Doctor Who Showrunners Look Back

Both Steven Moffat and Russell T Davies reveal some personal perspective on their respective reigns as showrunner of Doctor Who.

With Steven Moffat’s run as showrunner of Doctor Who soon coming to an end, it is a time for reflection. According to William Martin of CultBox, Moffat revealed to Doctor Who Magazine in their five hundredth issue his biggest regret when thinking about his time in charge of the program. The quote is as follows:

"“First episodes are tough, and I feel as though I slightly fumbled it last year by not having a ‘new thing’ in ‘The Magician’s Apprentice‘. It was the same Doctor, same companion… You want to persuade people to tune in because a brand new thing is happening.”"

It seems, however, that Moffat is being too hard on himself, as writers often are. Many fans see Series Nine as one of the strongest in the show’s history. Admittedly, it was the first series that began with the same regular cast as the previous one since the show’s 2005 revival. As Martin notes, Rory Williams was not a regular companion until Series Six, being only semi regular in Series Five. In Episode Two of Series Nine, ‘The Witch’s Familiar,’ the Doctor says,

"“Oh, same old, same old… Just the Doctor and Clara Oswald in the TARDIS.”"

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This quote from the Twelfth Doctor is something of an ironic statement, considering that, from the beginning, much of Series Nine was quite unique. Even more ironic is that much of this uniqueness came from utilizing elements from the vast history of the show and skillfully making them fresh. The interactions between the Doctor and Davros alone are worthy of awards. New regular characters were not needed for the writing to be both exciting and compelling. On the contrary, having a core group of established characters probably gave it a more solid foundation. So, Moffat seems to be looking at the situation from the wrong angle — it is the departure from the formulaic tradition that makes Series Nine special.

Moffat may have wanted to reset things last year, but it does not seem that it would necessarily have been the right time to do so. And now, with the upcoming Series Ten, he is bringing us Bill, the brand new companion with a bold, somewhat unprecedented personality. If it is any comfort to Moffat’s past self, he will be able to live vicariously through his present one… Wibbly wobbly timey wimey, is it not?

As for Moffat’s immediate predecessor, Russell T Davies, during tonight’s profile on The South Bank Show, he will be discussing his time as showrunner of Doctor Who. Davies, just as is his successor, is a major fan of the long-running science fiction program. A short preview clip from the profile was released in which he walks onto the set of the latest TARDIS. He describes himself as getting “a proper fanboy thrill” when doing so. Ben Dowell of Radio Times swears that Davies almost says that the TARDIS in his day was “better,” but substitutes it with “different” in the sentence. I have to agree with Dowell’s assessment. Davies then saves face by gushing that the Twelfth Doctor’s TARDIS is “stunning.”

It will be interesting to hear more of what he has to say about Doctor Who, as well as other aspects of his career.

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Next: Celebrating the History in and of Doctor Who

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