Comics legend Grant Morrison wants to work on Doctor Who

The 1970s and 80s were a golden era for Doctor Who, at least in comic strip form. Alan Moore, John Wagner, Dave Gibbons, and Pat Mills all made iconic contributions to the series. However, another Doctor Who comics legend wants to go even further and become the next showrunner!

Grant Morrison’s CV is impressive, to say the least. From Batman: Arkham Asylum to All-Star Superman, Morrison is the winner of numerous awards and accolades. However, before being part of the “British Invasion” of American comics in the late 1980s, Morrison had already firmly established a name for himself with 2000 AD and, before that, Doctor Who Magazine.

Morrison penned three strips for the magazine between 1986 and 1988, all of which were republished by IDW back in 2008. However, Morrison has always been eager to do more, telling TechRadar back in 2020 that they “[p]itch[ed] a couple [of ideas], but it didn’t work out. One of these days, I’ve got a whole season worked out, so I’m sure it’ll happen eventually.”

Grant Morrison has enough Doctor Who ideas for a whole season

Writing on their own Substack newsletter Xanaduum, Morrison says the pitches came at the end of Matt Smith’s time as the Doctor in 2013, around the show’s 50th anniversary. “I think there were two potentially great stories out of the five or so I pitched,” writes Morrison. “One was a ‘timey-wimey’ story designed to work as a high concept Doctor Who feature film and the other a heart-wrenchingly emotive Railway Children episode set in World War II.”

Morrison says that they made the mistake of emphasizing certain aspects of the story over ones the BBC wanted in the foreground. Despite the BBC’s reluctance, however, Morrison had created a new monster for the show that was well-received, with the corporation offering to buy the rights to the idea. “As an offer, it left a lot to be desired, and I’d have got more busking Oasis songs for an hour, so I declined and kept the characters in the event I ever got another shot.”

At the moment, Russell T. Davies is set to return to the role of Doctor Who showrunner after Chris Chibnall ends his run later this year. Morrison hopes he can one day have his shot. “A few years ago, I befriended my personal favorite UK auteur, who also did a few Doctor Who episodes,” Morrison said. “Following many chats, we ended up with a whole fantasy season of Doctor Who adventures which can only be described as revolutionary!”

"We have big, mad ideas for the Doctor, the Companions, the Daleks, the season arc, the TARDIS, and everything else, that not only fit with canon and are blindingly obvious but have never been done before! So there does exist what I can only describe as an ultimate Doctor Who pitch, poised to materialize, awaiting the day Russell Davies tires of the Time Lord!"

Morrison is no stranger to television work, having co-created the Syfy TV series Happy! starring Christopher Meloni and Patton Oswalt. Morrison also co-created and worked as a writer and producer on the 2020 TV series Brave New World for Peacock.

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