You might think that there’s not much to consider in the 0.85 seconds between being asked ‘Would you like to run Doctor Who?’ and screaming ‘Yes. Oh God yes. Plus Yes!’ but apparently, reality doesn’t work that way and it took some persuading for Chris Chibnall to agree to take over as show runner once Steven Moffat departs.
In fact, the man himself says that he had to be ‘wooed’ to the role by the BBC before deciding whether to devote himself to the Doctor on a full-time basis.
The former Broadchurch writer tells the June issue of The Royal Television Society’s magazine Television (via Radio Times):
“I finally said yes because I love the show to my bones. I resisted it for a very long time, and [the BBC] really had to woo me.”
Speaking to Mark Lawson in the June Issue of Television, Chibnall also gave some indication as to the direction the show would head in once he climbs into the hot seat.
“What the BBC was after was risk and boldness,” he says, later adding: “I had ideas about what I wanted to do with it. When I went to them and said, ‘This is what I would do’, I actually expected them to say, ‘Ooh, let’s talk about that’, but they said: ‘Great!’”
Sounds like he has a clear vision and that vision seems to chime with what the Beeb want, which seems to suggest a turn back towards the more populist vision of the Russell T. Davies era – with Doctor Who back as the Saturday night ratings behemoth once again.
If BBC sources are to be believed, Chibnall’s debut series is due to begin filming early next year with a likely broadcast in the autumn of 2018.