We knew Peter Jackson would be directing an episode of Doctor Who, but we never expected show runner Steven Moffat to leave the show.
Word came out on Friday, and we mentioned it right at the end of Finally Friday, that Moffat, who has been running the show for forever will be stepping down at the end of the tenth season.
Steven Moffat will step down as Head Writer & Exec Producer after S10… Chris Chibnall to take over! pic.twitter.com/iMhNoEAegy
— Doctor Who Official (@bbcdoctorwho) January 22, 2016
Taking Moffat’s place will be Chris Chibnall, who is the writer for the series Broadchurch.
In a statement to the press, Moffat said
“Feels odd to be talking about leaving when I’m just starting work on the scripts for season 10, but the fact is my timey-wimey is running out. While Chris is doing his last run of ‘Broadchurch,’ I’ll be finishing up on the best job in the universe and keeping the TARDIS warm for him,” Moffat said in a statement. “It took a lot of gin and tonic to talk him into this, but I am beyond delighted that one of the true stars of British Television drama will be taking the Time Lord even further into the future. At the start of season 11, Chris Chibnall will become the new showrunner of ‘Doctor Who.’ And I will be thrown in a skip.”
“‘Doctor Who’ is the ultimate BBC program: bold, unique, vastly entertaining, and adored all around the world. So it’s a privilege and a joy to be the next curator of this funny, scary and emotional family drama,” said Chibnall. “I’ve loved ‘Doctor Who’ since I was four years old, and I’m relishing the thought of working with the exceptional team at BBC Wales to create new characters, creatures and worlds for the Doctor to explore. Steven’s achieved the impossible by continually expanding ‘Doctor Who’s’ creative ambition, while growing its global popularity. He’s been a dazzling and daring showrunner, and hearing his plans and stories for 2017, it’s clear he’ll be going out with a bang. Just to make my life difficult.”
Well, this is a bit of surprise, though there have been rumors that Moffat was ready to move on, but it still is a bit of a surprise.
What is your reaction to the news? Are you happy he’s going? Did he stay too long, or not long enough? The comment section is down below, and I know Doctor Who fans will want to weigh in.
3 Comments
Two years too late, frankly. Moffat a great writer when not Showrunner but he should’ve left with Matt Smith.
Capaldi has been holding the show together, but the last series of terrible stories were clearly not good enough with fhe geneal audience given the steep fall in overnights. The BBCs decision to delay the release of series 10 until 2017 is totally nonsensical.
I’m actually really excited about this! I understand that some people will be sad to see Moffat go, but I’ve never really cared much for the way he handled the series outside of one-offs like “Blink”. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen of Broadchurch and am looking forward to a more coherent storyline.
I actually really liked the most recent series but I do feel the show could benefit from some new blood.