Doctor Who | Avoid the hard reboot path, argues Steven Moffat

Former Doctor Who boss Steven Moffat suggests that a hard reboot path is the wrong way forward for Doctor Who. Doctor Who, as you’re more likely aware, is currently in some degree of flux (with a little f), courtesy of Disney’s decision to end its commercial relationship with the BBC over the show. The BBC ... Doctor Who | Avoid the hard reboot path, argues Steven Moffat

Former Doctor Who boss Steven Moffat suggests that a hard reboot path is the wrong way forward for Doctor Who.

Doctor Who, as you’re more likely aware, is currently in some degree of flux (with a little f), courtesy of Disney’s decision to end its commercial relationship with the BBC over the show. The BBC has recently confirmed that, as per its usual process, it’s putting the show out to tender, with a view to it returning in due course.

When it does come back, it’s going to need a new Doctor, and a new showrunner as well, given that Russell T Davies has also confirmed he won’t be returning.

It does offer the opportunity for a fairly dramatic reset of Doctor Who for whatever its next iteration is. Steven Moffat, chatting to the terrific Doctor Who Magazine, does caution against that approach, though.

Offering the disclaimer that he’s not just saying this because of his huge fandom for the show, Moffat posits that the hard reset is a “bad idea”, mainly because the audience doesn’t need it.

He’s got form here, too. His Doctor Who era was evolved from Russell T Davies. And when he took on Sherlock, “I didn’t need to explain that Benedict Cumberbatch is not playing a continuation of Jeremy Brett, because he’s a different actor.”

The setup of Doctor Who allows, of course, for continuing reinvention of the character. On the one hand, as Moffat points out, you can’t quite do what James Bond does, by changing the actor and having the audience instantly aware that it’s a new version of the 007 tale you’re getting.

“With Doctor Who, the fact it’s a new actor doesn’t tell you that at all, so most people casually watching would just be assuming ’it’s the next version of Doctor Who, he’s changed again’. Then they’ll say ‘why doesn’t he know who the Daleks are?’ And you start getting confused.”

Issue 632 of Doctor Who Magazine, the ‘where next for the TARDIS’ issue, has a lot more on this and do support print media if you can. Their website is here, and they’re doing sterling work: https://doctorwhomagazine.com/

As for the future of Doctor Who? As someone once wisely noted, “time will tell. Always does…”