Moffat’s big exit! Doctor Who’s status for the next 12 months

[dropcap]S[/dropcap]o the day has come. Steven Moffat is departing Doctor Who at the end of 2017, to be replaced by fellow Who writer, as well as sometime showrunner for Torchwood and Broadchurch Chris Chibnall.

There will be no full series this year but there will be a Christmas special followed by a full Moffat-lead series next year, with Chibnall taking up the reigns going into 2017 and beyond.

There’s no doubt that Steven Moffat has been a divisive figure both within and outside of the Doctor Who fanbase. Love him or hate him, however, the time was right.

No-one can run a show of Doctor Who’s sheer scale forever, especially when you’ve forgone the ‘writer’s room’ approach of many other dramas and are co-running another blockbuster (Sherlock) simultaneously.

I’m personally not concerned about the lack of televised Doctor Who over the next year, as I have all of this to get my whovian fix:

• Titan Comics: who have three different monthly Doctor Who series running for the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors, with a series for the Ninth coming later this year.
• Big Finish audio dramas: telling new stories with almost every Doctor in full-cast audio dramas (not audiobooks!) including stories for David Tennant and Catherine Tate’s Tenth Doctor and Donna later this year.
• Books: covering the further adventures of the extended cast of the show, including Ashildr (Maisie Williams) from the most recent series and River Song (Alex Kingston).
• Doctor Who: Legacy: a mobile and Facebook Candy-Crush-meets-Pokémon-esque game that’s incredibly good and one of the most ethical micro-transaction driven games out there, with characters from not only the show’s classic and modern eras, but from all of the above mediums too.

As a wise man once said, one does not simply run out of Doctor Who.

There is the chance that, as with any show, leaving it off the boil for a year might damage the audience interest, but with popular dramas like Sherlock always coming back strong despite ridiculous scheduling gaps, I don’t think we should feel the need to be too concerned. Additionally, if there’s one thing Doctor Who has proved, it is that its longevity is unparalleled; it can spring back from a hiatus fighting fit.

I, for one, am thoroughly looking forward to what Chibnall will bring to the table. His previous episodes on Doctor Who and Torchwood have been a little mixed, but amongst them are intricate explorations of family dynamics and their occasional toxicity, alongside strong character work.

Peter Capaldi to leave with Moffat? Image: Wikimedia Commons / Gage Skidmore

This bodes well for Moffat critics who were disappointed by his move away from the domestic and are looking for something more akin to Russell T Davies’ patented style.

Additionally, unless Moffat goes on to spearhead a significant and demanding project following his departure, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to presume that unlike his predecessor, he will still contribute the odd episode here and there throughout Chibnall’s era – and one thing that Moffat has most definitely proven is his capability to come up with fantastic, oft-unsettling ideas for single-story set pieces.

One disappointing prospect is that the fantastic Peter Capaldi will leave alongside Moffat just as he was proving himself to be an incredible Doctor – but a new showrunner often comes with a need to stamp their mark on the show, and that unfortunately requires fresh blood.

Overall, I’m optimistic about Doctor Who’s future, even if that future is a little further away that we are used to. But with everything who-related I have to keep me occupied, I’m sure that time will pass as fast as though I were in the TARDIS myself.