Steven Moffat to leave Doctor Who

It's been confirmed that Steven Moffat will be leaving Doctor Who after Series 10 while  Chris Chibnall will be taking over the role of showrunner for Series 11. The 'Bleeding Cool article earlier this year suggested this, and the fact that Steven kept talking about his departure in interview made it felt less of a surprise and more like a reveal of inevitable news.

I can't say I'm particularly upset at this. Steven has had a pretty good, long run at Doctor Who. In that time he has given us three great Doctors, three wonderful companions, a spectacular anniversary special, and a surprisingly wonderful female Master. All this time he has kept the show in the public eye. When he took over from Russell T Davies he reinvented the show and then when Matt left, just at the point it looked like he might dry up he changed the tone for Peter Capaldi bringing us two of his best series with a more sombre tone to them. It's better that he should go out on a high than risk getting trapped on the show, which happened to John Nathan Turner. I wish him well for whatever future projects he may go on to do after this.

As for Chris Chibnall, he's a good choice for showrunner, albeit not a particularly exciting one. Chibnall has plenty of television experience but I found his Doctor Who scripts fairly average in quality. On the other hand, I did like The Power of Three, so maybe that's promising. Chibnall won't be the cure for all the perceived 'ills' of the Steven Moffat era, but nor should he be terrible. I can imagine something far more traditional and conservative. I have a feeling I won't enjoy the Chris Chibnall era as much as the previous two, but, in a way, that's okay. Change isn't always easy but someone, somewhere, will hopefully identify this as their own era.

With Series 10 not airing until Spring 2017, and a only a Christmas special this year, it's going to be a long wait for some, but gap years have never particularly bothered me. Doctor Who should never feel like a show for people take for granted. For those who don't like the wait it's a good time to look at some other Doctor Who stuff. There's 'Class' to look forward to in the autumn.

Still, all of that is in the future. For now we've got Steven Moffat's last series. Hopefully he can make his exit every bit as exciting as brilliant as his entrance in 2010.