Who should write an episode of Doctor Who? - Cast&Crew

If that happened I think I would explode with happiness.

That would be so cool!!!! I'm even willing to pay for that. I wish it could happen...

My own feeling on this is that I don't think he's seen much of it to be honest. As when I was talking to him about Hamlet and a modern version of it starring David Tennant from Doctor Who, he didn't seem to be familiar with him. (Or at least he didn't say that he was..) And so instead we started talking about Patrick Stewart-Who was also in that version as both Claudius and Hamlet's Ghostly Dad. Something to which he said "I can see why they would do an interpretation of it like that." And then we got off the subject as Joss started telling me about how one of the first Shakespeare plays he saw had Patrick Stewart in it.

And he did make that remark from one of the recent festivals about how "You either make television or you watch it.." when someone asked him about Lost. So it may be that he's just frankly been too busy over the last decade or so to have watched anything substantial of the newer incarnations of it.

Though I guess he must watch some tv from being an avowed fan of Veronica Mars. And he did seem somewhat familiar with Amy Acker's work on Person of Interest and Once Upon a Time..

Of course it could just be that he's not seen a lot of British sci-fi, as I often wonder how the zero budget productions of the old bbc tv shows would look to a modern US audience. They'd probably seem quite amateurish in some respects. I know I did have to tell him how another british sci-fi show ended. As I had to explain that my first watching of Serenity had me fearing that the Firefly crew were about to get, as I called it, "The Blakes 7 ending.."
And then we had a whole conversation on how that was the reason for the 'Leaf on The Wind' scene. In that it was a way to empathise the point that this could indeed be the end for everybody there.

Tis a shame though if he's not all that familiar with Dr Who. As one could only imagine how awesome it would be for Joss to play in that particular sandbox, where you have a character who can experience stories in any time or place across the universe!

Jas | March 18, 19:20 CET

Love the idea of Javier Grillo-Marxuach. The Middleman is more than enough evidence for me that he could do some really funny, enjoyable stuff with the show.

sumogrip | March 18, 19:30 CET

Pretty solid list, tho I haven't heard of Mr. Javier Grillo-Marxuach. I would add Mike Mignolia, however.

roddikinathome | March 18, 20:11 CET

Surprised to see Sera Gamble on there, she tends to get a lot of flack from the SPN Fandom.

Jelly | March 18, 20:21 CET

Yeah Jelly. That surprised me as well, for the very same reason..

Jas | March 18, 20:37 CET

I find the list's lack of Warren Ellis disturbing.

Craig Oxbrow | March 18, 21:04 CET

I love Jane's Torchwood episode about Jack's past, so she's at least played in the sandbox beside this sandbox.

redeem147 | March 18, 21:14 CET

"I find the list's lack of Warren Ellis disturbing."
Craig Oxbrow

*Smacks self* Well duh! Didn't even occur to me.

roddikinathome | March 18, 21:28 CET

Jelly, I was surprised too. Though, the eps they quote of hers are great SPN episodes. I think Sera is a great writer, but not a great showrunner (which is when I think most of her flack came along. i.e. Marti Noxon)
I've wondered if Joss is a Doctor Who fan. I always want him to love the other fandoms I love. Don't know why, but I do.

CrystalSC | March 18, 22:15 CET

Joss would do a good job, but I have a feeling he's kinda busy. It definitely needs someone with a very strong understanding of how to write Britishness - I'm not convinced the others, even the wonderful Jane, actually have that. You only have to look at the Eighth Doctor to see how badly it could go wrong.

Gill | March 18, 22:26 CET

I'm (almost) sure I remember reading an interview with JW where he sang the praises of Russell T Davies. If he was vague about the guy with the time travelling machine, he certainly knew all about the writer and show runner!

Annapurna | March 18, 23:37 CET

I certainly remember an interview with Russel T Davies singing the praises of Joss Whedon, but not vice versa. I couldn't really tell if Joss's vagueness about it was that he didn't know it or if he just wasn't that impressed by what he had seen. Might just be that he felt he hadn't seen enough to properly comment on it..

Jas | March 18, 23:53 CET

Scroll down to daikiki’s question on the Reddit interview:

"Have you ever been approached to write a Doctor Who episode? Is it something you’d be interested in doing if the opportunity presented itself?"

"The doctor is dope, but I’ve just spent 2 years writing other people’s characters, plus I’ve got my Firefly kickstarter adventure. (See above.)"

Yes, a Firefly Kickstarter joke, in April 2012.

I believe that they have also met...

Craig Oxbrow | March 19, 00:50 CET

Wow! Thanks for the link!

Yeah That kickstarter one is now just soooo ironic!

That's really good to know that he's definitely seen it. Hmm, wonder why he was reluctant to comment on David Tennant then? Make's me wonder if he's maybe he's one of the folks that prefers the old style Doctors..

Man, it would be sooo amazing to see him write a Matt Smith episode! Of course he can't write every great show in the world.. LOL! Definitely have to work on building that cloning machine! ;)

Jas | March 19, 01:26 CET

It's also possible he doesn't know new Who so well, but I imagine going to high school in England, he became at least somewhat familiar with classic Who. So maybe he hasn't seen Tennant's work, but is familiar with the show as a whole.

sumogrip | March 19, 01:33 CET

Yeah, That would make sense Jobo.

Jeez that's such fantastic Q & A that Craig Oxbrow linked here! Can't believe I missed it first time around. Though hearing Joss talk about what might have been with Fred makes me sad too. The cancellation of that show still feels like an open wound.

I guess that's the way a lot of folks feel about Firefly. But I think the difference for me was that by the time I saw it over here in the UK, it was already cancelled. And so I guess never really let myself see it as much more than a mini series, that wouldn't develop much in the way of big story arcs. But Angel.. After five seasons that show had just soo much going on! And so to not see it all come to fruition, was a very bitter pill to swallow. Sigh! :(

But yeah, getting back to DW. The mind boggles at the thought of what Joss could do with that property! Just like Angel there would be lots of opportunities to set stories in different time periods, and indeed the future...with Starships! And now I'm suddenly imagining the Doctor exploring the Firefly universe! LOL! :)

Jas | March 19, 01:52 CET

If Joss went to "High School" in England then that would have been the Peter Davidson era. Plus I'd assume repeats of Tom Baker. Don't know how much he would have watched though, English public schools can/could be a bit funny about letting boarders watch TV...

zz9 | March 19, 01:56 CET

Considering how meh I am about Moffat's run as showrunner, I think a Joss-clone could do amazing things with Doctor Who. However, I more want real Joss to work on his original ideas.

Giles_314 | March 19, 01:57 CET

I only wish Hitch-hikers author, Douglas Adams were still alive and able to write another Doctor Who arc. He was the perfect choice.

A Joss-penned (and directed) Doctor Who episode would be wonderful, though.

Also, the Doctor likes to speak pretty quickly - perhaps Aaron Sorkin could have a stab at it? :)

EffulGentleman | March 19, 01:57 CET

I'm pretty sure I remember reading an interview where not only does Joss say that is fan of the old Doctor Who, but had mentioned it as one of the influences for the Buffy tv show.

That said, it's hard to find links via Google because of Russell T Davies bringing up Buffy as such a big influence when he started up the new Doctor Who. Also Buffy actors appearing on Doctor Who and Torchwood also make it hard to weed out any references.

The most I was able to find without spending too much time on it is this article which refers to Joss as a self-confessed Doctor Who fan. There's also this article from SFX which asks Joss 100 questions and he jokes that he favorite Doctor Who is strangely Timothy Dalton. This is back in 2002 before Timothy Dalton appeared on the new Doctor Who.

Matt_Fabb | March 19, 02:27 CET

Grant Morrison sort of needs to be on the list. I remember a long time ago that someone said he's sitting on a Doctor Who story he'd like to tell.

pacer | March 19, 03:20 CET

Sorry, I just want Neil Gaiman to write all of the Doctor Who eps. If he gets overwhelmed, Moffat can throw one to Joss, one to Jane and one to Ben.

The Doctor's Wife was just perfect. "Did you wish really hard?"

Really, the Doctor and Girl!Tardis is my true OTP. For the next hour.

hann23 | March 19, 04:15 CET

Joss would do a good job, but I have a feeling he's kinda busy. It definitely needs someone with a very strong understanding of how to write Britishness - I'm not convinced the others, even the wonderful Jane, actually have that. You only have to look at the Eighth Doctor to see how badly it could go wrong.

The writer of that was British. His dad had been on Doctor Who.

redeem147 | March 19, 12:34 CET

Hah! Yeah, that was a great line hann23! The Doctor and the Tardis are pretty much the real OTP there. (Certainly more than River..) They've been together forever!

Jas | March 19, 14:04 CET

Matt_Fabb I'd forgotten how funny that SFX Q & A was. Though a lot of it is slightly sad now in retrospect, given the fate of the shows in question. But the slight dig at Smallville did make me really laugh!

Jas | March 19, 14:16 CET

JANE.

I mean, Joss would write a great ep, but I don't know if his style would mesh with Moffat-era Who. Four or five years ago I would have loved to see this, but the tone of DW has changed. I would love to see Jane contribute because (1) she's awesome, (2) she's done Torchwood, and (3) when was the last time a woman wrote for Who? Bueller? Bueller?

[Answer, btw: almost 6 years, and only one woman has gotten writing credit since the revival.]

Three Flowers In a Vase | March 19, 18:21 CET

[Answer, btw: almost 6 years, and only one woman has gotten writing credit since the revival.]"

Three Flowers In a Vase

Wow, that is extreeeeeeemly lame.

roddikinathome | March 19, 22:56 CET

March 18 2013