Moffat was almost leaving at Christmas

[StCoop]

Moffon the subject:

"That's an issue I'm actively engaged in," says Moffat. "Everything is difficult in Doctor Who, including leaving. I'd never leave it in the lurch because it means too much to me. Let's not pretend it's not a big problem. But there will be a solution."

Certainly going on everything that's leaked out about the last two episodes they sound like his "Stolen Earth/Journey's End", in terms of throwing everything plus several kichen sinks in. And like RTD he now has the problem of what to follow it up with.

Maybe it would have been better to just take the series off for a year or two and then relaunch it rather than having Moffat come back out of obligation rather than desire?

 

[Squiggy]

"A new companion gives us the chance to relaunch the show. And we’ve got a really cool new idea about how to do that.”

The entire concept of Who is built around relaunching/starting/generating. You've got opportunity to do pretty much whatever you want, whenever you want as part of the DNA. Why do you need to wait until whenever the companion decides to leave (and come back and leave and comeback and leave) to relaunch? Sounds like he's making an excuse. You're the show runner. Run the damned show.

Speaking of Clara, here's an article about how she was wasted.

 

[DWF]

I'm sure there are no shortage of promising producers but do you really think the BBC will hand over a flagship program to some up-and-comer without suitable credentials under his belt?

Like Phillip Hinchecliffe in 1974?

 

[StCoop]

I'm sure there are no shortage of promising producers but do you really think the BBC will hand over a flagship program to some up-and-comer without suitable credentials under his belt?

Like Phillip Hinchecliffe in 1974?

Are you seriously comparing what he had to do 41 years ago to what the person in charge will have to do now?

 

[Captaindemotion]

^Exactly. Very different days.

 

[DWF]

I'm sure there are no shortage of promising producers but do you really think the BBC will hand over a flagship program to some up-and-comer without suitable credentials under his belt?

Like Phillip Hinchecliffe in 1974?

Are you seriously comparing what he had to do 41 years ago to what the person in charge will have to do now?

I'm say ing that he very little experiience as a producer before he took over. And really once Moffat does leave they're going to bring somebody in, if not they'll cancel the show as threatened to do when RTD left.

 

[Captaindemotion]

DW was basically a low budget kids show back then. Now it's an expensive jewel in the BBC's crown and a big seller overseas. They will want to hand it on to someone with a proven track record.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I'm sure there are no shortage of promising producers but do you really think the BBC will hand over a flagship program to some up-and-comer without suitable credentials under his belt?

Like Phillip Hinchecliffe in 1974?

Are you seriously comparing what he had to do 41 years ago to what the person in charge will have to do now?

I don't think anyone thinks the BBC will -- or even should -- hire a producer for their first major production on Doctor Who.

The things I'm looking for:

1) Previous genre television experience, though not necessarily Doctor Who experience

2) Experience hiring a writing staff and running a writer's room

In other words, I'm looking for an Ira Steven Behr or a Bryan Fuller rather than a Mark Gatiss or a Chris Chibnall. And if you get the idea that I would like to see Doctor Who adopt an American model of writing, with an actual staff rather than a gaggle of freelancers, you'd be correct.

There was no reason, for instance, that the show had to have the production problems on "The Wedding of River Song" that it did. Had Moffat had a staff of writers and a break session on the story, anyone could have written it. It was Moffat's insistence that he write the script himself that led to the script being a very late first draft.

 

[Green Lantern]

I think Steve Pemberton would be a good choice. Just sayin'.

 

[DWF]

Like Phillip Hinchecliffe in 1974?

Are you seriously comparing what he had to do 41 years ago to what the person in charge will have to do now?

I don't think anyone thinks the BBC will -- or even should -- hire a producer for their first major production on Doctor Who.

The things I'm looking for:

1) Previous genre television experience, though not necessarily Doctor Who experience

2) Experience hiring a writing staff and running a writer's room

In other words, I'm looking for an Ira Steven Behr or a Bryan Fuller rather than a Mark Gatiss or a Chris Chibnall. And if you get the idea that I would like to see Doctor Who adopt an American model of writing, with an actual staff rather than a gaggle of freelancers, you'd be correct.

There was no reason, for instance, that the show had to have the production problems on "The Wedding of River Song" that it did. Had Moffat had a staff of writers and a break session on the story, anyone could have written it. It was Moffat's insistence that he write the script himself that led to the script being a very late first draft.

Moffat wasn't going to allow anybody else to write River Song, even with a staff it would've ended up the same way. They don't need a genre exiperienced producer, they need to seperate the producer from the head writer and make the script editor the head writer again. They also need to plan the season out in advance, Moffat's era IMO was and still is rather random.

 

[RoJoHen]

The entire concept of Who is built around relaunching/starting/generating. You've got opportunity to do pretty much whatever you want, whenever you want as part of the DNA. Why do you need to wait until whenever the companion decides to leave (and come back and leave and comeback and leave) to relaunch? Sounds like he's making an excuse. You're the show runner. Run the damned show.

It really is odd the way this show bends to the will of whoever is involved. Frankly, this season shouldn't have had Jenna in it at all. She said she was leaving. The BBC/Moffat should have said, "Sorry, you can't be in this season. You said you were leaving, and we've already starting working on this season without you."

 

[USS KG5]

Well they probably CAN do that, it doesn't mean they necessarily want to!

Why not? Any shake up at this point is bound to bring in more ratings.

Well it might it also might not!

 

[ATimson]

Moffat wasn't going to allow anybody else to write River Song, even with a staff it would've ended up the same way.

Why? He's been more than happy to let Justin Richards and Big Finish's writers take a crack at her.

They don't need a genre exiperienced producer, they need to seperate the producer from the head writer and make the script editor the head writer again.

I don't think that's necessarily true. I think that the head writer can have the title of executive producer, like RTD did (or like they do on many American shows). They just need to leave the day-to-day producing to the Julie Gardners and Phil Colinsons of the world.

 

[The Wormhole]

Moffat wasn't going to allow anybody else to write River Song, even with a staff it would've ended up the same way.

Why? He's been more than happy to let Justin Richards and Big Finish's writers take a crack at her.

A bit different. Justin Richards actually wrote a fictional character very obviously based on River, while Big Finish are doing their River audio dramas after her arc on the show is done.

 

[DWF]

Moffat wasn't going to allow anybody else to write River Song, even with a staff it would've ended up the same way.

Why? He's been more than happy to let Justin Richards and Big Finish's writers take a crack at her.

They don't need a genre exiperienced producer, they need to seperate the producer from the head writer and make the script editor the head writer again.

I don't think that's necessarily true. I think that the head writer can have the title of executive producer, like RTD did (or like they do on many American shows). They just need to leave the day-to-day producing to the Julie Gardners and Phil Colinsons of the world.

Moffat has no control over the big Finish stories, but the show is his right now and River is his character, only has written for her on the show. RTD's credit was producer, the show has only had one executive producer and that was Barry Letts in the 18th season, Technically on British shows in the past the script editor was the head writer, the producer handled the other aspects of the show.

 

[ATimson]

RTD's credit was producer, the show has only had one executive producer and that was Barry Letts in the 18th season

Not true. RTD, Julie Gardner, Mal Young, Moffat, Piers Wenger, Beth Willis, Caroline Skinner, and Brian Minchin have all been credited as executive producers. (Wikipedia says that several others have also been credited for one or a few episodes, but I'm not going to pull out the DVDs to confirm those. I verified Moffat/Minchin in the credits for "Fear the Raven", and the others all jive with my recollections.)

 

[DWF]

RTD's credit was producer, the show has only had one executive producer and that was Barry Letts in the 18th season

Not true. RTD, Julie Gardner, Mal Young, Moffat, Piers Wenger, Beth Willis, Caroline Skinner, and Brian Minchin have all been credited as executive producers. (Wikipedia says that several others have also been credited for one or a few episodes, but I'm not going to pull out the DVDs to confirm those. I verified Moffat/Minchin in the credits for "Fear the Raven", and the others all jive with my recollections.)

My fault then, but I still say Moffat as a producer should ber seperate from the writer. He clearly puts more effort into Sherlock and it shows. I've always wondered why Mal Young left the show though.

 

[ATimson]

I've always wondered why Mal Young left the show though.

He left the BBC entirely, and started working for another television production company.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

My fault then, but I still say Moffat as a producer should ber seperate from the writer. He clearly puts more effort into Sherlock and it shows. I've always wondered why Mal Young left the show though.

"Producer" is something of a catch-all title, though. Take latter day Star Trek, for instance. Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Ira Steven Behr, and Brannon Braga were all "Executive Producers," but their job duties were very different -- Berman handled the business and studio side of the production; Piller, Behr, and Braga ran the writer's room; and someone like Peter Lauritson, a line producer, handled the nitty gritty of sets and props and things like that.

This structure maps to the RTD era fairly well -- Julie Gardner was Who's Berman, RTD was Piller or Behr, Phil Collinson was Lauritson.

It gets more confusing in the Moffat era; the roles don't map as easily. Moffat appears to be doing the Berman and Piller role, and his coproducers (Willis, Wenger, Skinner, Minchin) seem to be doing the Lauritson role along with some of the Berman role.

And this doesn't even get into times where "Producer" is a courtesy title, a way of thanking an investor or any early backer of a project during its Development Hell days.

 

[JRoss]

I think it wouldn't necessarily be to the detriment of the show if they brought in a non-genre producer. It worked on TNG with Michael Piller.