BBC Writersroom Hosts Doctor Who Writing Panel
By Leah Tedesco
At the BBC Writersroom #WritingDoctorWho event, showrunner Steven Moffat and script editor Nick Lambon discussed their experiences working on Doctor Who.
Whether you are doing research for your application to Doctor Who’s script editor position, or you are just a curious fan, the discussion the #WritingDoctorWho event held by BBC Writersroom is certainly interesting. It was hosted by Gavin Collinson on Friday, September 30th in front of an audience of writers aspiring to one day write for shows. They were there to hear showrunner Steven Moffat and script editor Nick Lambon discuss the arc of their experiences working on Doctor Who.
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Collinson opened the questions by inquiring about the structure of command in terms of creating the show. Moffat replied that “there is no one overlord,” but rather a “hierarchy of the best idea.” They then discussed how, for each new season, the process begins with an initial meeting with the script team, without the writers. During this time, they discuss the previous season — what went well, and what did not quite work. This is easier with the clean slate of a new companion coming in, such as the recent example of Bill.
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Moffat stressed the importance of striking a balance between season-long story arcs, and shorter, episodic adventures. He feels that it is “weird” that audiences seem to prefer the latter. He is also perplexed by the accusations that he is “just making this up as [he goes] along.” To this, his reply is,
"Well, yes. I’m not transcribing this from a book about an alternate reality, you know."
Moffat also acknowledged that there is no “typical” scripting process for Doctor Who, which is a “unique” aspect of working on the show.
"A good Doctor Who script is a world unto itself."
Lambon talked about having to be “diplomatic” when dealing with the great enthusiasm of writers who are new to the staff. They “throw every idea” into the ring, and the job of a script executive is “to make what they’re writing even better.” Moffat elaborated on this idea by adding,
"You will make more improvements by praising the good than by criticising the bad. Praise is not sugaring the pill. It is more important to grow the good than shrink the bad. There are many ways to miss a target – but only one way to hit it. Find the great about a script and get more of that."
To read more of the in-depth discussion, go to the BBC’s website and The Beeblebrox Company blog.
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