Perhaps G Sales is C Skinner...

I wasn't questioning the PE story, just the difference of interpretation between PE's "no full series" and what is now being stated by some on DS as "no series".

There could be a big difference. If PE had information that there was to be no series next year, then I'm pretty sure that they would have stated "no series" rather than "no full series".

And that disregards any possible filming next year (as again, "no full series" would imply that a number of episodes would be in production in 2016, but airing late 2016 and over to 2017).

And your source / proof for this is? Otherwise it's little more than another conspiracy theory...

Oh I see. Yes it doesn't all seem to make sense to me either. Surely it doesn't take a whole year to film three episodes of Sherlock? I can see how they have to jump on Sherlock when Freeman and Cumberbatch can free up time in their hectic schedules and that may well clash with filming Doctor Who, but surely it would only delay it for a few months? So they could film a new series of Doctor Who for broadcast in say January 2017?

I like Sherlock. I like Doctor Who. It's just unfortunate that they can't seem to exist in the same universe...

I remember how when promoting Series 8 they quite deliberately made sure to point out that Series 9 would air in the same way.

Now it's "too early" to talk about.

This is the same as saying it could have a full series next year.

A non story.

There could be aliens on Mars. There could not be aliens on Mars.

If Moffat can't commit then perhaps it's time for a new showrunner. I had wondered whether series 10 would be split as Moffat confirmed previously that both series 8 and 9 would be run in the same way (one full series in a year). His comments about a possible movie are laughable now; 'would you rather lose a year of the TV show for a movie?' Well, if the series is split then we WILL lose a year of the TV series so they may as well move forward with plans for a film.

Moffat should have quit last year. The show is becoming stale and it sounds like production's going pear shaped again. He may well be an exceptional TV writer but his Doctor Who is not exceptional.

I agree Moffat should leave..But I loved Series 8 and so did many others

Do you want to save the same tired old bashing of Moffats writing and creative output for the a thousand and one other threads you've rehashed it in? This is about the pratical decisions and management and production of the series- as you will see many including me are of the opinion it's Moffats time to go should this be true- but it is not about the relative merits of his writing so do us a favour and dont derail the thread.
And its actually utter nonsense that the show is stale- quite the opposite. Even many of Moffats loudest detractors had a lot of good to say about S8. So save your personal axe grinding for somewhere else ffs.

I enjoyed it too. But it wasn't exceptional. There are plenty of TV writers who could have delivered something as good, if not better. I just don't feel the future of the show is reliant on Moffat staying. In fact it sounds like his continued connection with the show will be detrimental.

Can't they get a team in to look after DW for a year while Moffat concentrates on Sherlock, that way Moffat can still give the general tone and tell the team what they can and can't do but he doesn't have to be full on.

Failing that Moffat needs to go if he can't deliver a series each year, I mean come on delivering 12 episodes of a television show every year shouldn't be impossible, the fact it seems it is means Moffat should be replaced as he can't do the job.

I also can't wrap my head around this idea that no one else can do it (or team), Really! If that's the case then DW is done for, but its not because that's stupid, there are lots of people or teams that can do it, just give them the opportunity and have some imagination in the people who they choose to do it. Its just a show at the end of the day just hire people who can make shows, get writers in, get the crew and do it.

They could do a series of standalone stories so each writer just needs to worry about their story and not having to tie it up in some big arc (like how classic who was run)

Sure Moffat may be held in high regard but put in a team for year to give him a break, why does everything need to stop because he can't be around full time.

I've always been on the fence with Moffat, sometimes I think he's brilliant and then other times he's done some rubbish stuff, but generally I wasn't disappointed to hear that he was staying on for s8 then s9 then s10 even though I would of preferred someone new I went with it thinking oh ok he does do some great stuff amongst the not so great stuff so lets see, but now if this rumour is true I'm sadly have to be very against him being the boss because at this point he's hurting the show, there should be a full series each year when there's the same people in charge, if it was a changing of guard year then a shorter run is more understandable, but as its not and its apparently because of other work then that's really not good, the show should have people giving their all and delivering a full series.

Colour me disappointed.

Again until an announcement this is all conjecture but it may be a case of Moffat wanting to have his cake and eat it.

He knows the time between Sherlocks is only going to increase as Cumberbatch and Freeman get ever more in demand so if he does the right thing and gives up DW to focus on that then come the latter end of 2016 he risks finding himself without either of his two big franchises to work on. Of course he could get a writing job pretty much anywhere he liked but does he want to move onto new things? At the same time he knows that if anything Sherlock is now 'bigger' at least in certain terms than DW especially with the frenzy over Cumberbatch which doesn't seem to be abating any time soon and he knows the opportunities to film that are precious so he won't jeopardise that either by focussing on DW.
I think the best thing would be if he agrees to specials only in 2016- big long epics- and uses these as his fairwell to being headwriter. Do what RTD did and bring in his best team to co-write and there you go. 6x90 minutes of TV for 2016 split evenly between Sherlock and Doctor Who.

Of course that won't happen.

Sherlock wasn't supposed to clash. Series 4 was supposed to start filming after Doctor Who, this year, wasn't it - up until a few months ago?

They are both v busy so quite possibly the case.

Doctor Strange starts filming in November, turns out.

And then we don't know who Freeman has signed up for in Civil War (though a few have speculated)- there is every chance he could be in multiple pictures albeit in a fairly small role and certainly nothing like the workload Cumberbatch will face with DS. But it all adds up. If anything three years between Sherlock will be the standard maybe even longer. It's quite nice in a way that the format allows for that though. There isn't the necessity for consistency like other shows so it could go away for five years and then return for a Christmas Special and be central to the schedule.

Oh I can't be bothered.

Deleted.

From a reputable poster on GB - Faith Penhale was asking specifically about the Dalek pod/carriers seen swooping down on Gallifrey in the first Time War bit of DotD - but that's much harder to work into a scathing comment.

(Don't know if that's true or not, obviously, just felt it worth mentioning).

That is all he knows (personal attacks and swearing). He will never debate anything on the merits. He is simply an attack dog who goes for the throat every time at any perceived possible slight. He will never actually debate anything and he ignores everything except what he perceives to be the weakest link (not in his opponent's debate points or facts, but) in his opponent's person or mode of writing. He will then attack that whilst ignoring all of the actual debate.

I imagine everyone will be feverishly working on a 'united corporate stance' to take on this given that we must be near the start of the usual media blitz of interviews and puff pieces that herald the start of a new series and this will be a very large elephant in the room.

I'm not liking this news! I much prefer either a full series, or no series at all!

I can see why the BBC want to do this, though. They want to give the show's cast and production team a break from the strenuous task of filming a full series.

Well...It seemed to work in 2009, so why not?

The 2010 series skyrocketed? You must have seen a different series to me. Obvious on-screen budget cuts, the first horrible realisation that Moffat doesn't understand the series properly after Russell T's apparently-effortless mastery of the revived format and Moffat lumbering poor Matt Smith with a bafflingly manic characterisation and, in Amy Pond, one of the most irritating and unlikeable companion characters in the show's history...and a general marked downturn in the show's place as 'must see' TV. More of a damp squib than a skyrocket and sadly it's been much the same - often worse - ever since. Even Peter Capaldi struggled to rise above the half-hearted scripts of much of his first season and risks becoming another wasted opportunity.

So just saying "quite the opposite" is enough to debunk an opinion that the show is going stale? Interesting idea. I say "quite the opposite" to your "quite the opposite." Season eight was Moffat's best but by episode four it was back in fairytale "look, things under kids' beds" mode again and as for the terrible, terrible Frank Bottrell Boyce effort... Moffat really is a two-trick (at best) pony and he needs to move before he damages the brand any more... Russell T ran DW and closely oversaw Torchwood and Sarah Jane; Moffat can't cope with twelve DWs and three Sherlocks every other year. DW demands to be run by someone with huge reserves of stamina and a prodigious imagination; Moffat seems to have neither...

What a disaster. I was only saying the other day how much worse S6 and S7 were because of the split series.

We finally get two series of consistency and then this happens. Disgraceful really. Damages the show.