Steven Moffat has revealed that he is looking for his replacement as showrunner on Doctor Who.
Since taking over from Russell T Davies in 2010 for Series Five, Steven Moffat’s time as showrunner on Doctor Who has been a long, controversial, and an exciting ride, all of which we have discussed at length on Doctor Who Watch. With Moffat at the helm, and all new lead actors, it felt as if the show were starting over, much as it had for the revival in 2005.
In an interview (part one and part two) with Radio Times, Moffat discusses his time working on Doctor Who, as well as the inevitable end of his time as showrunner — an end that is in sight. He expounds on the delicacy of the matter of stepping down:
"That is an issue and one I’m actively engaged in but I can’t say much about that. Everything is difficult in Doctor Who, including leaving, and I would never do anything to harm it. I would never leave it in the lurch because it means too much to me. Yes, it’s a problem. Let’s not pretend it’s not a big problem. But there will be a solution. In terms of the emotional difficulty of leaving, it’s hard."
He also talks about his feelings regarding being the showrunner of the program, and the prospect of eventually giving it up:
"I take it a year at a time and that’s the only answer I’ll ever give on that one. How hard, I don’t know … Yes, but I don’t expect to get unhappy doing it. I won’t be leaving because I’m suddenly miserable. It’ll be because I want to do something else."
Moffat started out on Doctor Who as a staff writer. Of course, the question now is, once he steps down as showrunner, will he go back to his original role? It remains to be seen, but he does give some insight into the matter:
"I’ve no idea until I’m there. I mean, I can understand Russell. I’m gobsmacked by how much Doctor Who I’ve written – an insane amount."
His explanation of where he sends the first drafts of his scripts also sounds insane, but it naturally would have to happen that way in his position:
"Well, initially to me and I might send it back to me. And I usually do. There’s no place to hide as a showrunner."
But, for those of you who think that Moffat rules with an iron fist, he makes it clear that other people working on the show are welcome to approach him with their opinions, and that there are no sycophants:
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"Yeah, [they come to me] all the time. That’s not an offence. God knows, you want to know if your joke’s not funny before you stand in front of your audience. So you want people to tell you what they didn’t understand. Sometimes, if I think I haven’t had enough notes, I’ll send a script to Mark [Gatiss] or Russell to get some feedback. Ben Stephenson [departing BBC drama chief] sent me his notes for the 50th and he’d helpfully numbered them 1 to 50 … Within the bubble of Doctor Who or Sherlock everyone’s nice, polite and honest. There’s not much in the way of sycophancy. It’s very amiable. I would not be regarded within that bubble as a figure of awesome power and significance. I’m the man who forgets to eat and has to be fed when he arrives at the office, the man who forgets his reading glasses."
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What do you think of Steven Moffat’s work on Doctor Who? Who would you like to see as the next showrunner? Let us know in the comments.