Doctor Who production gossip: Steven Moffat against the world
An inside source in the BBC has released a blog post detailing the production drama taking place within the BBC concerning the popular BBC drama Doctor Who.
In the article, the anonymous insider claims that Moffat is a man who is "tyrannical and ruthless" and may even cause the end of Doctor Who, at least for the time being.
The article goes as follows:
Trouble In Cardiff
I have stayed quiet for too long on this, but as a dedicated fan of Doctor Who I feel it is my duty to inform the world of dear fans out there about the trouble that is not just brewing in South Wales, but about to explode like Vesuvius on Volcano Day.
It is with a heavy heart that I say the man that everyone thought would be the saviour of Doctor Who, Steven Moffat, looks like being the man who may actually end it.
Moffat's chortling friendliness hides a man with few friends and growing enemies. It masks a man who is tyrannical and ruthless, who is bad tempered and rude. It shields a man who's personal life is as in much disarray as his professional one, but that is not something I will go into here in great detail.
The BBC are desperate to keep a hold of Steven Moffat because, whatever the fans and critics say about Doctor Who, he has delivered them huge ratings, and with that he has delivered them huge profits, in merchandise and overseas sales. He's also created another worldwide hit, Sherlock.
The problem is that Steven Moffat knows this, and has used it to become almost meglomaniacal in his approach to Executive Production. The result is Cardiff in meltown and the series of Doctor Who floundering on the edge of said volcano.
Problems fly around the Production of Doctor Who like a blizzard. Here is what is wrong:
- An inability to work with the BBC on an executive level, leading to rows with other producers
- An inappropriate working relationship with Caro Skinner, leading to a public row and her ousting.
- Senior BBC officials taking a hands on approach to the production after an internal scandal
- A huge and antagonistic falling out with the series leading man, Matt Smith, about the treatment of former Doctors in preparation of The Anniversary Show. Smith was furious that former Whos were not informed of Moffat's intentions.
- An intense and paranoid jealousy on Moffat's part on the success of Russell T Davies. Moffat does not have the same carte blanche Davies had on the series franchise - with things like The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood outwith his remit.
- Moffat's anger at not being allowed to create his own spin off series.
- Skinner and Moffat's alleged rudeness to Christopher Eccleston's procrastinating which lead to Eccleston refusing to do the Anniversary Show at the eleventh hour (excuse that pun)
- This will be reflected in the Hurt character
- Moffat has been offered a position AWAY from Who for the eighth series and has refused to go.
- The eighth series is ONLY being worked on by Moffat, but NO ONE ELSE including the BBC will commit to it after Christmas.
- The BBC DO NOT want Moffat to continue. He is refusing to budge.
- Huge budget cuts in series 5 and 6 meant that Moffat's original plans had to be curtailed half way through production. This lead to confusing story lines and continuation arcs.
- Big named writers where dumped at the last minute.
- Moffat directly responsible for the split seasons and, worst, the dumping of EIGHT half written scripts.
You may ask yourself why this is important information. It is important because, as of writing, Doctor Who seems unlikely to return in its present form after Christmas. Moffat's plans are not those of the BBC. They may well lose Matt Smith and Jenna Louise Coleman who have committed but on a pro-rata time scale.
If these issues cannot be rectified - and soon - Doctor Who may go into a semi-permanent hiatus, and return as a series of TV Movies or extended episodes once every eighteen months.
SOURCE
I don't know how true this is, but I does match up with a lot of other things that have been happening. Will be interesting when this all comes out in 15 years time.