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Chris Chiball Interview

Great article, not of just Chibnall, but also director James Strong, who is no stranger to Doctor Who and will undoubtably be returning after a long absence.

Interesting that Chibnall seems to have some radical approach to the storytelling for the show and I hope that approach will provides some much needed fresh air. Strong certainly thinks the show needs it.

As for the five-year commitment, that could go either way. Davies stayed for five years, doing four series and the specials, whereas Moffat will have stayed for seven years, doing six series. Both of them probably outstayed their welcome, so I worry about an artificial time commitment, certainly one as long as five years. I really do hope Chibnall is the fresh blood that show desperately needs, but how long can that last? Us fans put a lot of hope and dreams into Moffat...
 
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An excellent quote from former (and hopefully returning) Director James Strong in there as well:

“It used to be at the heart of the schedule, an unmissable family show and, for some reason, it’s slipped a bit from the national consciousness. For me, when it goes towards storylines that are a little bit more for the fans, I think you can lose that general appeal. I think Chris is going to offer a slightly different take on what the show should be.”

Coming 3 days after the return of Alpha flipping Centuri and 11 days before the return of the cloth-faced Cybermen I'm actually feeling optimistic that the new man in charge understands that there are things that need fixing.
 
Well, that quote doesn't fill me with confidence. I don't want Doctor Who to just become something all different and completely forget the fans just to bring in some more of the general audience. Of all Doctor Who's problems right now, having elements for the fans is not one of them, not even close. Hopefully that Strong guy doesn't have any influence on the actual show.
 
See, that quote can be seen both ways. For me, I don't mind fan-picky moments, as long as the overall story has something to offer and such.
 
See, that quote can be seen both ways. For me, I don't mind fan-picky moments, as long as the overall story has something to offer and such.

Yeah. Obviously the story needs to be good first, but if you have a good story there is nothing wrong with adding things for fans, like bringing back an obscure alien species (like we've had twice this series so far, I think) or referencing an old adventure. I just don't think doing something for the big fans is wrong by itself, and I'd argue that all the big problems of Moffat's last few years have absolutely nothing to do with him putting too much stuff "for the fans" in episodes.
 
Indeed. I always thought one of the best things that Moffat did was continue to solidify NuWho's connection with OldWho, which RTD certainly didn't dissuade from, but lets say he was more keen to use Martha Jones in series 4 than, say, the Brigadier. I like that there was a sense of true continuance with the old show, because it added to its charm and flavor.

What I DIDN'T like was that he basically gave up on the show and pretended it was a kids' show for angry adolescents. Also, I don't think the story arcs can be attributed to fandom, as they all sucked since series 5, and for good reason: They were boring, half-hearted stories with little depth. The worst of them being the Hybrid, which is indeed a fanboy-ish thing for Moff to explore, but something clearly the fans didn't want to see answered, at least not by him (kinda like the origin of the Immortals in Highlander - better leave it a mystery). If there ever was a time to explore that, it was the 50th anniversary, which the trailer CLEARLY HINTED AT. But Moff being Moff, trolled and trolled.

Sorry, this suddenly became a Moffat rant, but the point is: Moff's a fanboy and he clearly has his own idea of what DW should be. He rewrote whole chunks of NuWho left by Davies (like the whole Time War and the fact there was another Doctor there) and almost rewrote OldWho with Hybrid. Chiball is right if he thinks those were unecessary detours from the importance of story.
 
I wonder if Chibbers is still planing on setting up a US-style Writer's Room for the series; a concept that doesn't really exist in the UK outside of Soap Operas?
 
Indeed. I always thought one of the best things that Moffat did was continue to solidify NuWho's connection with OldWho, which RTD certainly didn't dissuade from, but lets say he was more keen to use Martha Jones in series 4 than, say, the Brigadier. I like that there was a sense of true continuance with the old show, because it added to its charm and flavor.

What I DIDN'T like was that he basically gave up on the show and pretended it was a kids' show for angry adolescents. Also, I don't think the story arcs can be attributed to fandom, as they all sucked since series 5, and for good reason: They were boring, half-hearted stories with little depth. The worst of them being the Hybrid, which is indeed a fanboy-ish thing for Moff to explore, but something clearly the fans didn't want to see answered, at least not by him (kinda like the origin of the Immortals in Highlander - better leave it a mystery). If there ever was a time to explore that, it was the 50th anniversary, which the trailer CLEARLY HINTED AT. But Moff being Moff, trolled and trolled.

Sorry, this suddenly became a Moffat rant, but the point is: Moff's a fanboy and he clearly has his own idea of what DW should be. He rewrote whole chunks of NuWho left by Davies (like the whole Time War and the fact there was another Doctor there) and almost rewrote OldWho with Hybrid. Chiball is right if he thinks those were unecessary detours from the importance of story.

Well, I personally really like what Moffatt did with the Time Lord, and that he brought back Galifrey. It was past time the Timelords return, the show had done absolutely everything interesting with the concept of "Last of the Timelords", and I was glad to see that element of the show return. I also really enjoyed Day of The Doctor, and thought that The War Doctor was a good replacement for the 9th Doctor not wanting to come back. Also, while I dislike the silence I do really like and even love a lot of Series 6 (I'm a big River fan, and A Good Man Goes to War/Let's Kill Hitler are two of my favorite NuWho episodes).

But, we can agree that the Hybrid was f&*%$@g awful, and I'd say every ongoing story arc since series 6 really wasn't good, even if we had some good episodes here and there.
 
I don't think there's a problem per se with indulging fans. For the fans seeing Alpha Centuri was a "squee!" moment but for everyone else they probably just thought it was a crazy alien (you could say the same about the Macra in Gridlock I guess). They might have thought they were missing something, they might not have, but it's such a quick flash of fan service that does it do any harm? Cloth faced Cybermen might be another matter as they seem more integral to the plot, but again people surely just go "Oh a different kind of Cyberman." and leave it at that.

Do you think most of the viewing public realised who Rassilon was in TEOT or did they just go "Oh Timothy Dalton's some crazy, spitting Timelord dictator!"

For me RTD didn't champion the classic series enough, but I can also see that in a lot of respects Moffat has championed it too much. As with many things that I liked/which irked me about both showrunners, I'm hoping Chibnall can find a middle ground. A Whovian goldilocks' zone if you will.

I think as well however much store people put in it not being as popular because of Moffat/complicated storylines/too much fan service etc. etc. you have to factor in is that maybe people stopped watching because they got tired of a show that's been on their screens over ten years.

It's interesting to note that Chibnall apparently has a daring concept for the show which suggests he and the BBC aren't just going to play it safe by trying to ape RTD/Tennant's run, which I think would be the worst (yet conversely the safest) thing to do.
 
It's interesting to note that Chibnall apparently has a daring concept for the show which suggests he and the BBC aren't just going to play it safe by trying to ape RTD/Tennant's run, which I think would be the worst (yet conversely the safest) thing to do.

On the one hand I'd be really happy if they don't play it safe with a Tennant clone. On the other hand, I've seen Chibnail's "daring concept" for something before with what he did to the Cybermen, and it was basically the single worst thing done with the aliens in the entire franchise (Cyberwoman :barf2:), so I'm wary of him trying to break away from the norm. Obviously he can't do something exactly like that on Doctor Who, but that's what I think about when I think of Chibnail trying "daring concepts". Hopefully whatever he does is a lot more successful and actually still feels like Doctor Who.
 
I think the daring concept is more along the lines with the context of the article itself, i.e. what made Broadchurch so popular: A single storyline over the course of the season (radical for the show because it was a single murder case).

I'm guessing Chibnall is thinking of revamping the format for the overall season, perhaps something along the lines of The Key to Time but with tighter writing. I'm all for it as long The Doctor and companion aren't Earthbound the whole time.

While I understand your weariness about "Cyberwoman" (a truly horrible low point for the franchise), I think he's a much more mature writer now thanks to Life on Mars, Law & Order: UK, United, Broadchurch, and, of course, Doctor Who itself.
 
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@kirk55555 yes hopefully Chibnall's rad concept isn't to make Who more "adult" like Torchwood. He owes us good Who after Cyberwoman.

I liked the last two Who scripts he wrote and even some of his second season TW episodes were quite good. I think my only worry is that I don't think I've ever seen anything he's written that holds a candle to RTD or Moffat at their best (insert but why does the showrunner have to be a great writer argument here)
 
From the sounds of things over the past few weeks, it appears that there aren't going to be many people currently involved in the production of the series who are staying on under Chibnall, so it does look like we're in for major changes all round.

Oh and if anyone fancies becoming the new "Head Of Franchise Marketing" for the series get your application in now!

http://careerssearch.bbc.co.uk/jobs/job/Head-of-Franchise-Marketing-Doctor-Who/22645
 
I hope at least Jamie Mathieson, Toby Whithouse and Rona Munro are invited back to write, otherwise I'm fine with a wholesale changeover.
 
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