would be an awesome show-runner. He wrote the episode "Dalek", and a some really cool Doctor Who audio plays. And wonder if Terrence Dicks would come back to write an episode or two.

As it stands, I'm happy with Moffat staying. His long spanning epic story-telling can be a little exhausting, but he is a great writer, and he's written lots of great episodes.

We have to wait till series 9 finale for Gallifrey to come back?

(Speculation)

I'm not gnashing my teeth and I'm not a Moffat hater by any means but crikey I do hate some of the hyperbole Moffat uses. It just gives a strong impression of 'look how much cleverer I am than you the audience' . I know writers have creative licence to play with the stories as they see fit but look at how much was promised with 'the doctors REALLY dies' in Series 6 and how poor the actual resolution was using a machine double.


have to be honest my first reaction was Oh No as I do agree with your first point SilentFez. I really wanted to see where someone else could take the show in Series 9. It really does need someone with some fresher ideas, new writers. I don't agree with some posters who say who could possibly take over ? There always are new people coming through in TV.

I do really hope Moffat can pull it off in Series 8 as I really want Capaldi to be a success but I really would like to see a consistency in the story-telling that has been somewhat lacking since Season 5 in my opinion of course.

Why's that then?

Chris Chibnall? Mark Gatiss?

They would be my two preffered candidates for the role of head showrunner.

Argh! I must live long enough to see Moffat retire from Doctor Who. That and paying off my house are currently my goals in life.

You know he can just be teasing. He knows everything he says makes people cross.

Pity.

Time for someone new to come in with a fresh way of looking at it. Toby Whithouse would be perfect and has mentioned before that he'd likely take the opportunity to do so.

I don't mind him, I'm 50/50 about his stuff.

The negatives: The whole arc thing in Matt's era was IMO a mistake. It was an interesting idea but I think it was trying to hard to be clever rather than good story telling.
The finals were too the same, the explanations were messy and it wasn't a case of not understanding, some things just did not make sense or didn't fully explain what was going on. I'm sorry but "the Doctor can get it wrong" is the easiest get out for plot holes and half abandoned ideas.

The positives: The casting - all the regulars are superb. The words - on the whole the characters and dialogue has been great. ( I don't understand why it's the "cleverness and plotting" of the scripts that get all the attention when to me it's his creating characters such as Amy and Rory and the 11th that were his strong point - yes the actors were also involved but he gave the words).
There were some great ideas and episodes.

On the hole I don't mind him staying for S9 but I think that probably should be it. I disagree with changing the show for the sake of a headline or just to put a stamp on it (new daleks etc) but as said previously even the best person needs to move on to stop things becoming stale. The show is greater than the parts.

PS: Actually one thing I thought when I read the DWM it said they are on to the final block recording. So far they've filmed eps 1-9 does this mean the series will be 11 eps long with a Christmas Special? (on the assumption that the last block is 2 episodes and not 3) making it 2 episodes short of the normal...

801. Written by Steven Moffat. Directed by Ben Wheatley. Filmed (Block 1).
802. Written by Phil Ford. Directed by Ben Wheatley. Filmed (Block 1).
803. Written by Mark Gatiss. Directed by Paul Murphy. Filmed (Block 3).
804. Written by Steven Moffat. Directed by Douglas Mackinnon. Filmed (Block 2).
805. Written by Steve Thompson. Directed by Douglas Mackinnon. Filmed (Block 2).
806. Written by Gareth Roberts. Directed by Paul Murphy. Filmed (Block 3).
807. Written by Peter Harness. Directed by Paul Wilmshurst. Filmed (Block 4).
808. Written by Jamie Mathieson. Directed by Paul Wilmshurst. Filmed (Block 4).
809. Written by Jamie Mathieson. Directed by Douglas Mackinnon. Filmed. (Block 5).
810. Written by TBC. Directed by TBC (Block 7?).
811/12. Written by Steven Moffat. Directed by Rachel Talalay. Filming. (Block 6).

+ Christmas
"13 episodes in 2014"

I'm the exact opposite of that view - I think Moffat's strong point is his storylining and his weakness is his characterisation. I thought Matt, Karen and Arthur were superb with what they were given but (for me) it all felt superficial emotionally.

Back in seasons 1-4 I really understood Rose's infatuation with the Doctor, Martha's unrequited love and Donna's need to get away from her boring life so, as a viewer, I had an emotional reaction to what happened to them.

But I understood Amy far less. She seemed more story arc than person. And although I loved Clara during her first appearance (Asylum of the Daleks) during the rest of season 7 all we really had were a few montages thrown in to explain her life and background. It all felt like a bit of a shortcut because Clara’s main role was to facilitate the ‘impossible girl’ story arc.

I am really hopefully, however, that with all of that out of the way and a new Doctor on board, we will see Clara developed as a person. I honestly thing she has the potential to be the next Sarah Jane Smith.

Clara is a weak point but I feel that this is the fall out wit having a companion who is some plot twist rather than a person.
Amy did have that too, maybe it's just the way KG portrayed it.
Guilty secret time.... I didn't really like Rose
Martha was great but the whole unrequited love thing I never bought. Donna was just amazing! I just wish she didn't cry in most of her episodes, but that's a slight itch.

The story lines for me sound great but it's the lack of resolution that is frustrating and the fudging of plot holes.