There are rumours that Steven Moffat is coming back to Doctor Who under Russell T Davies, who is the new showrunner.
Moffat, of course, worked with Davies a number of times — popular episodes including The Empty Child/ The Doctor Dances, The Girl in the Fireplace, and Blink basically cemented him as the next showrunner; a role he took on with Series 5 (2010). He stayed with the programme until Twice Upon a Time (2017).
And although Moffat has said that he wouldn’t come back as showrunner, The Mirror is reporting that he is coming back to write at least one episode for the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa).
A mysterious source said (in something of a damning evaluation of the past few years, it has to be said):
“Russell’s on a mission to make Doctor Who great again, event television not to be missed, which is what it was for many years during his and Steven’s tenures in charge of the show.
“One of the ways he can do that is to ensure he has the best possible people writing for the programme.
“He has nothing but respect for what Steven achieved with the show and was a fan of his vision as showrunner. He approached him about returning in just a writing capacity because he knows Doctor Who inside out and has a brilliant imagination for adventures in space and time. He took some convincing but the chance to contribute to a show he has loved since childhood and see it blossom in a new era with a new Doctor was just too much to resist.”
The Mirror often gets these sorts of things right. (Then again, in the headline, they spell Steven’s name wrong, and call John Hurt “William Hurt”…) We certainly wouldn’t be surprised: Moffat and Davies have always been good friends, and Steven has seen Gatwa in action. Why wouldn’t he jump at the chance to work on a new era?
This might be controversial, but personally speaking, I think Moffat is Doctor Who‘s best writer. Robert Holmes is shoulder to shoulder with him, of course, but I’d welcome Steven’s return. His vision of Who is one that aligns most closely with mine, his era (especially the Eleventh Doctor’s tenure) a pinnacle of the franchise to me, so seeing what he’ll do with an exciting new TARDIS team is a tantalising opportunity.
Moffat nonetheless has his detractors, but then, so does everyone. Either way, it’d be excellent to get a mix of fresh and returning writers. I’d love to see Neil Cross, Toby Whithouse, Pete McTighe, Rona Munro, and Jamie Mathieson (to name just a few) to write for the series again; and as for newbies — how great would it be to get Sally Wainwright’s Doctor Who?!
