Originally Posted by Shawn_Lunn:
“The lack of news at the moment is a bit depressing.”
“The lack of news at the moment is a bit depressing.”
I doubt we'll hear much till March or April to be honest.
The new companion should have been cast by then.
Moffat Is Leaving the Production Chair!
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I doubt we'll hear much till March or April to be honest.
The new companion should have been cast by then.
I wonder how everyone reacted when the news came out Doctor Who would go on a hiatus or be cancelled or whatever, before 2005.
Originally Posted by Brandon_Smith:
“I wonder how everyone reacted when the news came out Doctor Who would go on a hiatus or be cancelled or whatever, before 2005.”
“I wonder how everyone reacted when the news came out Doctor Who would go on a hiatus or be cancelled or whatever, before 2005.”
It certainly didn't go down very well in 85, even if the show was under huge criticism at the time.
Originally Posted by POTD:
“I agree with RTD making a clean break from the show, it must be impossible to go back to just be a jobbing writer of an episode, having someone else rewriting and controlling your story, so I expect Moff to also make a clean break which WILL be a loss for the show, considering how many of the most popular episodes from the revived show (from all sorts of surveys) have been written by him.”
“I agree with RTD making a clean break from the show, it must be impossible to go back to just be a jobbing writer of an episode, having someone else rewriting and controlling your story, so I expect Moff to also make a clean break which WILL be a loss for the show, considering how many of the most popular episodes from the revived show (from all sorts of surveys) have been written by him.”
Terrance Dicks and Robert Holmes had no trouble going back as just writers after having been story editors, so I think it's a very individual thing.
Originally Posted by IvanIV:
“Get Whedon then. He seems to have enough of a garden variety of superheroes, something quirky might be more interesting for him
I think they need a big-ish name to keep the show running safely. In position BBC is now they could do without controversies, possible rating issues, etc.”
“Get Whedon then. He seems to have enough of a garden variety of superheroes, something quirky might be more interesting for him
I think they need a big-ish name to keep the show running safely. In position BBC is now they could do without controversies, possible rating issues, etc.”
Would Whedon even be willing to live in the UK 10 months out of the year earning a faction of the wages he'd earn Stateside?
Originally Posted by DS9:
“Would Whedon even be willing to live in the UK 10 months out of the year earning a faction of the wages he'd earn Stateside?”
“Would Whedon even be willing to live in the UK 10 months out of the year earning a faction of the wages he'd earn Stateside?”
Probably not
Originally Posted by Tom Tit:
“They must wish that a writer would come in whose episodes would get the same acclaim as Moffat's. But year on year it fails to happen.”
“They must wish that a writer would come in whose episodes would get the same acclaim as Moffat's. But year on year it fails to happen.”
Whilst I agree with pretty much all that you've said, at the same time the show doesn't afford itself much exposure to many new writers who may take everyone by surprise. That's not in and of itself a bad thing (it affords the show a reliable success rate and a consistency), but if we look at Series 9 - Sarah Dollard is the one and only person who has not written for the 'Who universe' before. With Catherine Tregenna she's one of only two people who have not written for Doctor Who before. And with Whithouse, she's one of only three writers who hadn't written for the show just a year earlier (with Moffat, Gatiss, Mathieson and Harness all having contributed to Series 8).
With a set number of episodes a year, the number of writers per series is quite small as it is - Moffat has alternated between a writing team of seven and eight writers each year so far. Of those, there's never been more than three in any one year who are new. Again, that's not a bad thing and I'm not complaining about it at all (a wholly or even largely new writing team each year sounds like a disaster waiting to happen) but it means that with the majority of contributors to the writing team, the BBC and Moffat will know what to expect on some level. As an example Mark Gatiss, like him or not, has had a mixed reception amongst fans of the show for years - and his efforts in Series 8 and Series 9 are regularly cited as the weakest of the lot despite him being the most frequent contributor to the show after the showrunner himself.
I don't think the BBC needs to change anything about how writers are brought to the show (though if Gatiss writes another poorly received episode and continues to contribute beyond that I'd say it was fair for questions to be raised) but if they are indeed hoping for another Moffat success story then I'd argue that they're going about it all wrong. Even Moffat himself has proved that writing ability and showrunner ability don't always equate, and it could very well stand to reason that a writer who hasn't delivered a solid classic story could very well be someone who runs the show in a superb direction. I guess it's all about how many risks you're willing to take - I'd wager that the BBC is over-protective of the show to some extent, and that trickles down to an over-protection of Moffat which may have now resulted in the show suffering a quantitative loss as a result of obligations to also deliver Sherlock.
Originally Posted by Abomination:
“Whilst I agree with pretty much all that you've said, at the same time the show doesn't afford itself much exposure to many new writers who may take everyone by surprise. That's not in and of itself a bad thing (it affords the show a reliable success rate and a consistency), but if we look at Series 9 - Sarah Dollard is the one and only person who has not written for the 'Who universe' before. With Catherine Tregenna she's one of only two people who have not written for Doctor Who before. And with Whithouse, she's one of only three writers who hadn't written for the show just a year earlier (with Moffat, Gatiss, Mathieson and Harness all having contributed to Series 8).
With a set number of episodes a year, the number of writers per series is quite small as it is - Moffat has alternated between a writing team of seven and eight writers each year so far. Of those, there's never been more than three in any one year who are new. Again, that's not a bad thing and I'm not complaining about it at all (a wholly or even largely new writing team each year sounds like a disaster waiting to happen) but it means that with the majority of contributors to the writing team, the BBC and Moffat will know what to expect on some level. As an example Mark Gatiss, like him or not, has had a mixed reception amongst fans of the show for years - and his efforts in Series 8 and Series 9 are regularly cited as the weakest of the lot despite him being the most frequent contributor to the show after the showrunner himself.
I don't think the BBC needs to change anything about how writers are brought to the show (though if Gatiss writes another poorly received episode and continues to contribute beyond that I'd say it was fair for questions to be raised) but if they are indeed hoping for another Moffat success story then I'd argue that they're going about it all wrong. Even Moffat himself has proved that writing ability and showrunner ability don't always equate, and it could very well stand to reason that a writer who hasn't delivered a solid classic story could very well be someone who runs the show in a superb direction. I guess it's all about how many risks you're willing to take - I'd wager that the BBC is over-protective of the show to some extent, and that trickles down to an over-protection of Moffat which may have now resulted in the show suffering a quantitative loss as a result of obligations to also deliver Sherlock.”
“Whilst I agree with pretty much all that you've said, at the same time the show doesn't afford itself much exposure to many new writers who may take everyone by surprise. That's not in and of itself a bad thing (it affords the show a reliable success rate and a consistency), but if we look at Series 9 - Sarah Dollard is the one and only person who has not written for the 'Who universe' before. With Catherine Tregenna she's one of only two people who have not written for Doctor Who before. And with Whithouse, she's one of only three writers who hadn't written for the show just a year earlier (with Moffat, Gatiss, Mathieson and Harness all having contributed to Series 8).
With a set number of episodes a year, the number of writers per series is quite small as it is - Moffat has alternated between a writing team of seven and eight writers each year so far. Of those, there's never been more than three in any one year who are new. Again, that's not a bad thing and I'm not complaining about it at all (a wholly or even largely new writing team each year sounds like a disaster waiting to happen) but it means that with the majority of contributors to the writing team, the BBC and Moffat will know what to expect on some level. As an example Mark Gatiss, like him or not, has had a mixed reception amongst fans of the show for years - and his efforts in Series 8 and Series 9 are regularly cited as the weakest of the lot despite him being the most frequent contributor to the show after the showrunner himself.
I don't think the BBC needs to change anything about how writers are brought to the show (though if Gatiss writes another poorly received episode and continues to contribute beyond that I'd say it was fair for questions to be raised) but if they are indeed hoping for another Moffat success story then I'd argue that they're going about it all wrong. Even Moffat himself has proved that writing ability and showrunner ability don't always equate, and it could very well stand to reason that a writer who hasn't delivered a solid classic story could very well be someone who runs the show in a superb direction. I guess it's all about how many risks you're willing to take - I'd wager that the BBC is over-protective of the show to some extent, and that trickles down to an over-protection of Moffat which may have now resulted in the show suffering a quantitative loss as a result of obligations to also deliver Sherlock.”
I pretty much agree with what you are saying.
But i don't believe a showrunner doesn't necessarily need to have written on the show before, i am sure there are writers out there who are very good and have seen Doctor Who. And if the BBC were to hire them, that they'd do there research on the show's history and everything else and abide by the general rules.
But the problem with the current writers i don't see anyone who could take over. Like Gatiss would be in the same predicament as Moffat and Sherlock and how much input he already puts in i don't know. So it mightn't even be a big change regardless.
The likely choices right now (and I'm not saying it will or should be any of them) to succeed Moffat are Toby Whithouse, Peter Harness and Chris Chibnall.
Originally Posted by Shawn_Lunn:
“The likely choices right now (and I'm not saying it will or should be any of them) to succeed Moffat are Toby Whithouse, Peter Harness and Chris Chibnall.”
“The likely choices right now (and I'm not saying it will or should be any of them) to succeed Moffat are Toby Whithouse, Peter Harness and Chris Chibnall.”
Definitely I would have Toby and Chris. I'm not familiar enough with Peter I have to be honest.
Originally Posted by Shawn_Lunn:
“The likely choices right now (and I'm not saying it will or should be any of them) to succeed Moffat are Toby Whithouse, Peter Harness and Chris Chibnall.”
“The likely choices right now (and I'm not saying it will or should be any of them) to succeed Moffat are Toby Whithouse, Peter Harness and Chris Chibnall.”
While he has no show running experience so far I do wonder if Patrick Ness is being lined up for the post.
Maybe Class (in which Ness is writing all 8 episodes I believe) is only envisioned as a one series show and the plan is for him to be Head Writer on DW afterwards.
We could even see a character from Class join the main show as a companion if Ness takes over.
It could happen but they might want to test Ness out on the parent show too beforehand. It's more likely he'll get an episode for either Series 10 (if there's time) or Series 11 to pen first.
I think George Lucas is looking for something to do.
After the prequels Disney won't let him near the new Star Wars films - for some reason.
After the prequels Disney won't let him near the new Star Wars films - for some reason.
Originally Posted by Shawn_Lunn:
“The likely choices right now (and I'm not saying it will or should be any of them) to succeed Moffat are Toby Whithouse, Peter Harness and Chris Chibnall.”
“The likely choices right now (and I'm not saying it will or should be any of them) to succeed Moffat are Toby Whithouse, Peter Harness and Chris Chibnall.”
Chibnall has got Broadchurch 3 coming up this year, if that continues for a further series then that would rule him out
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