Well, this is going to be interesting

[wshaffer]

Alert readers may have noticed that I haven't been posting much about Doctor Who lately. This is partly because I'm still working my way through Peter Capaldi's first season, and I figure nobody really wants my hot take on episodes that aired over a year ago, and partly because my feeling about the show at the point where I am in my viewing can be neatly summed up by, "Keep the Doctor; regenerate the showrunner."

To be clear, I don't think that Moffat is a bad showrunner, although I think he was generally better as a writer when he was writing for Russell Davies as showrunner. (I'm kind of sorry that we never got to see Davies write for Moffat's Who - maybe he'd also have been a better writer with someone else running things.) But I'm getting really tired of Moffat's particular tropes and obsessions, and I'm really not much caring for how the Doctor/companion relationship has developed in Capaldi's first season. Also, if you manage to bring an episode as stupid as "Kill the Moon" to fruition, you're clearly not showrunning to the highest standard.

I have had many conversations with fellow fans about who might replace Moffat, and most of them have ended with my saying, "Honestly, I don't really care who it is, as long as it isn't Chris Chibnall." I have nothing against Chibnall personally. I'm sure he's a lovely man. But he is pretty much responsible for all of my least favorite Doctor Who and Torchwood episodes ever. (Except for "Kill the Moon". It does not appear that anything about "Kill the Moon" can be blamed on Chibnall.) And I still haven't forgiven him for what he did to the Silurians.

So, the BBC have just announced that Steven Moffat will be leaving the show after the next season (which will apparently be airing in 2017, because the BBC has realized I need time to catch up or something) and will be replaced by...Chris Chibnall.

I'm trying to be optimistic. It's entirely possible that just as I think that Moffat is an excellent writer for Who but only a fair showrunner, I may end up thinking that Chibnall is a lousy writer but a good showrunner.

Comments

[wshaffer.livejournal.com]

Twelve was good in "Kill the Moon". And actually, I liked the moral dilemma of the characters having to make that choice in the episode - I just wish it had been set up more believably, and that the characters had been more nuanced in their positions.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

It was definitely an episode made for Twelve. I don't think Ten or Eleven would have delegated the responsibility. I agree that it could of been handled better. I didn't mind Courtney in general. However in this case it seemed forced to put her in a position like that.

I didn't think about the pro-life issue in the episode until I read peoples reviews. I was just annoyed at Clara's temper tantrum. Why is it okay for a woman to slap a man on TV?.

I wasn't satisfied with the follow-up in "Mummy on the Orient Express" either.