Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Bye, bye Russell T Davies - hello, hello Steven Moffat

It was many a fan's fervent hope even as they fretted it would never be. Should have trusted Stu_n really...

Stephen Moffat told them that that was a very dumb idea indeed

coughcoughnewshowrunnercoughcough
Anyway, the news is out - hell, it's the breaking news on MediumRob's page as I get home - and I have to say I'm pleased. It will be a VERY tough act to follow the impetus and verve that RTD brought to the regeneration of Doctor Who, however much he has been (rightly) criticised at times.

How much will SM want to (will even be expected to?) take over the organisation of Torchwood or Sarah Jane Adventures? What's happening to Torchwood anyway? How often will SM write for the show (there is a big difference from dropping in the odd one or two episodes to getting three to six of the buggers off the ground, let alone the overall management of the whole season)?

Whatever else anvillicious RTD may be accused of (kitchen sink writing, the 'gay agenda', too many pop culture references, pretty much screwing up the whole Martha arc...), would the show even BE back without him? I doubt it. You can say the moment was right for DW to come back to TV, but without the passion of RTD to drive it forward, it would never have happened and could never have sustained its presence and attraction of a new audience.

So, with qualified boo-hoo's, it's a bye-bye to RTD. We'll probably miss you more than we would like to admit it; and Mr Moffat, you have a lot to do... I hope that everyone will cheer you on as much as I hope they will.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Moffatt could be good for the show - and without all the exec producing to worry about Davies could do some writing for it.

Perhaps he will concentrate on Torchwood? Or a new series featuring the Doctor's 'daughter'?

Lisa Rullsenberg said...

Given it was the Moff's idea to keep JennyWho alive, I'm not sure whether or not it would be a Davies plan to deliver her new adventures... but there's certainly lots of thoughts in fans heads about what will come next.

Anonymous said...

What happened was that a few months back I saw a post on a comics-geek forum that I frequent pointing to another forum, run off the Chris Morris/Peter Cook website, which said that Moffat was in the process of signing a contract. That forum has a very high percentage of TV industry people on it, so it was pretty certain to be true.

And apparently it's been a very badly-kept secret for months, if you're in the right circles. A friend of mine who goes to the big Gallifrey One convention in the States every February said that the writers Moff has lined up for series 5 couldn't shut up about it.

I don't think Rusty will keep an exec position on anything Who after this, although I'm certain he'll still write episodes.

Rol said...

Best news I've heard in ages. RTD had his moments, but too often let the side down in my eyes. The stand-out episodes have largely been Moffat's - the future is good hands!