Doctor Who's Shocking Showrunner Admission Reveals Its Real Problem
A shocking admission from outgoing Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall highlights a fundamental problem with the show. Despite a promising start, the Broadchurch creator's tenure as the Doctor Who boss has seen the BBC series lose the spark that once made it unmissable television. This drop in quality has been matched by a drop in viewership – and many Whovians lay the blame squarely on Chibnall's weak Doctor Who era as showrunner.
With Chibnall having penned his final episode of the show, he recently sat down with Doctor Who Magazine to reflect on his time as showrunner. While generally positive about his tenure, the writer did admit his dissatisfaction with the season 11 finale, “The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos," singling the episode out as the worst of his run. With the story rated a lowly 5.3 by users on IMDB, it’s clear that Chibnall wasn’t the only one underwhelmed by the episode. But the showrunner’s explanation of why the finale underperformed should shock its defenders and critics alike.
Related: Doctor Who: Chibnall Failed The First Female Doctor
Remarkably, Chibnall’s retrospective interview saw the writer reveal that the version of “The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos” that went into production was only his first draft. With Doctor Who season 11 having half its episodes written by Doctor Who debutants, much of the showrunner’s time was taken up making sure their unseasoned scripts were fit for production, leaving him with less time to work on his own stories. However, this does not point to Chibnall being an incompetent showrunner, or singularly poor with time management. Rather, it highlights that Doctor Who has a fundamental problem with its production culture, in which far too much creative pressure is placed
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