It's always nice to see old Doctors, companions and monsters return and I do think there needs to be a balance between new and returning elements to keep the show's continuity strong. But Moffat is IMO staying too long and it's time for a fresh take on the show.

Capaldi is OK, but nowhere near as good as I hoped / expected, Coleman is abysmal, probably the worst companion ever, most of the scripts of Series 8 are risible and none of the episodes I'd wish to view again (life is far, far too short) except maybe the Mummy episode.

Really? Adric, Dodo, Kamelion, Mel??

Pretty much agree 100% with this post.

All miles better than the obnoxious, smug Clata. (And what was wrong with Dodo!)

I find it totally inconceivable that nobody wants the job! I'm sure there are lots of people who do, and let's face it, most of them could do a better job than Moffat.

You seriously prefer Kamelion to Clara?
Re Dodo - dreadfully acted, and absolutely no character.

Not sure what you've been watching for the last 10 years if you think RTD and Moffat have very similar visions of the show!!!

I think you are forgetting / conveniently ignoring the 1979 ITV strike. The rest of your post is pure fantasy / re writing of history. After The Robots of Death and The Talons of Weng Chiang were fans wishing for Hinchcliife's departure? Of course not!

Of course I prefer Kamelion. As for your description of Dodo, IMO, a perfect description of Clara,

Perhaps my post was a little difficult to understand. I said broadly speaking, RTD and Moffat have the similar visions of the show. Especially when compared to producers such as Hinchcliffe and Williams who both clearly had very different visions of the show.

Not sure if that was Williams, or the BBC giving in to Whitehouse and demanding the horror be toned down which was replaced with humour. Plus also Baker getting more out of control. But Series 5 of New Who is a lot different from 1-4.

Not fantasy at all - if you were involved in organised fandom back then you'd know that the fans were not completely united behind Hinchcliffe at all. Williams wasn't seen as necessarily better than Hinchliffe but a great many fans were massive supporters of the direction in which Williams initially took the show. What is re-writing history is the commonly held view these days that the Williams era was considered poor. Not in 1977 / 78 it wasn't. It might not be well regarded today, but that certainly wasn't the case at the time.
I personally didn't like what Williams did with the show, but my views back then were somewhat out of step with the views of many other fans at the time.

My point, however, is not so much the Hinchliffe / Williams divide but that whoever is the incumbent producer always, almost without fail, gets a lot of stick from the fans and the fans always, almost without fail, pin their hopes on whoever might be next. Then the next producer is feted for a while before he somehow becomes a figure of hate amongst those who profess to love Doctor Who. It's always been this way. And always will be I'm sure.

I would imagine that this, more than almost anything else, is why it's so hard to find a replacement for Moffat. I quite agree that plenty of talented people would love to run Doctor Who, and I'm sure there is probably a number of people who are actually very capable of running a complex, demanding and unique show like Doctor Who. But it's the extraneous demands on such a showrunner - the sheer amount of hatred and insults and derision that such a showrunner is subjected too - which is what puts off most sane people from taking the job.

Brilliant post.

Basically Boz Inexplicably Annoying Name to Type what this comes down to is that it's people like you that are actually putting people off taking the job of showrunner which means in a beautifully ironic, serendipitous way so delicious I can't decide whether I want to sprinkle sugar on it and eat it from a bowl or take it to Paris in the springtime and put a ring on its finger that it's your fault no one else is stepping up and you're helping extend Moffats reign. Please carry on!

I don't think Moffat is bad, I just think the right time for him to leave would have been in Series 9, just as the 2009 specials were RTD's right time to leave. I've enjoyed the Moffat era for the last five years, but I think it's someone else's go now.

As far as I'm concerned, Toby Whithouse is the ''natural successor'' to Moffat. I've given him the ''Moffat test'' as well.

1)Has he written for the show before like Moffat did?

Yes

2)Were his episodes well recieved?

From what I saw, all Whithouse written episodes garnered decent reviews, though I do consider ''Vampires'' a tad underrated.

3)Is he a fan of the show?

Seems to be.

4)Is he willing to do it?

Gave an interview a few years back suggesting he would be interested if asked.

5)Showrunning experience?

Being Human, nuff said.

Hilarious!! I can just imagine the BBC meeting:

"Congratulations, we'd like to offer you the highly paid, high profile, post of Doctor Who showrunner. You get the chance to shape Doctor Who for the next few years, you get your own column in DWM and you get free foreign travel. Welcome aboard".

"I'm sorry, someone with the user name Boz made a mild criticism of some recent Doctor Who on Page 9 of a Showrunner thread on the Doctor Who sub forum on the TV forum on Digital Spy so I am afraid I am going to have ti turn down the offer."

"Oh no, you're the 10th person who has turned down the job because of that dratted Boz. We therefore have no choice but to keep employing Mr Moffat who is thankfully immune to all forms of mild criticism".

What a delightful opinion-a-thon!

Just slap them on the table and I'll see who has the most substantial opinion on the matter.

Is it me?

No?

Oh well. Worth a try.

My apologies. I wasn't aware I was dealing with someone only able to deal in very literal concepts. Noted.

Your hatred for Moffat and Jenna is why i hope Moffat stays on beyond series 10 and Jenna stays an extra year, just to wind you up, mate, The iroy would be so delicious!

Slayer2012

Where's the hatred mate? Just expressing an opinion. <rolleyes>

Really, no need to apologise, please don't feel bad about it, it's only a forum, no need to take it so seriously.