Three Writers to Get ‘Doctor Who’ Back on Track Following Chibnall’s Era

Series 11 of Doctor Who is nearly over and fans have started to admit they’re missing the former showrunner, Steven Moffat, who stepped down and bowed out of the show nearly a year ago. But why? Chris Chibnall, who took over for Moffat, has taken the show's long-running science fiction show to a completely different era. From the show’s first ever female Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) to having the series reduced down to just 10 episodes—all of which are standalone episodes. That’s right, wave goodbye to the two-part finale.

The series itself has been quite an interesting one: New TARDIS, three companions, more light-hearted episodes, and of course that intriguing title sequence. However, the series has gained a large range of reviews, which all seem very mixed in opinions. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, every episode of Series 11 is like Marmite, you either love it every week or you hate it every week. Saying that, the episodes that haven’t gone down as well with the fans, compared to recent episodes, just so happen to be written by the showrunner, Chibnall. Coincidence?

New rumours claim that Chibnall will be passing the showrunner role to someone else in 2019 as Chibnall is reportedly unhappy on the show behind the scenes. Fans know that Chibnall never wanted to be showrunner in the first place, but was talked into it by BBC. So, when Chibnall does depart, who will replace him? Below are some candidates who have the potential to get Doctor Who back on its feet again.

1. Charlie Brooker

The writer of E4’s Dead Set and most recently Netflix’s smash hit series Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker evidently has the knowledge and incredible imagination to get Doctor Who back to the show that used to make us hide behind the sofa with fear. With Black Mirror being Brooker’s most recognisable show, many fans have expressed their thoughts on social media, explaining how Brooker would be perfect for Doctor Who.

Black Mirror takes in modern society and turns the society into a shed full of standalone episodes that usually set either in the alternative present or way in the future. With Doctor Who currently being a series of standalone episodes, it shows it hasn’t worked out for Chibnall, but Brooker could well sort that out with his iconic dark and satirical tone—along with some lighter episodes to break the series up a bit. Could Brooker be the new Steven Moffat of Doctor Who?

2. Neil Cross

Read that name again. Neil Cross. Heard that name before, haven’t you? You stand correct. Cross has written for Doctor Who in the past. Cast your mind way back to 2013 when Moffat was in possession of the show running reigns. Cross wrote the episodes "The Rings of Akhaten" and "Hide" for Series 7b with Matt Smith as the departing Doctor and Jenna Coleman as Clara.

Alongside Doctor Who, Cross has written many other shows, however, he’s most famous for writing BBC One’s Luther. For a show like Doctor Who, it needs fear, it needs action, and it needs suspense. The mind of Cross has the power to do all three of those things when applying it to his scripts. If you’ve watched Luther then you’ll understand how exciting Doctor Who would become if Cross took over. We’d be begging for a new episode right after the latest broadcast.

3. Sarah Dollard

Sarah Dollard is one of my favourite female writers of all time. Dollard has a fantastic mind and can visualise scenes and settings in a remarkable way. Like Cross, Dollard has written for Doctor Who in the past and she’s the woman behind Clara’s first Series 9 exit in "Face the Raven" before returning to write for Series 10 in 2017 with the historical episode "Thin Ice," which saw Bill (Pearl Mackie) see a different side to the Doctor—played by Peter Capaldi at the time.

With quite a dark imagination (like Moffat), Dollard isn’t afraid of killing people off, but at the same time, she has ideas full of potential that actually spark something huge. Dollard’s only two episodes have been Earth-based with one in the present-day and the other in the past. Baring that in mind, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to give Dollard the opportunity to run Doctor Who to see how far her imagination can go with future-based episodes set on another planet. I’m thinking maybe a collaboration with Charlie Brooker?

With those three writers in mind, Doctor Who would be transformed into something even more incredible. Don't get me wrong, Chibnall has written some wonderful stories in the past, but being the showrunner for Doctor Who just isn't for him. Maybe he should just be an additional show writer on the side of the showrunner, like the good old days.

Who would you want to see take over for Chris Chibnall?