Steven Moffat's replacement selected?

[Samurai8472]

A reliable spoiler-hound on Twitter indicates Moffat is staying on for one more year, but his replacement has been selected, and it's Phil Ford


Pertaining to what he's written for Doctor Who


-The Waters of Mars

-Into the Dalek


and some Torchwood and Sarah Jane Adventures episodes

 

[Christopher]

Okay, Ford was head writer of The Sarah Jane Adventures from season 2 onward -- not a bad credential. My ideal choice would've been Jamie Mathieson, though, given that he wrote the two best episodes of the last season. But if this news is true, then maybe it means we'd get to see Clyde and Rani show up in Doctor Who.

 

[Mr Awe]

If it's true, it's good news. I'm a big supporter of Moffat, but the series needs a change around now. I hope Capaldi will stay on after Moffat leaves. I don't know much about Ford, but I do like those 2 DW stories. Never watched SJA though.

Mr Awe

 

[Cutter John]

Of course Ford will be hated just as much by halfway through the season.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Okay, Ford was head writer of The Sarah Jane Adventures from season 2 onward -- not a bad credential. My ideal choice would've been Jamie Mathieson, though, given that he wrote the two best episodes of the last season. But if this news is true, then maybe it means we'd get to see Clyde and Rani show up in Doctor Who.

Someone who wrote the best (x) # of episodes wouldn't necessarily be the best showrunner would they?

 

[RoJoHen]

I really enjoyed the Moffat & Matt Smith years. They were my favorite seasons of the show so far. But to be honest, ever since Amy and Rory left, the show just hasn't felt the same. I don't mind Clara, and I think Capaldi does a good job as the Doctor, but the writing this past season felt incredibly uneven.

I'm certainly don't hate Moffat as showrunner, but it feels like a good time for him to step back and let somebody else be in charge for a while. I hope he sticks around, though. Even before he was in charge, his individual episodes were some of my favorites.

 

[Christopher]

Someone who wrote the best (x) # of episodes wouldn't necessarily be the best showrunner would they?

Agreed. Moffat himself is proof of that.

 

[Captaindemotion]

I've always preferred Moffat as a standalone writer than a showrunner but I don't hate his tenure of DW the way some do. But change is always good for the show and if he were to leave at that time, he would have a good innings.

Ford sounds like a decent enough choice to succeed him, if this is true.

 

[Christopher]

^I don't hate Moffat's tenure, no. The show's still fun. But he definitely has his problems and excesses as a showrunner, and I'd welcome a change at this point.

 

[Relayer1]

I've always preferred Moffat as a standalone writer than a showrunner but I don't hate his tenure of DW the way some do. But change is always good for the show and if he were to leave at that time, he would have a good innings.

Ford sounds like a decent enough choice to succeed him, if this is true.

I've found his period as showrunner head and shouldes better than RTD's, but it is time for a change. I'd stilk like to see him write the ocxasional episode though.

It'd be nice to see Luke and Co. from the SJA Adventurs again...

 

[The Wormhole]

A reliable spoiler-hound on Twitter indicates Moffat is staying on for one more year, but his replacement has been selected, and it's Phil Ford

Just to clarify, when you say "one more year" does than mean season 9 will be his last?

If indeed Phil Ford is his successor, I have mixed feelings. While I've enjoyed his two DW episodes and most of his SJA ones, I haven't really seen any indication he'd be a suitable showrunner. Of course, that doesn't mean he won't, and I certainly look forward to more episodes by him, anyway.

Ford's scripts do tend to have a sense of fun to them, and sometimes he can even handle profound subject matter quite well. I was particularly impressed with how he handled the homeless in SJA's final season. Ford's also a Doctor Who uberfan, and indeed he did write SJA episodes that featured the Sontarans, UNIT, the Brigadier, the Judoon and a tie-in with the DW animated special Dreamland (which he also wrote).

I can easily see the show under Ford going back to having a tone similar to RTD's era, which IMO would be a good thing.

 

[Ithekro]

Moffat likes to write a lot of time travel shenanigans. Things in the past and future effect the present and generally happen out of order to eventually get to a solution. Or the future effects the past which changes the present, but only about three people know about it.

 

[Skywalker]

Moffat likes to write a lot of time travel shenanigans. Things in the past and future effect the present and generally happen out of order to eventually get to a solution. Or the future effects the past which changes the present, but only about three people know about it.

That's one of my favorite things about his tenure. He actually utilizes time travel as more than just a means to get from one point in space and time to another.

 

[Ithekro]

He does make use of Time Travel as part of the plot, which would make sense if the means of travel is a time traveling space ship that looks like a police box.

The old stories usually just have the TARDIS as the means to get to the story and leave after it is finished. But then, for a large part of the series, the Doctor really couldn't pilot the TARDIS all that well. He would not know where they are going for a long time (Both First and Second Doctors couldn't go were they wanted most of the time). The Third was stuck on Earth for a long bit, and even then could only reliably get back to Earth most of the time. The Fourth and Fifth Doctors could sort of pilot the TARDIS (the randomizer did toss that away for a bit) but is was still a bit off. Romana did help things. It seems to be the Sixth and Seventh Doctors would finally figured out how the damned thing worked, and could fly it in a more or less reliably manner.

But even with the 10th, 11th, and 12th Doctors, the TARDIS doesn't always show up where he wants it to show...but then the TARDIS said it goes where he needs to go.

 

[intrinsical]

Perhaps we will see the return of the Trickster, the Shopkeeper and his Captain.

 

[NightJim]

After discovering my love for Classic Who, and how it addressed some of the old characters, I'd recently decided that at some point I should probably get round to SJA. This news might just accelerate that timeline.

 

[MacLeod]

I'm also in the camp of I think it's time for a change, and for Moffat to step aside for someone new. Though I think he should still write an episode or two for the show.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ I was just going to say that too. I've seen an interview with RTD during the week (too lazy to link) where he said that Moffatt invites him back every now and again to write a story for DW but he's always refused him. But I hope Moffatt will keep a hand in as an occasional writer.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

If true, and I do agree it's a time for a change (as much as I love Moffat as a RTD-era writer, he's not the best showrunner), I hope we'll see Clyde and Rani again. I still want them to be the next round of companions. The return of The Trickster would be great, too.

 

[The Wormhole]

Moffat likes to write a lot of time travel shenanigans. Things in the past and future effect the present and generally happen out of order to eventually get to a solution. Or the future effects the past which changes the present, but only about three people know about it.

That's one of my favorite things about his tenure. He actually utilizes time travel as more than just a means to get from one point in space and time to another.

And it's the one thing which annoys me the most about the Moffat era. Time travel hijinks are fine every now and then, but when it becomes a regular thing every season, even part of the running arc going through the season. Hell, everyone always wants to point out the Daleks are overused and the classic era went long spurts without them, well, what about this? The classic era rarely ever did a story which was actually about time travel, hell even the RTD era never really did one outside of the Moffat scripts. And now it's a staple of the show to the point that the term "timey-wimey" is itself a catchphrase to describe the whole thing.

Perhaps we will see the return of the Trickster, the Shopkeeper and his Captain.

I don't know about the Trickster. Gareth Roberts actually owns that character (presumably, he's written every episode to feature him) so Phil Ford being in charge doesn't mean we'll see him again. Hell, Roberts could probably have used him anytime in DW that he wanted.