Home TV News Steven Moffat Leaving Doctor Who. Broadchurch’s Chris Chibnall Taking Over.

Steven Moffat Leaving Doctor Who. Broadchurch’s Chris Chibnall Taking Over.

by Dave Elliott
Steven Moffat Leaves Doctor Who

Steven Moffat Leaves Doctor Who

Steven Moffat has announced he’s handing over the keys to the TARDIS, and the rest of the Doctor Who universe when he completes Series 10 of the show to Broadchurch’s Chris Chibnall… in 2017… Yes, it’s going to be another one of those years for Who fans.  Whilst this isn’t a total shock if you’ve been listening to Steven Moffat talk over the last few interviews, the announcement that there will only be a Christmas special in 2016, with the show returning in the Spring of 2017 is a bit of a surprise.

Moffat said of the decision, “Feels odd to be talking about leaving when I’m just starting work on the scripts for season 10, but the fact is my timey-wimey is running out. While Chris is doing his last run of Broadchurch, I’ll be finishing up on the best job in the universe and keeping the TARDIS warm for him. It took a lot of gin and tonic to talk him into this, but I am beyond delighted that one of the true stars of British Television drama will be taking the Time Lord even further into the future. At the start of season 11, Chris Chibnall will become the new showrunner of Doctor Who. And I will be thrown in a skip.”

So that’s a 2016 Christmas special, followed by Moffat’s final season (series 10) airing in Spring 2017, with Chris Chibnall first episode presumably being the 2017 Christmas Special, with his first full season (series 11) following in 2018. BBC1 controller Charlotte Moore explains the decision to move the show saying “I have decided to schedule Steven’s big finale series in Spring 2017 to bring the nation together for what will be a huge event on the channel. 2016 is spoilt with national moments including the Euros and Olympics and I want to hold something big back for 2017 – I promise it will be worth the wait!”

New show-runner Chris Chibnall said of the job that Doctor Who is “the ultimate BBC programme – bold, unique, vastly entertaining, and adored all around the world. So it’s a privilege and a joy to be the next curator of this funny, scary and emotional family drama. I’ve loved Doctor Who since I was four years old, and I’m relishing the thought of working with the exceptional team at BBC Wales to create new characters, creatures and worlds for the Doctor to explore.”

We’ve said before of Moffat that he’s a superb writer, but a so/so show-runner, however he really seemed to pull things together much better this series, so we’ll be sad to see him go… when he does… in 2017…

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