Yes, him or Toby Whithouse.


Gatiss doesn't write huge, game changing episodes. He just writes solid, enjoyable ones. But perhaps a calmer few years would be good after the turbulence of Moffat's era.

Toby Whithouse would be much more preferable, especially if he brings that guy from Being Human along with him to play the Doctor. It would be the perfect combination!

I don't think there should be one showrunner. These shows are made MUCH better as a collaboration between creative minds.

The key word here being "creative"!

If there is one thing that this thread has demonstrated, it is that, no matter what you do, you cannot please everybody. It would be interesting to see the evidence on which those who think he would be a good, or bad, show runner base their opinions. Thinking that he is a bad writer isn't evidence, just a gut feeling.

If you mean Aiden Turner, I agree, he'd make an admirable Doctor. But he's extremely busy filming Poldark for next few years...

Thinking he's a bad writer is an opinion, it doesn't really need evidence.

For example, I have no doubt that if Gatiss was showrunner, he wouldn't necessarily run Who into the ground, I'm sure it would continue to be a success.

But as I've not enjoyed a single episode of Who he's produced beyond: "eh, that was alright", then I have absolutely no desire to see him as showrunner. He's written eight episodes of Who now, I'd say that's a large enough sample size to come to a conclusion about someone's personal writing preferences.

I'm sure someone could do an AI or IMDB or something comparison of his episodes compared with the average but IMHO a Gatiss run Doctor Who is not a Doctor Who I'm interested in.

Lol have no idea what you mean 😢

Yes aiden turner or the guy who played Hal

I agree with you that Toby Whithouse did a fantastic job as showrunner for Being Human. I still hope it will come back at some point.

But who are you referring to when you say bring that guy from BH along with him to play The Doctor?
Do you mean Aidan Turner or Damien Molony?
Surely you don't mean Russell Tovey do you? I hope not.

I dont think he did but whats wrong with Russel Tovey is it because he already played Alonso or his personality?

I just think he'd be a terrible choice. He can be very annoying when he does 'wacky' and it's the type of wacky that I really don't think would be right for Doctor Who.

Nothing to do at all with him being in the show previously as a different character.

Oh I get it

Yes Hal was played by Damien Molony.
I think both have their individual strengths. I thought they were both excellent in their respective roles. Out of the two of them I'd say that Aiden Turner would have more chance of getting the part. He has become quite established with viewers due to playing Poldark and being a massive hit with viewers. I can imagine him as a dynamic and intense Doctor. Damien Molony more as a brooding tortured Doctor.
Both of them are very good young actors.

I'm not sure about it really. Mark Gatiss has done some really good stuff. I really liked The Unquiet Dead and he also did an excellent job writing the Hartnell Docudrama back in 2013.

However, last night's episode wasn't one of his better ones.

However, you don't know how different the show would be under him, whether he'd go his own way, keep the Moffat legacy going or whatever. It isn't just about the writing but the style as well.

So to judge whether he would or wouldn't be any good as showrunner is a bit hard to gauge really.

Id say Aiden Turner too urggh I was so emotional when Mitchell asked his friends to end his long life. All he wanted to do was escape the supernatural drama and bloodlust and be with his best friends.

I agree. It seemed like much more of a team under RTD, Gardiner and Collinson (sp?) although I gather there were some clashes (?). But perhaps that's because I watched Confidential at the time (didn't see much of Matt's under Moffat before it stopped) - ?

Anyway I think the team thingy with one who has the final say is the way to go.


Completely agree. I can't believe he's amongst the most prolific non-showrunner writers for the programme (number one?). He's failed miserably more than he's half-succeeded. I enjoyed Crimson Horror and Robot of Sherwood was fine for its 'romp' slot but there has been some absolute dross in there imo.

How someone can generally only hit the heights of 'average' at the very best could take over the whole show successfully...not a chance!

RTD was actually very enthuastic about him taking over Tennant as the Eleventh Doctor. Sounds like he left just in time if you ask me. Nothing against Tovey, he's a great actor, but you could be the greatest actor in the world and that doesn't neccessarily make you Doctor-material.

I wonder how the show would fair if it didn't have an executive producer (head writer) and just had a producer and script editor? For example, the stories that came out whilst Barry Letts or Philip Hinchcliffe seemed to click with the audience so much better and neither of them were exactly story writers, although sometimes Letts would contribute to stories, they obviously knew what worked.

Really? Good grief. You're right, RTD probably left just in time.
No I have nothing against him either. It's just that after seeing how he sometimes is in things like Being Human, you just know how the Doctor Who team would have him play the Doctor.
There are many people who weren't so keen on David Tennant and Matt Smith's wacky zany moments, but they'll have been nothing compared to Russell Tovey as the Doctor.
Like you say, he is talented, but I fear what the makers of Doctor Who would do with him. They'd have him doing his 'thing' which he often did in Being Human.

This, entirely.

The same applied to Moffat back in the late 2000's when everyone was talking about him taking over from RTD. They saw four very revered stories between 2005 and 2008 and automatically deducted that that would translate into a revered golden era of scary, consistently praised episodes.

What a writer can bring to the table as a writer, may well be different to what he/she brings as a showrunner. Part of the reason I think Toby Whithouse is a popular choice is because he's been a reasonable success at doing both writing and running shows - and is perhaps the only example of that mix in the regular writers roster. Other writers either don't have the showrunner experience to warrant that kind of recommendation (Jamie Mathieson) or aren't as regularly praised for their writing skills (Mark Gatiss).

Style and direction are a massive aspect of the show, that has to in essence carry the writing not just of the showrunner but also of their assembled team of writers that work with him/her. It's impossible to know how things would unfold under any writer, though naturally one or two do creep through as seemingly more suitable candidates due to their mix of experience and general tally of success.

I thought last nights episode was awful, I really wouldn't want him to take over.

I don't want to get too much into moaning about RTD as I'm not a huge fan of his stuff, but I felt his idea of who the Doctor is was always off. David Tennant is a good example of this, as I think he has a great actor and an amazing person, but his Doctor didn't cut it for me because he just didn't feel right in the part (I get a lot of abuse for feeling like this).

To me, the Doctor has always been the kind of man who could be anybody and everybody's hero because of his protective, father or uncle-like kind of role, kind of an icon more than a character. With RTD, however, he tried to turn the character more into romance material and he ended up becoming the dashing love interest for a large chunk of the companions, whom we're supposed to see the show through the eyes of. That just kind of took away what he was about for me and I couldn't look at him with the same kind of idea as someone like Jon Pertwee or Patrick Troughton.

That's a great point.

But I also know that a great writer is a great writer and he will do something interesting with an assignment or a brief. And Gattis never has. If Gattis was a great writer he should have written great episodes by now. A good writer has that versatility. When he writes one episode a season and it tends to be mediocre then why would anyone suppose he could write 5 and they would be good?

The proof is in the pudding as they say. And Gattis' 'puddings' are rather bland and unaccomplished. I certainly wouldn't want to eat them for 12 weeks straight.

He does have a lot of support in the mainstream media coverage for Doctor Who, where he is regarded, presumably on the strength of name recognition, as one of the show's principle writers. He even got name checked in the announcer's intro to the last episode ('the nightmare world of Mark Gattis' or something like that), which is unusual for a writer. That shows that the BBC regard his name as a selling point. As I say, the media likes him. I understand why; I like him too. I can well imagine he will take over from Moffat. For me that would mean I'd probably stop watching. I don't mean that petulantly, it's just that the show would no longer have the quality to hold my interest. How can I be so sure? I've eaten enough of his puddings to know what they taste like :P (as well as his tv writing, I've also read one of his novels, so feel I have more than given him a chance)

Completely agree. I imagine if Gatiss took over I'd try to carry on watching and no doubt some of the standalones by other writers would still be top notch but I can't see myself carrying on with Who for too long.

If Gatiss got the job all we would really have is Moffat light, the show is crying out for a kick up the arise (and I don't mean change the doc into a lady, which seems to be moffats obsession) .

New blood would be great about now and I can think of no one better than Toby Whitehouse,. I loved being human and his style would work perfectly

But why don't we let someone from left field have a go? My pick would be Stracznski, he's a fan of the show, give him a 4 season contract and let him do a Babylon. 5 style arc, and see how good the show could be