Moffat quits Who.

I am not sure how to feel about that. Optimistic, on balance?

It means I might be able to start watching again.

Ding Dong the merry-oh, sing it high, sing it low!

It's just the Broadchurch association giving me pause.

The guy playing Savage isn't very good either. Maybe just have the show about Cold, Mick, and Sara on an eternity long pub crawl beating people up, with Ray following along to bail them out of jail.

This would be a much better show that we've had so far.

ITA on Hawkman's annoyance factor and Stein kidnapping Jax feeling out of character.

ETA: Also, is Hunter's Gideon a different model? The "face" is identical, but the voice seems different.

The original voice was Morena Baccarin. I don't know why they can't use her -- maybe since she's in Deadpool she has a noncompete agreement with DC? But wasn't she on Gotham? Is she still on Gotham? That would make my theory completely wrong.

The odd thing is the brief Gideon bit on The Flash this week sounded like the original.

Moffat quits Who.

Aw, crap. I'm not sorry to see Steven Moffat move on. If it had been two years ago, I'd have been eager for him to stop; but his last two years have been some of the best Who ever, and a great improvement in his two greatest flaws (gender issues and overly convoluted arcs). Clara went from possibly my least favourite modern-era companion in Season 7, to my favourite.

Even so, he'll have been in charge for eight years by the time he steps down. That'll be longer than anyone save John Nathan-Turner, who only racked up 9+ years because the BBC wouldn't let him move on. It's time for someone else to see what they can make of it. (I hope that Moffat will still write for it occasionally. His four efforts during the Davies era are very well-regarded; they're all in the top ten DW adventures ever on this site, for instance: [link] )

However. In the first place, I'm not mad about Chris Chibnall taking over. Unlike Moffat, he's never written a particularly good Doctor Who adventure. On that ratings site, his best-rated adventure is Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, in 136th place - not even in the top half. I give it 7/10, and that's mostly because dinosaurs are cool. And the villain... to quote one site, "Plenty of people have pointed out that possibly choosing a Hebrew name for the insatiably greedy character was not the greatest decision ever, and they are very much correct." Doesn't fill me with confidence concerning his sensibilities. Conversely, season 1 of Broadchurch was amazing and deeply emotional television, so maybe he's learnt a trick or two.

I think this would be a good time to revive the showrunning structure of classic Who - have a producer to manage everything and a separate script editor to look after the stories. Better writers, like Jamie Mathieson or Peter Harness, who won't get the top job because they don't have showrunning experience, could still be responsible for the stories.

But the worst news is: no new Doctor Who this year!! (Except for the Christmas special.) This sucks.

In conclusion, at least no one can doubt Chibnall's love of the show. For those who are interested, here's a clip back from 1986, with a trio of Liverpool fans criticising Season 23 (Trial of a Time Lord, with the Sixth Doctor). Chibnall is the one with glasses and no beard. [link] It also appears as one of the special features on the DVD of Trial of a Time Lord (specifically the last part, The Ultimate Foe).

I want to know where in 1975 Quebec one would find a bar with a dance floor and a juke box featuring Captain & Tennille songs that's crowded with both hippie flower children AND massive belligerent thugs spoiling for a fight in broad daylight.

Pre-amnesty draft dodgers in the only english-speaking bar around?