Doctor Who: 10 Great Writers For Future Series

Let's be honest- Doctor Who is in a rut. I cannot believe that Steven Moffat, as recently commented, planned everything from the beginning - that he intended everything that happened in Series 5 and 6 to be a direct consequence of what happened in Time of The Doctor. The show is convoluted, and though even more popular than ever before, it's nowhere near as engaging as it used to be. As wonderful as Matt Smith's performance was- truly one of the great Doctors- the writing has under-performed him from the start. Steven Moffat is one of modern television's great writers, the man behind such classics as Jekyll, Sherlock, Blink and The Empty Child. The man is a genius- have you seen His Last Vow yet? Simply incredible! So what's happened to the show he adores under his reign as showrunner? There's been many an argument asking this exact question- so rather than praise or criticise, all that will be said on the matter is that the show needs a major overhaul, especially now that one of Britain's greatest actors is in control of the TARDIS. Television is still considered to be the writer's domain. Yet the last few years of Doctor Who have been the same predictable boys' club- and Series 8 doesn't seem set to change. Yes, newcomer Jack Lothian is doing a script; Frank Cottrell Boyce is rumoured; and Phil Ford is finally being given his own episode after serving his time on The Waters of Mars, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. But once again we're getting scripts from Mark Gatiss, Chris Chibnall, Neil Gaiman, Neil Cross... whilst the aforementioned writers have produced perfectly fine scripts, even if some have been flawed, it's the same old writers- and all men. Whilst the show has been in a state of decline for the last 3 years, there's still every chance that Moffat will hit his stride now- but he needs to move away from his same old trusted writers and branch out into ventures new. After all, by casting Capaldi and hiring Ben Wheatley to direct the first 2 episodes of the next series, he's definitely heading in the right direction. Not every episode for Series 8 has yet had a confirmed writer, so it doesn't hurt to speculate who might have been offered the chance to come out with a script. Read on for 10 writers who have either never written for the show or haven't done so for quite a while. Everyone in the list would bring a breath of fresh air to a show that's become dangerously stale, despite the pedigree of the recurring writers.