I konw I'm biased etc. etc. but there does seem to be some annoyance that two of the BBC's biggest shows, both of which Moffat's in charge of, have ended up with delays in transmission.
They could have shot part of Series 7 this year before the Studio move and been able to show all of it in 2012 but that didn't happen because the other two Producers jumped/were pushed off the show and 'Sherlock' ended up being bumped from late 2011 to early 2012. (And that was after they'd changed schedule to accomadate 'The Hobbit'.)
I think it's instructive to compare
Doctor Who to an American television production, as it shows how badly the situation is being handled, both from a production standpoint and a public relations standpoint.
NBC wouldn't tolerate the kind of delays the BBC is tolerating. They have a schedule they have to fill, and if Moffat isn't ready to fill that schedule, then NBC would replace him with someone who could. And before you say, "But that's not going to happen to an auteur-driven series like
Doctor Who," I'd point you to Aaron Sorkin and
The West Wing; Sorkin was as much the auteur of
The West Wing as Moffat has been of
Doctor Who these past two years, and NBC had Sorkin sacked and replaced with John Wells when Sorkin stopped delivering. I would
also point out that there was no production delay or "gap year" for Wells to get up to speed; NBC had a schedule to fill.
Moffat can play auteur on
Sherlock; that's his baby. He can't play auteur on
Doctor Who and make episodes when he feels like it in the same way as he can with
Sherlock because there's a "brand" there that needs to be protected and nourished.
Ironically, I think the BBC thinks
Sherlock is more important at the moment than
Doctor Who; the latter is an established brand, the former is an up-and-coming property than can
become a brand. That's the message of Danny Cohen's comments and Moffat's response back in the summer -- the BBC wanted Moffat to focus on
Sherlock, but Moffat didn't want to at the expense of
Who.
Ideally, what the BBC should have done was to bring in a showrunner to execute Moffat's vision on
Doctor Who (basically, kick Moffat up to Exec Producer on
Who), freeing up Moffat to work on
Sherlock and the other show he's developing for the BBC with Sue Vertue.
I suspect the tipping point will come when BBC Worldwide says, "Hey, guys, you're damaging our profitability over here." The David Yates'
Variety report on the film could be a shot across the bow at Worldwide's instigation for Wales to get its fecal matter together.
