Writer and industry great, J. Michael Straczynski, has expressed his enthusiasm for writing Doctor Who.
Straczynski is probably best known for creating Babylon 5 and the Netflix series Sense8, the latter of which starred Martha Jones actress, Freema Agyeman. The writer has recently moved to the UK, exploring work opportunities in the country as a new direction for his career, so naturally, people on X, formerly Twitter, asked about whether he’d like to work on Doctor Who, or even take over from Russell T Davies as showrunner. Straczynski said:
“I would love nothing more in life than to take on that job, it’d be the thrill of a lifetime, but we’ll see.”
In a later tweet (yes, we’re still calling them that), the writer added:
“I suppose the question is, would Doctor Who fans be willing to accept an American, even a hardcore Anglophile with a UK visa, for such an inherently British series, given Babylon 5 and Sense8 and the like? Would I be worthy?”
And the answer, at least from this Who fan, is: 100%.
Straczynski is one of my favourite writers. Admittedly, I know him best for his comic book work — his run with John Romita Jr and Mike Deodato Jr on The Amazing Spider-Man is my go-to Spidey; indeed, if life is getting me down (and honestly, Doctor Who has got me down quite a lot since 2018), I re-read Spider-Man, notably Coming Home, which opened the run and introduced the terrifying Morlun, and it reminds me why I love storytelling, why I became a writer, and why I adore comics so much. It’s truly special.
So yes, I’d love to see Straczynski writing for Doctor Who. He brought extra dimensions to the Spidey mythos (as well as the lore of other Marvel heroes like Thor and Captain America) without tainting the past, which is what Who needs right now. We just need great storytelling, and JMS can deliver that.
But would Who fans accept him, en masse? The reception would no doubt be mixed, but you get that with everyone. Shakespeare could write for Doctor Who (y’know, if he weren’t long deceased) and people would say his episode isn’t a patch on Pyramids of Mars. That’s just what a love and passion for the franchise results in, and that’s fine. Nonetheless, with the show’s future looking a little rocky, it’s surely worth seeing what JMS has to offer.
