I am not surprised with Chris Chibnall being the next show runner (good luck to him - he will need it). He has plenty of show running experience and has written enough sci fi to know what it entails. I've found his DW episodes to be mainly solid without being spectacular but having some strong elements - to be fair I'd need to re-watch a few to pass judgement.

The other bonus is that I can now re-watch Life on Mars and Torchwood again. I am not great at remembering Torchwood episode names but I've got a feeling he wrote some of the stronger ones/my favourite ones - which is good. I did like Broadchurch which i though was well-crafted - I preferred series 2 over 1 which makes me a minority I think.

I was expecting the scheduling to be this so am not surprised or too disappointed.

My hopes are:

Series 10 gives Capaldi consistently good scripts to perform.
The new companion has both character and a character arc.
Capaldi stays for Chibnell's first series at least (though I will understand if that doesn't happen)

and probably most importantly..

Chibnell gets a fair crack of the whip to prove himself!

I cannot believe we have to wait until Spring 2018 for Chris Chibnall's Doctor Who.

TWO years!!! That's just cruel

I see what you did there.

Chibnall was the one I suspected would take over ever since he was given the Pond Life assignment. We know he can make good drama, even if his Who achievements haven't been stellar. Perhaps low expectations will work in his favour and he'll work hard to make it good and not trust too much in his own brilliance.

Agreed with everything you say. You beat me to it but I edited my post to get rid of the bit about falling out of love with the show as it sounded terribly whiny and melodramatic and I am sure it will return again as and when Moffats final season arrives and we have the prospect of maybe a new Doctor and a brand new era. But you're right- I think the possibility of Capaldi leaving is worse than Moffat going because I think Moffat has had his time on the show. But then like I say I dont think it is best if Capaldi stays. So yes. I'm all very conflicted and feeling very meh in general. They could at least have given us a special or two!

Boo. Call yourself a fan? Get that knee jerking with the rest of us!

Twitter is in Meltdown about it.
But the hints have been there for a while looking back.
PC saying he wanted to do other things. Moffat is clearly focused on other projects and I just wonder if casting a new companion has been harder than they imagined
looks like that long thread about no who in 2016 was right all along

Here were some of the reactions to RTD leaving the show. History repeats itself. :P

http://m.forums.theregister.co.uk/fo...ies_naffs_off/

And for all the fans who are getting worked up one way or another about Chibnall's appointment, remember that the vast majority of Doctor Who watchers will not care one teeny bit who the showrunner is.
People will watch if the show is good and grabs their interest, (and is on at a sensible time) - or if the show doesn't do this, they'll find something else to do. Whoever the showrunner is, won't matter at all to 99% of the viewers.
For that matter, just to put things into a bit more perspective, the vast majority of what's written here, or on other fan forums, doesn't matter at all to the BBC.

Moffat: "Fancy Who?"

Chibnall: "What...?"

Moffat: "That's fantastic (throws to him metaphorical keys). Have fun!"

Very interesting tweet from Mark Gatiss-

'Sclavus liberatus felix est x'
'The freed slave is happy'

Make of that what you will. I think its quite obvious...

Got a bit of a gammy leg...

This is probably closer to the truth than some might think.

It seems to have become a common myth, mostly spoken by his detractors, that Moffat is some evil emperor who has refused to relinquish control of the show. I think this is utter nonsense. Look at the Gatiss tweet. Though he wont say as much (yet) I think its quite likely Moffat will be glad to leave.

I agree, suspect he's stayed on from a sense of duty to the show for a while now.

It's time for Moff to go, but it is a shame there will be no Who this year.

However, I am gutted that the Chib is taking over. I'll give him a chance, but I'm really dreading it. I guess by 2018 I will be nearing my 30's, so it might be time to say goodbye to the show, but I will give him a chance. I did like some of his Torchwood episodes, but I haven't liked one of his Who ones. Not a good day for a lot of Doctor Who fans.

6 years is probably enough its not an easy job, and it was obviously causing issues with Sherlock as well, but I think unless season 10 hits it Ill always be slightly disappointed the Moffat era never quite hit the marks for me, it was better than RTD era for sure but I felt Moffats tenure as much as it echoed classic who in parts, and I liked the 50th anniversary,it became far too convoluted or obtuse at times for its own good.

Chibnall Ive no opinion on, I never liked Torchwood, and I couldnt have told you which Doctor Who episodes he'd written without looking them up.

but no more Who till next year, exc the christmas special, thats not good, even if it means a more predictable timeslot, like thats guaranteed anyway, I assume Capaldi will find something to do in the meantime, but expect he wont stay beyond his current contract.

This is every Chibnall episode he has written on Doctor Who and Torchwood.

42- Am i the only one who liked this episode? I thought it was creepy, enjoyable and a good idea

Silurian 2 parter- Not the best episode but the story had merit and some great moments

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship- One of the best episodes of season 7, it was funny, lighthearted but it also had some not so light moments. Like when the Doctor let that lad die.

Power of Three- Nothing amazing, interesting idea of a story, but it was solid. And some good character development.

Cyberwoman- Not a good story at all

Countrycide- Amazing story this one, and wow it was creepy

End of Days- Trusted with the finale, was an average episode

Adrift- Definitely a more serious episode and was a good one

Fragments/Exit Wounds - Amazing episodes, and dealt with the character deaths very well.

That isn't a bad resume for Chibnall. He can write horror episodes well, writes the characters well, can do very serious episodes, can do some light hearted episodes and he knows the show very well.

42 is his only Doctor Who episode I've remotely liked. The Hungry Earth, Cold Blood, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship and The Power of Three would all rank in my bottom ten ever.

Admittedly I never realised that he wrote Adrift - which ranks as my favourite non-Children of Earth episode of Torchwood. So to give him his dues he's really impressed me...once.

Why is he screwed exactly?

all i can think now is I'm 30 when it comes back.

I can't say I've particularly enjoyed any of those episodes, especially not with Torchwood as besides CoE I didn't particularly like the whole direction of that show.

I will give him a chance, but if I don't feel his vision is working for me then I may have to pass on the show for the forseeable future. I wouldn't want to be one of those who ruins it for everyone else by moaning every week about how the show is ruined.

As long as people give him a fair chance it doesn't bother me.

Fair enough if people want to watch a Chibnall-produced DW.

But personally, I dislike Chibnall's writing so much I'm actually going to stop watching "Doctor Who" when he takes over. Looks like the the "Classic Who" threads only, for me from now on!

How about you give him a try as showrunner to begin with.

The difficult part of that, though, is how much exactly is a fair chance? Would it be half a series in and giving it a rest, or a few episodes into every series to see how it's shaping?

Yep, Moffat has kept with Doctor Who while a replacement could be found. He's a fan after all, he would rather stay in charge than leave the show in the lurch. For that I will be grateful to him.

I've been happy with Moffats era, like Russell before him for every Pandorica Opens there's been a The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe. Not every episode was perfect but some were stellar. But some of the comments elsewhere are not called for.

I'm happy to reserve judgment on Chibnall, his episodes have been a mixed bag for me (42 was letdown by some of the guest cast than the story tbh and the Power of Three needed some tweaks to its ending), but there is the potential for a good and different era.

I just hope that they choose the right actor for The Doctor should Peter leave with Moffat, not just go for a mirror of Tennant as some want (no disrespect to him but The Doctor should move on not be a tool for fangirls to fawn over). Not that I want Peter to leave, if he could break the 3 series pattern that's been established that would be excellent but all the signs are there......

Edit - biggest disappointment I can see at the minute is the prospect of two Christmas specials in a row continuity wise!