Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat quits to be replaced by Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall
Only a Doctor Who Christmas special will air in 2016. Moffat's final series to be broadcast next year in order to create a “huge event” for fans. Chibnall will begin his tenure in 2018
EBC: Northeners, Huh! What are they good for?! Absolutely nothing!
Cybertron, Justice league...MM, HAB SDN City Watch: Sergeant Detritus
Days Unstabbed, Unabused, Unassualted and Unwavedatwithabutchersknife: 0
Not thrilled about Chibnall, though I'll be damned if I can think of any of the current writers who I'd feel much better about.
But:
Hooray! Moffat's gone! Oh fuck yes!
Sorry. He really has done some good work for Doctor Who. I think of "Blink" and "Day of the Doctor" and I feel a little sad about this. Then I remember "Let's Kill Hitler", "The Angels Take Manhattan", and the end of "Hell Bent", among other things, and I am reminded of why I wanted this.
Whoever says "education does not matter" can try ignorance
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A decision must be made in the life of every nation at the very moment when the grasp of the enemy is at its throat. Then, it seems that the only way to survive is to use the means of the enemy, to rest survival upon what is expedient, to look the other way. Well, the answer to that is 'survival as what'? A country isn't a rock. It's not an extension of one's self. It's what it stands for. It's what it stands for when standing for something is the most difficult! - Chief Judge Haywood
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Hmm. I wonder if Capaldi will leave at the same time. Like Smith he'll have done three series over four years by then. And the showrunner could have a new Doctor to put their stamp on.
I enjoy Moffat's first series with Smith. But Snowmen drove me off. I got lured back for the 50th and stayed around for most of Capaldi's first season but his finale was so bad. I haven't watched the most recent series at all.
What's Chibnall done that got everyone dreading him?
Crazedwraith wrote:What's Chibnall done that got everyone dreading him?
Torchwood, which had only one decent special over its entire run.
Whoever says "education does not matter" can try ignorance
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A decision must be made in the life of every nation at the very moment when the grasp of the enemy is at its throat. Then, it seems that the only way to survive is to use the means of the enemy, to rest survival upon what is expedient, to look the other way. Well, the answer to that is 'survival as what'? A country isn't a rock. It's not an extension of one's self. It's what it stands for. It's what it stands for when standing for something is the most difficult! - Chief Judge Haywood
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I haven't seen much of Torchwood, so my concern is mostly based on his role in the current Doctor Who writing staff. I'd prefer an outsider to come in with a fresh vision and perspective, rather than recycling the same writers.
Crazedwraith wrote:What's Chibnall done that got everyone dreading him?
Torchwood, which had only one decent special over its entire run.
And to be specific, he was with Torchwood during the first two seasons, and was not a part of the Children of Earth (which I presume is the special you're referring to Thanas). Though to be fair, at least he wasn't involved with the abomination which was Miracle Day.
Here is his list of episodes, make of it what you will:
Doctor Who 42 The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood Pond Life Dinosaurs on a Spaceship The Power of Three P.S.
Torchwood Day One Cyberwoman Countrycide End of Days Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang Adrift Fragments Exit Wounds
"I reject your reality and substitute my own!" - The official Troll motto, as stated by Adam Savage
Whoever says "education does not matter" can try ignorance
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A decision must be made in the life of every nation at the very moment when the grasp of the enemy is at its throat. Then, it seems that the only way to survive is to use the means of the enemy, to rest survival upon what is expedient, to look the other way. Well, the answer to that is 'survival as what'? A country isn't a rock. It's not an extension of one's self. It's what it stands for. It's what it stands for when standing for something is the most difficult! - Chief Judge Haywood
------------ My LPs
Nothing else on that list that I've seen rises above solidly mediocre.
However, being a bad writer doesn't necessarily mean that you'd be bad at being a show runner, provided you focussed more on the general direction of the show/managerial stuff and less on trying to personally write every other episode like Moffat. Also, in fairness to Chibnall, we don't know how much editing and executive interference his work was subjected to, as he was nowhere near the top of the food chain, so to speak.
Realistically it was going to be either Chibnall, Mark Gatiss or Toby Whithouse who replaced Moffat. And while I'd personally have preferred Whithouse, I'll take Chibnall over Gatiss, since the former has done some decent work on Who, whereas the latter has churned out some real garbage in recent years.
Also, just as a historical curiosity, here's a clip of a young Chibnall going head-to-head with notorious OldWho writers Pip and Jane Baker: link
Told you it wouldn't be Gatiss. He didn't want the job.
I would have preferred Toby Whithouse too, but never mind.
I don't actually know what to expect with Chibnall, his doctor who episodes seem to very much conform to the "house style" of the series they appear in rather than have a uniqueness. I don't like Torchwood much, but a lot of that is due to the fact that a lot of the sci-fi/fantasy elements are often somewhat toned down, and that there's too many "adult" bits. It's very difficult to do this on Doctor Who, so those problems disappear.
I have to admit I liked the first season of Broadchurch even though I guessed the killer right away (which drove my family nuts). 2nd season sucked, but it was entertaining trying to spot all the legal errors.
"I reject your reality and substitute my own!" - The official Troll motto, as stated by Adam Savage
Tribble wrote:I have to admit I liked the first season of Broadchurch even though I guessed the killer right away (which drove my family nuts). 2nd season sucked, but it was entertaining trying to spot all the legal errors.
Indeed. The first season of Broadchurch is why I am stoked to see him run the DW show. That's my only metric, though.
Looks to be official that Moffat's last season as showrunner will be Capaldi's last too.
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If so, that's a pity. I like Capaldi as the Doctor, and would have liked to see what he could do under a different head writer.
Edit: Also, could you give us a source? I haven't found anything that's definitive from a source I consider particularly credible, so I'm still inclined to put this in "rumour" territory.
I've heard it rumoured a lot, and to be honest, I've been expecting it. In fact, if you look back in the show's history then only two Doctors - Hartnell and Tom Baker - have worked under several production teams with noticeably different styles, so it wouldn't surprise me if the intention is for Chibnall to reboot the show in the same way that Moffat himself did in 2010.
It seems the ultimate source for this is the tabloid-that-has-been-surprisingly-accurate-recently The Mirror (maybe they've started phone hacking again).
However, what they seem to say in the actual article is not that capaldi is leaving, but some BBC executives are considering allowing Chibnall to have a clean slate: i.e. this is not universally agreed on and is somewhat down to the judgement of Chris Chibnall.
"A source on the BBC show said: “Bosses are already discussing a fresh start when Steven leaves.
I bloody hope Capaldi stays for another 2 series at least. Hell, if they can maintain the overall quality of his last series (taken as an average, episode to episode there were some wild swings) then I'd love for him to beat Tom Baker's run.
I realise that's probably unrealistic, however.
Yeah, I've always taken the subtext of the Birther movement to be, "The rules don't count here! This is different! HE'S BLACK! BLACK, I SAY! ARE YOU ALL BLIND!?
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jwl wrote:It seems the ultimate source for this is the tabloid-that-has-been-surprisingly-accurate-recently The Mirror (maybe they've started phone hacking again).
However, what they seem to say in the actual article is not that capaldi is leaving, but some BBC executives are considering allowing Chibnall to have a clean slate: i.e. this is not universally agreed on and is somewhat down to the judgement of Chris Chibnall.
"A source on the BBC show said: “Bosses are already discussing a fresh start when Steven leaves.
Chimaera wrote:I bloody hope Capaldi stays for another 2 series at least. Hell, if they can maintain the overall quality of his last series (taken as an average, episode to episode there were some wild swings) then I'd love for him to beat Tom Baker's run.
I realise that's probably unrealistic, however.
I don't think he would want to beat Tome Baker's run, eight years is a loong time to play a single role for an actor. Though, since he is older and nearer the end of his career than the start, it may be much more feasible for Capaldi to stay on for a long period than say, Smith or Tennant.
Baltar: "I don't want to miss a moment of the last Battlestar's destruction!"
Centurion: "Sir, I really think you should look at the other Battlestar."
Baltar: "What are you babbling about other...it's impossible!"
Centurion: "No. It is a Battlestar."
Corrax Entry 7:17: So you walk eternally through the shadow realms, standing against evil where all others falter. May your thirst for retribution never quench, may the blood on your sword never dry, and may we never need you again.
The other thing is that with Who going in hiatus every so often, and only 12 or so episodes a year, the current shooting schedule is probably less onerous than old-style Who with its multi-episode serials.
Really, though, it's up to Capaldi whether he'd like to go more than the typical three series or not.
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Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.
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