One of my favourite writers, Steven Moffat (the brains behind the best Doctor Who episodes and the fantastic Jekyll), spoke at the Television Critics Association in California... and answered a few questions Whovians have been asking for weeks:On Who's future, without Russell T. Davies in charge:
"I know that there's tremendous anxiety among Doctor Who fans about the future of Doctor Who. Here's an answer that people should listen to. No broadcaster lets go of a show like Doctor Who. They'd have to be out of their fucking minds."
"Doctor Who is probably there forever. It will probably outlive everyone on [fansite] Outpost Gallifrey. That's probably the truth. I'm not saying that it will run continuously for 20 years. They might give it a rest for a while, but I wouldn't imagine Doctor Who would rest for very long now. But Doctor Who is completely safe. It's not in great danger. It's been the centre of British culture since Kennedy was shot. I mean, it's not going away. Look, they turned it to shit and took it off for 15 years, and that didn't kill it. I mean, what's going to kill it now? Success?"
On rumours (nay, hopes) he will run Doctor Who one day:
"Next question. There's a lot of things to think about there."
Well, he's keeping his cards close to his chest, clearly. I still think the BBC would be mad not to offer him the job: he has a deep knowledge of Who, he loves the show, he's been involved in the process since its revival, he's written some of its best stories, and he's already written/produced Jekyll, another successful BBC show.
He's surely top of the Beeb's list of candidates. If Russell T. Davies' departure signals a bigger shake-up of the production crew, Moffat could even form a unique combo with producer/wife Sue Vertue! They seem to work well together, if Coupling and Jekyll are any indication.
Of course, if Moffat does decide to run Doctor Who, David Tennant is likely to be leaving after season 4... so the first big decsision awaiting him would be who to replace Tennant with!
With important "show defining" decisions like this, producers like to cast actors they've worked with before. Actors they know can deliver the goods. Russell T. Davies had already worked with Christopher Ecclestone and David Tennant before, in The Second Coming and Casanova, respectively.
If that "safe hands" trend continues, maybe Moffat will audition Jekyll's James Nesbitt or Coupling's Richard Coyle? Either actor would be great as The Doctor, although I suspect Nesbitt isn't as family friendly and comes with baggage.
So, Coyle gets my vote. He even has Tom Baker's hair.
