Steven Moffat: Female Doctor “Would Have Been a Disaster”

Doctor Who and Sherlock showrunner Steven Moffat (Credit: Blastr)

Donald Trump isn’t the only famous male trying to appeal himself to women this week. Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat has often been accused of a painful inability to write female characters, and he addresses those complaints and a host of other topics in an remarkably blunt new interview with Salon.

“When ‘Doctor Who’ announced it was coming back…all the women are going, I don’t give a f-ck.”

On the subject of fans finding his shows “emotionally manipulative,” Moffat had this to say:

"“To be honest, that’s just people. That’s an audience. I’m trying to manipulate an audience. [Laughs.] When people say, ‘The show was manipulative,’ I think, What do you think the f-cking alternative is? You understand that we just went into a big studio and pretended? This is entirely made up. He’s not really crying; she’s not really dead — [Laughing.] of course it’s manipulative! If it wasn’t, it’d be very boring. That funny thing that happened? It didn’t really happen. We made it up.”"

Fair enough. For all his criticisms, I’ve never considered Moffat too “manipulative”; that’s just part of good storytelling — provided you follow-up on all of your twists and turns (which Moffat often doesn’t).

Moffat takes offense when the interviewer implies that perhaps he’s too busy working out plots and storylines to worry about things like inclusive casting and female characters:

"“But I do! I do think about those things — this is something I take seriously. I know I’m being portrayed the other way, but I work very hard, and it’s not always easy. We need to do better on, certainly, the ethnic question. I thought when I first took it over — oh, what the hell, we’ll just audition people of all races for every part, and it will average out. I don’t know why an old Lefty like me had such faith in the free market; it did notwork out. It does not work out. You’ve got actually decide that’s what you’re going to do. Lenny Henry has been very interesting on that subject. A few years ago I thought: Oh, quotas, what a ridiculous idea. Then I realized, quotas are a perfectly sensible idea! There’s nothing wrong with them! Now we’re actively trying to get that.The female question — I wish I was allowed to list the female writers that have turned down ‘Doctor Who.’ [Laughs.] In fairness to me, I’ve done quite more than anybody else.”"

Next: Keep Reading: Moffat Answers the Female Doctor Question

(Credit: Radio Times)

Moffat then elaborates quite a bit on the difficulty of luring female writers to the show, and how the show’s appeal to women has grown since it returned in 2005:

"“Yes, exactly. Russell [T. Davies, ‘Doctor Who’ executive producer and writer] was absolutely saying, at the very beginning of this, ‘We’ve got to get girls watching this show!’ When ‘Doctor Who’ announced it was coming back, all the men in Britain jumped up and down and all the women are going, I don’t give a f-ck. We engineered that change.”"

That quote actually made me laugh out loud. He’s 100% right here, and he goes on to talk about a fan club he used to visit that was all men; women (for the most part) were just not into the classic series. Davies deserves credit for bringing in that female fanbase, even if I disagree with some of his methods (forced romances, handsome young leads).

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The conversation then shifts to the inevitable “female Doctor” question. Moffat addresses the decision not to cast a woman for the Twelfth Doctor with possibly the best explanation I can fathom:

"“Because I wanted to cast Peter Capaldi. If there is any other player on the board other than the person who excited you the most in the role, ‘Doctor Who’ would go off the air, so that’s what you have to do. Was the time right? I don’t know. I think it would have been a disaster if we’d cast a female Doctor when David [Tennant] left. I believe. Disaster. Possible, this time. I think I should get a little more credit for being the only person who’s made it possible. [Laughs.] It wasn’t part of the fiction of the show until I wrote it. And I keep establishing it. But I think when that day comes — whatever showrunner that is — then the BBC will say, ‘Tell me how this is definitely going to work.’ Because, I tell you, there are two venomous packs here. A lot of people in the middle, sensible enough to say, ‘If it’s good, I’ll like it; if it’s not good, I won’t like it.'”"

Capaldi is fantastic as the Doctor, so I can’t argue with “because I wanted to cast Peter Capaldi.” And, honestly, I think Moffat’s right: casting a woman instead of Matt Smith would’ve been a disaster. It goes back to that newfound female fanbase; the audience just wasn’t ready. Sadly, even in this day and age, this is a change that’s going to have to be eased into.

The interview ends with my personal favorite quote from Moffat, as he proceeds to lambaste the extremists on both sides of the “female Doctor” debate:

"“And they’re both wrong! They’re both wrong. One saying, ‘It would never work.’ What do you mean, it would never f-cking work? How the hell would you know that? The other one, ‘It’s absolutely necessary it happens now.’ No it’s not! It’s not necessary! It may never happen! Don’t be silly. There are no absolutes. Could you both join the one in the middle and please stop yelling at each other. And please stop yelling at me. [Laughs.] I’m very nice.”"

For much more from Moffat, check out the full interview on Salon’s website.

What do you think? Is Moffat “emotionally manipulative”? Do “female Doctor” critics need to compromise? Sound off in the comments below!

Next: Doctor Who: Do 2016 Rumors Mean an End for Steven Moffat?

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