So the Doctor uses his magic wand, I mean screwdriver...
September 23, 2018 1:56 AM   Subscribe

Chris Chibnall is a British TV writer, perhaps best-known for the drama, Broadchurch. Now he's the showrunner of Doctor Who, for which he has previously contributed episodes including Ten and Eleven. So now, perhaps it's a good time to review all of Chibnall's previous Doctor Who episodes. (SLYT, NSFW) posted by Juso No Thankyou (54 comments total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
Yeah, every time I see a Jodie Whittaker interview/or other thing and get all excited, the rational part of my brain is '... yeah, but Chibnall'

Also I never got the Broadchurch hype (it's just kinda ok) and a lot of Torchwood ('Cyberwoman', 'Countrycide' etc...) was BAAAAAAD!!!
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:49 AM on September 23, 2018 [9 favorites]


I am not looking forward to the inevitable dismissal by new Who management of all legitimate criticism of the new series as misogynist and un-woke. And I fully expect there to be a lot to legitimately criticize.

The irony of the 'mediocre man failing upward' by hiding behind feminism is strong with this one. Mr. Chibnall, just give us good popcorn-munchable stories and, yes, do call out the idiotic trope of having villains refer to male characters by name but female characters as just 'the girl'.
posted by zaixfeep at 3:53 AM on September 23, 2018 [2 favorites]


Also, have the Doctor use the word 'Correctamundo' some more. Correctamundo is cool.
posted by zaixfeep at 3:59 AM on September 23, 2018 [2 favorites]


I was very disappointed with the trailer that went on like this other dude didn’t believe The Doctor was competent until she was validated by the male companion. Or something like that. Very much “woman can have authority only as a boon from a man” vibe. So gross.
posted by seanmpuckett at 4:03 AM on September 23, 2018 [1 favorite]


I’m always intrigued that fandoms can’t grasp that creators can improve their skills and touch (or their skills can decline or they can lose the plot) over time. There’s just a permanent sense of good/bad.

Chibnall wrote some episodes of Torchwood 15 years ago that turned out bad. Could he have learned from this and be a good show runner? Let’s find out.
posted by jjderooy at 4:08 AM on September 23, 2018 [10 favorites]


Has Chibnall grown as a writer since his earlier Who/Torchwood work? Excellent question and a fair point. What insights can we glean from his recent work with Whittaker, Broadchurch? (I haven't watched it myself, not a big fan of that genre.)
posted by zaixfeep at 4:24 AM on September 23, 2018


I’m always intrigued that fandoms can’t grasp that creators can improve their skills and touch (or their skills can decline or they can lose the plot) over time. There’s just a permanent sense of good/bad.

That permanent sense tends to be with the vocal members of fandom. I'm sure I have to hope at least that the vast majority do hold somewhat more nuanced views. The issue here isn't that the fan can't conceive of writers improving/getting worse over time, it's precisely that, over time, there wasn't really much of a change.

This makes me wonder about a few things:

1. If 42 was Chibnall's first effort, why the hell was he given a two-parter 2 seasons later? As a reward?
2. Again, why did Moffat subsequently invite him back for another 2 shots?
3. He's done 5 scripts for DW, I'll let 2 pass. It's a similar ratio from me for his Torchwood efforts. If you've got a spotty hit rate like this for science fiction, spread across 6 years of writing, how the hell do you get the showrunner job? Was everyone else unavailable?

Incidentally, I remember that 42 was promoted a fair bit as a concept story, storytelling "in real time", a la, 24. That's great, but who cares when the story sucks?

Could he have learned from this and be a good show runner? Let’s find out.

I want to see if he's learned from Broadchurch. Like zaixfeep, I don't care for the genre, though for me it's the genre of TV where everybody keeps wittering on about it but never explains exactly why it's so groundbreaking or watchable. Could someone help?
posted by Juso No Thankyou at 5:12 AM on September 23, 2018


I personally watched Broadchurch exclusively for Olivia Colman and, on that measure, do not regret it in the slightest.
posted by Panthalassa at 5:19 AM on September 23, 2018 [14 favorites]


There’s just a permanent sense of good/bad.

I like to think I'm pretty open-minded. If everyone was talking about Michael Bay's new sombre character-driven art film set entirely in one tenement house in 1890's Kentucky, I'd give it a chance. If Lauren B. Davis starts writing sappy romance novels with one-dimensional characters and ridiculous puns, I'd be prepared to have opinions about that. But in the absence of any evidence that they've changed their ways, I'm going to go ahead and assume they'll continue doing what they do.
posted by sfenders at 5:48 AM on September 23, 2018


Yeah, every time I see a Jodie Whittaker interview/or other thing and get all excited, the rational part of my brain is '... yeah, but Chibnall'

Same, but then cautious optimism returns because the performances in Broadchurch were enough to make it watchable.
posted by betweenthebars at 6:08 AM on September 23, 2018


So Doctor Who and Broadchurch are such different concepts that I'm not sure you can compare them in terms of writing. But Chibnall's experience with Broadchurch proves he's up for producing a big cinematic show with lots of moving parts and secrets Not To Be Spoiled. That's huge, because being showrunner for Doctor Who is not all about the writing, it's about schedules and budgets and keeping the public excited.

The showrunner has a lot of say in the tone of the show and the overall arcs, but doesn't necessarily do as much of the scripting itself. Traditionally, mostly season openers and finales, which often tend to be overhyped crap no matter who's writing.

Broadchurch used mysteries as a format for a lot of great character work. With multiple companions, we could see more character interactions and maybe less fairy-tale savior complex stuff? Anyway, all the previous showrunners have had bouts of terrible writing as well as pretty high heights. I tend to think of Chibnall's Doctor Who work as more mediocre than actively bad, and he's come a long way since Cyberwoman. So I'm hopeful, but the proof is in the pudding.

I also doubt he'll stay showrunner for more than three or four years. Moffat stuck around too long--the show needs constant change, and this one's been overdue.
posted by rikschell at 6:11 AM on September 23, 2018 [3 favorites]


42 was fine, cmon, no more silly than any other episode of Doctor Who. I liked 42 and the whole 24 round the wrong way thing. Tennant also got to really chew the scenery in that episode.
posted by memebake at 6:36 AM on September 23, 2018 [4 favorites]


It's like this guy has never watched Doctor Who before. Crowded scripts with concepts piled up on each other? Multiple impending crises solved by unexpected means? Companion apparently done for and then saved? That's exactly what every episode is like, that's why it's great. Also, the female doctor concept has been very well received as far as I can tell, whereas the start of this video implies it hasn't. Certainly there's a very noisy minority set against it, but why does the video choose to highlight that in the first 10 seconds?
posted by memebake at 6:53 AM on September 23, 2018 [4 favorites]


That's huge, because being showrunner for Doctor Who is not all about the writing, it's about schedules and budgets and keeping the public excited.

This is definitely a very good point. Got to remember that DW is quite a bit bigger, and doesn't really ever stop according to RTD and Moffat. I do hope Chibnall has some resilience. I did hear somewhere that there's a writer's room kind of thing going on too, which certainly makes sense from a logistics point of view. Showrunners don't have enough time to always be doing their best work (just look at Moffat's rushed episodes). However, one of the important parts of a showrunner's job is to veto nonsense before it gets to the screen. Like that golden arrow in Robots of Sherwood. Was Moffat asleep in that script meeting?
posted by Juso No Thankyou at 6:55 AM on September 23, 2018


I dunno, I found the youtube Chibnell "review" link guy kind of dickish and tiresome. I am looking forward to the next series no matter what. Some DW episodes are great and make you think, some are great and are just mindless fun and scares, some are stinkers for any number of reasons and those are the ones you take food and bathroom breaks during when you're rewatching the entire series in preparation for the next season. All of them are better than this youtube guy's schtick.
posted by Hal Mumkin at 7:38 AM on September 23, 2018 [4 favorites]


I got a very strong whiff of "and here's why I should have been the showrunner instead because I'm clearly more knowledgeable" entitlement off that Youtube link.

I did watch Broadchurch, because Tennant, and I also have a soft spot for police procedurals anyway; I actually like how he delved into the characters in the first series. Second one felt a bit weaker, and the third had some decent (albeit small) gender-equity things to say about victims of sexual assault. I can't speak to how much my natural inclination towards police procedurals may have influenced my reaction; it didn't totally blow me away, but I liked Broadchurch. (One thing I did dig was seeing David Tennant not be a bouncy-manic character.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:21 AM on September 23, 2018 [4 favorites]


So now, perhaps it's a good time to review all of Chibnall's previous Doctor Who episodes.

Trying to stay hopeful about it despite not liking any of them, cheers. Also ignoring Torchwood. I'll say this: He hasn't put a foot wrong since he was announced.

(And if it turns out Chibnall Who is not my cup of tea I'm probably just going to wathc something else and quietly ignore it, because "$[SHOWRUNNER] IS RUINING WHO AND I WILL WATCH EVERY EPISODE TO PROVE THAT" folk are boring beyond belief and who wants to be one.)

But lets hope it's good.
posted by Artw at 8:25 AM on September 23, 2018 [4 favorites]


Yes, Artw. I don't know why people hatewatch a thing. If you don't like it, move on.
posted by Pendragon at 8:50 AM on September 23, 2018


The FanFare posts should probably be divided so that some people can chat about the show and others can engage in the endless nitpicking and grumbling of traditional Who fandom. Instead of "show only" and "show + books", something like "Series 11 discussion only" and "downhill since 1966".
posted by betweenthebars at 8:54 AM on September 23, 2018 [16 favorites]


Here's my approximation of the Broadchurch version of Dr Who, based on this person's writing:

The new Doctor (who was actually a character on Broadchurch though they never gave her much to do other that occasional grieving sessions) will be terrible at her job, follow none of the protocols, but come out ahead in the end. None of the action will ever make logical sense, every single character will be assumed to be the primary villain until the last episode when it's a character who previously got very little screentime. The new Doctor will also be afflicted by some personal thing, perhaps a nagging illness, that does nothing for the plot except fill time.

Then the next season will completely undo everything that happened in the previous season character-wise, like it never happened.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:59 AM on September 23, 2018 [1 favorite]


Malorie Blackman, just on the basis of her C.V., inspires more optimism in me about the quality of Series 11's writing than all the Chris Chibnall-scripted DW episodes I've watched.
posted by Doktor Zed at 9:24 AM on September 23, 2018 [1 favorite]


Looking at previous scripts to get a sense of the showrunner is definitely the wrong lens for Doctor Who. Steven Moffat is 6 for 6 on the episodes he wrote before becoming showrunner, including the first great new Who episode, The Empty Child, and what's still one of the all-time greats, Blink. And yet his seasons get bogged down in the virtues of those episodes - the willingness to play with the non-linearity of time travel, the twisty plots, the inventive monsters, the mythos of the Doctor.
posted by Merus at 9:28 AM on September 23, 2018 [12 favorites]


"Series 11 discussion only" and "downhill since 1966"

Excuse me, which way to the "downhill since 2010" section?
posted by sfenders at 9:52 AM on September 23, 2018


I believe the real Doctor was imprisoned in O.T. 1996 and everything since is some sort of scheme of The Master to discredit her here on Earth and slowly break her spirit. The Doctor is being forced to watch yet unable to do anything.
posted by glonous keming at 10:16 AM on September 23, 2018


Ooh, now I'm kind of in love with the idea of a "hatewatch" tag for FanFare like a "rewatch" or "first watch" but only for the gripers.
posted by rikschell at 12:01 PM on September 23, 2018 [5 favorites]


The new Doctor ... will be terrible at her job, follow none of the protocols, but come out ahead in the end. None of the action will ever make logical sense, every single character will be assumed to be the primary villain until the last episode when it's a character who previously got very little screentime. The new Doctor will also be afflicted by some personal thing, perhaps a nagging illness, that does nothing for the plot except fill time.

I mean, if you count the Doctor's job as "being a Time Lord," then pretty much all these things have happened on Doctor Who already, and many of them are baked into the format of the show.

Also, I hear there will be no old monsters or traditional enemies this season. That's a great sign that we'll pull out of Moffat's nose-dive into fanservice. When a Doctor Who showrunner starts caring more about continuity and lore than fun and adventure, they should have left a year ago already.
posted by rikschell at 12:08 PM on September 23, 2018 [2 favorites]


Giving the old monsters a rest is a positive sign, yes.
posted by Artw at 12:19 PM on September 23, 2018 [1 favorite]


Ooh, now I'm kind of in love with the idea of a "hatewatch" tag for FanFare like a "rewatch" or "first watch" but only for the gripers.

Ooh ooh! Can we start with season two of Helix?
posted by ActingTheGoat at 1:22 PM on September 23, 2018 [1 favorite]


Pessimism about Doctor Who has never made much sense to me, but I also know its a pretty comfortable fan posture. It's a show that believes in rewarding optimism!

The new trailer does have a "why should we listen to her?" moment, but I'm pretty sure that exact scene happened more than once to even just the most recent doctor. Context matters, and it does look a lot different with a woman in the role. I think its such a common Doctor Who trope that it's going to happen more than once to this Doctor too. If that happens *and* we start seeing her needing rescues from the male time team members and/or other tropes, that'll be concerning.

To be fair, I've also avoided everything leading up to this new season except the trailers. To me, the doctor's just an idiot with a box and a screwdriver, passing through and helping out. So long as that stays consistent, I think Chibnell will do just fine.
posted by lownote at 2:17 PM on September 23, 2018 [1 favorite]


(Off topic, but I can't wait for "Doctor Who" to return so that when people mention Jodie Whittaker I don't picture Johnny Whitaker as Jody from "Family Affair.")
posted by kimota at 2:34 PM on September 23, 2018 [5 favorites]


I am not looking forward to the inevitable dismissal by new Who management of all legitimate criticism of the new series as misogynist and un-woke. And I fully expect there to be a lot to legitimately criticize.

Remember, in Dr. Who fandom, it's never too early to discuss how the new showrunner absolutely wrecked Dr. Who. In fact, you might want to get a jump on the rest of the fandom by talking about how well, you kinda gave the first season lf Chibnall/Whittacker the benefit of the doubt because of teething pains, but their SECOND season shows that they fundamentally dont get Who, and it really isn't the series we know and love.

Now me, I'm going to steal a jump on all of you, and start complaining about the surrender after Chibnail. Because they're the absolute worst, you know?
posted by happyroach at 3:06 PM on September 23, 2018 [5 favorites]


To my mind, the gentleman in the video is just sort of describing Doctor Who in an incredulous tone of voice. It's almost entirely nonsense. It follows the mostly-weightless romps of an itinerant deus ex machina. It coined the term "wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey" in its own text. I was under the impression that was all rather self-aware and the whole reason people liked it.

If there was a Golden Age of Who, where the plotting was consistent and the worldbuilding was taken seriously and the Nefarious Plots held up to any degree of logical scrutiny, I most definitely missed it, and I doubt I'd like it as well.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 3:43 PM on September 23, 2018 [6 favorites]


Doctor Who: Downhill Since They Panned Away From The Policeman In 1963
posted by dannyboybell at 3:46 PM on September 23, 2018 [15 favorites]


The thing I've always worried about is that the BBC turn the series into something nice and normal, and worry that they see Chris Chibnall as a safe pair of hands who'll give it to them (almost as much as I worry that that's exactly what he'll do).

Every few years Dr Who turns into a completely different series, that's its strength, and also the thing I suspect drives commissioning editors mad.

I'm afraid I don't like fandom very much. I do, however, like Dr Who most of the time, and the rest of the time it is, at least, fairly kinetic. Which is pleasingly distracting.
posted by Grangousier at 4:13 PM on September 23, 2018 [6 favorites]


It follows the mostly-weightless romps of an itinerant deus ex machina. It coined the term "wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey" in its own text. I was under the impression that was all rather self-aware and the whole reason people liked it.

A fair number of people felt that the "wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey" bit took things rather too far in too self-satisfied a way. (Self-satisfaction is a curse on all Moffat productions.) It's hardly rigorous SF, it is fairly light-hearted, and there's room for silliness, but it can undermine plots when you know they'll be rather blatantly solved with a chuckle and a superior handwave at the last possible moment all the time.

It's worth noting that the best of the Moffat seasons ended with the Doctor effectively dying and the universe being saved rather by the sheer force of will and love for him of one of the companions. It had a convoluted fairy-tale logic, but it didn't feel slapdash and careless.
posted by praemunire at 10:30 PM on September 23, 2018


I strongly urge folks to listen to Doctor Who: The Writer's Room before going down the Chibnall-is-a-terrible-choice rabbit hole. While Chibnall's scripts do not scream genius they are perfectly serviceable. So much else goes on around an episode. Hell, a good thirty percent of the issue with, "Cyberwoman," is the costuming choices made for our titular character. His scripts for, "The Hungry Earth/Clodblood," and, "P.S.," are quite good DW storytelling. He is an experienced, stable hand in television and maybe we might get a good showrunner who avoids letting their personal tics become two year arcs.
posted by Ignorantsavage at 10:40 PM on September 23, 2018 [3 favorites]


Kimora, let's also hope nobody thinks of Anissa Jones when they reboot Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

Ignorantsavage, you make a great point. Chibnall may indeed turn out to be a good showrunner. I am concerned that his social commentary will be less of the clever Twilight Zone variety and more of the 'beat you over the head', 'Women Good Men Bad' variety exempified by the treatment of youth culture in Wild In The Streets. You get more flies with a venus flytrap than with a hammer.
posted by zaixfeep at 12:22 AM on September 24, 2018


Metaflter: Personal tics become two year arcs
posted by zaixfeep at 12:24 AM on September 24, 2018 [1 favorite]




If that happens *and* we start seeing her needing rescues from the male time team members...

Seeing the Doctor running into the members of Time Team would be amazing, especially if the villain turns out to be the Cornish bloke with the good hair. I've never seen him act, but I'd hope for near-Blessed levels of scenery chewing.

(I agree with your actual point, but the resulting mental image filled me with such glee that I had to share.)
posted by metaBugs at 7:32 AM on September 24, 2018 [2 favorites]


A couple things:
* I loved Broadchurch -- writing, performance, visuals -- particularly season 1. Ironically, one of the things I liked best doesn't work at all for Doctor Who: Broadchurch gave the viewer a chance to be immersed in a drama-filled town, and the drama built at a very leisurely pace.

* But again, the visuals were often stunning in Broadchurch, and that can most definitely carry through to Doctor Who.

* In particular, the color palette of the most recent trailer was a visual feast.

* Whittaker is coming off as a joyful Doctor, and for some reason, is giving off a Five vibe, IMO.

In short, I'm here for this.
posted by DrAstroZoom at 8:06 AM on September 24, 2018 [1 favorite]


I have every faith in Jodie Whittaker to do a tremendous job. But why are they making her wear short pants?
posted by orrnyereg at 8:28 AM on September 24, 2018


I believe she had a say in Thirteen's wardrobe.
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:43 AM on September 24, 2018


more of the 'beat you over the head', 'Women Good Men Bad' variety exempified by the treatment of youth culture in Wild In The Streets.

Yeah, 'cause that happens so constantly in media we must stand on eternal guard against it.
posted by praemunire at 10:07 AM on September 24, 2018 [2 favorites]


So, I'm watching this snarky video with the snarky title, and dude says about The Hungry Earth, "Oh, there's no stakes, you just know everyone's going to be fine." About an episode in which a woman tortures someone to death and then Rory gets straight up murdered and erased from history. No stakes. Good one, sarcastic man. I think I can turn you off now.
posted by Errant at 1:22 PM on September 24, 2018 [2 favorites]


I think Jodie Whitaker will likely be great. As for the the writing... I'm no fan of his previous episodes or Broadchurch and he is also for better or worse a long time fan of the show... so we'll have to see.

While I agree that this is true - "$[SHOWRUNNER] IS RUINING WHO AND I WILL WATCH EVERY EPISODE TO PROVE THAT" folk are boring beyond belief" for me this is equally tedious "$[SHOWRUNNER] IS RUINING WHO BECAUSE OF THESE VERY IMPORTANT REASONS AND I HAVE ONLY WATCHED ONE EPISODE BECAUSE IT IS ALL SO AWFUL NO ONE CAN POSSIBLY HAVE ANOTHER OPINION!"

Like Grangousier, I'm not much a fan of Who fandom so I don't put much stock in thinking of Chibnall as a hack when he's had a decent career (albeit most of which I don't particular care for). But you know I do like Who most of the time and even when I'm not a fan of what is on the screen I can stomach the vast majority of it. For me is part of my personal continuity - some people have Star Trek or Star Wars or whatever for it is Doctor Who, anorak that I am. So until I actually see some the next series I don't think we can say much new.

I will say I am literally dancing with joy that I don't have to listen to MURRAY FUCKIN' GOLD drowning out the dialogue anymore. Now that is something that has been long overdue.
posted by Ashwagandha at 2:06 PM on September 24, 2018 [3 favorites]


Jodie Whittaker surprises fans filming a 'welcome to Who' video for her (video on BBC America's Twitter).
posted by plastic_animals at 6:36 PM on September 24, 2018 [1 favorite]


I will say I am literally dancing with joy that DUN DUN DUN DA DUN DUND DUN DUN I don't have to listen to DUN DUN DUN DA DUN DUN MURRAY FUCKIN' GOLD DUN DUN DUN drowning out the dialogue anymore. WHEEEeee Waaa Weeee Weee Now that is something that has been OoooooOOOOeeeOOooo OOO EEEE OOOooo long overdue.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 2:57 AM on September 25, 2018 [5 favorites]




Murray Gold wasn't the sound editor. If whoever was doing the post-production sound editing the past couple of seasons remains on staff people may have to listen to the music of Segun Akinola drowning out the dialogue.
posted by plastic_animals at 6:34 AM on September 25, 2018 [2 favorites]


Cautiously optimistic after reading this thread. Moffat was on a roll on all fronts, and then he kind of lost all his marbles at once, the fourth season of Sherlock was terrible, and around the same time the Doctor went very sour (if I recall correctly). Chibnall, meanwhile, has been steadily growing, as you have pointed out.
The last two seasons, which I just finished, were quite hard to re-watch. An old man constantly screaming at the world "don't you know who I am?"
There's a fresh vibe to 13. I'd be quite surprise if this were not an improvement over the last bits of 12. I love Capaldi as the Doctor, but the show was, as you say, bogged down by its past. A shame too, as the last companions were great, even a bit underused.
posted by svenni at 8:16 AM on September 25, 2018






Craig Parkinson's Two Shot Podcast has Jodie Whittaker this week!
posted by orrnyereg at 6:23 AM on October 4, 2018


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