On That Who News
So Doctor Who has got Steven Moffat. I know the rumour has been circulating for ages, but I didn't think he would have time, what with being Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg's go too guy for Tintin.
I am cautiously optimistic.
There is a difference between churning out one script a series and churning out five, and a difference between writing a plot and an arc so I don't think we're going to get a season of Blinks. But I think it's about time some of the RTD conventions were done away with, such as the Companion always having to be from present day London, the lack of alien planets, the constant Doctor-as-a-god, no long-term male Companions and so forth. Of course, changing showrunner does not necessarily mean they will be done away with. For all we know, Steven Moffat may like all of those and decide to keep them.
On a slightly related note, I wonder how long it's going to take until Swingtown is cancelled. *cough*JackDavenportforEleven*cough* (Actually Jack Davenport has fallen behind Stephen Mangan as my preferred choice for Eleven. And, apparently Adrian Lester wants to do it - he would make a good Doctor).
Anyway, I hope RTD contributes the odd script or two after he moves on. Yes, he is terrible in interviews and stubbornly blind to the bad subtext and even rude to those who point it out (although, I'm a veteran of The West Wing fandom so I'm used to the disdain of showrunners) but I find that some of my favourite episodes that I think are underrated by fandom in general are RTD scripts, such as The End of the World, Boom Town and The Runaway Bride.
I am cautiously optimistic.
There is a difference between churning out one script a series and churning out five, and a difference between writing a plot and an arc so I don't think we're going to get a season of Blinks. But I think it's about time some of the RTD conventions were done away with, such as the Companion always having to be from present day London, the lack of alien planets, the constant Doctor-as-a-god, no long-term male Companions and so forth. Of course, changing showrunner does not necessarily mean they will be done away with. For all we know, Steven Moffat may like all of those and decide to keep them.
On a slightly related note, I wonder how long it's going to take until Swingtown is cancelled. *cough*JackDavenportforEleven*cough* (Actually Jack Davenport has fallen behind Stephen Mangan as my preferred choice for Eleven. And, apparently Adrian Lester wants to do it - he would make a good Doctor).
Anyway, I hope RTD contributes the odd script or two after he moves on. Yes, he is terrible in interviews and stubbornly blind to the bad subtext and even rude to those who point it out (although, I'm a veteran of The West Wing fandom so I'm used to the disdain of showrunners) but I find that some of my favourite episodes that I think are underrated by fandom in general are RTD scripts, such as The End of the World, Boom Town and The Runaway Bride.