Everyone is wondering who will play the next Doctor on Doctor Who, but there’s also a search on to fill the showrunner job!
Earlier this month, we were surprised (but not that surprised) to learn that Jodie Whittaker would be leaving the role on the Doctor on Doctor Who after the show’s upcoming thirteenth season. What’s more, showrunner Chris Chibnall will be stepping down as well, making room for a whole new creative team to step in for season 14.
Most of the talk surrounding the future of the show revolves around who will play the Doctor next, but the new showrunner is just as important. ““The appointment of a new showrunner is a commercially sensitive decision (way above the pay grade of an incumbent showrunner) so it’ll be a joint decision between BBC Studios and the top decision-makers at the BBC,” Chibnall recently told Radio Times.
So who might it be? The fans are chattering. One person who put their name forward was J. Michael Straczynski, probably best known for the ’90s sci-fi series Babylon 5, for which he wrote the great majority of the show’s 100-plus episodes himself. He’s also worked on shows like Jeremiah and Sense8.
I don't know if the BBC would ever consider an American to show-run #DoctorWho, but if so, I would be there in a heartbeat. (Well, technically two heartbeats, since two hearts....) https://t.co/SD0N8gtNmL
— J. Michael Straczynski (@straczynski) July 30, 2021
I can see a sci-fi icon like Straczynski doing a good job with Doctor Who, but it’s one thing to tweet your desire into the universe and another for it to actually happen. But as he revealed in another more recent tweet, BBC has made contact!
Contact with the BBC has been made. They're going through their own process, which began before my tweet, and that has to run its course, but if those don't pan out and there's a discussion to be had, they will reach out. Very courteous, so we'll see where their process leads. https://t.co/CnxqGF59ny
— J. Michael Straczynski (@straczynski) August 18, 2021
It sounds like BBC is looking at other candidates before they turn to Straczynski, but at least he’s in the running. Eh, they’re always trying to get new angles on Doctor Who: why not an American perspective this time?
It’ll probably be a while before we hear anything concrete. In the meantime, Doctor Who season 13 — with Jodie Whittaker in the lead role and Chris Chibnall in the producer’s chair — premieres later this year.
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