As we end the 1st series of RTD’s return, what is your favorite episode written by each showrunner?
RTD, Moffat, and Chibnall
I’d also like to include ones from Classic but that title wasn’t quite around then, was it? But people like JNT were in-charge, though I don’t know if JNT directly wrote any episodes?
So this is mainly Revival focused but please do include any classic writers who were high-up in production!
I haven’t solidified my absolute favorite from each yet so I’ll share that later down the line
The showrunner position is a fairly modern concept. During the Classic Who days, the position was essentially split into the Producer and the Story/Script Editor positions. Producers didn’t really contribute to the writing, but there are several stories written completely or in part by the Story Editor. I guess we could equal them to the showrunners of the 21st century.
Oh for RTD I have to be predictable and go with Midnight. It is just a fantastic piece of television.
Moffat is so much more difficult, his writing appeals to me so much more, but The Day of the Doctor man. Wow. 11 years later I still get goosebumps by “You might say I’ve been doing this all my life!” and “No sir. All Thirteen!”.
And John Flipping Hurt!
He must have had such enormous pressure on his shoulders to pull off the 50th, and he just surpassed it in every single way!
Chris Chibnall, well I did a review where I praised The Power of the Doctor to the sky and I will absolutely double down on that choice.
“And yes, I would like to go in the TARDIS”.
Tegan and Ace shooting at Cybermen with machine guns in UNIT HQ.
“Last I saw you, you were half cat”.
“I’m sorry, did you say her ?”
Brave Heart!
2nd Doctor’s Recorder
Ace jumping off the roof with a parachute while being shot at and landing horizontally in the TARDIS midair with a continuous shot following her into our beloved Type 40.
Come on! It’s a pure love fest!
My favourite from RTD is easily Midnight, incredible episode through and through and just hits me in a sweet spot narratively and tonally.
Heaven Sent is a masterpiece and probably the best episode of the revival. The Shepherd’s Boy sequence is my favourite scene in all of Doctor Who.
Chibnall’s a bit trickier because I’m really not a fan of any of his episodes; if I had to choose, The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood is pretty good but very much on the lower end of season five. If we allow other shows, Fragments from Torchwood is his best episode (where was this amazing character development when he was running the show?)
Chibnall: Is it cheating if I say Fragments from Torchwood? If so, probably The Power of the Doctor. Seeing Paul McGann on my screen in 2022 gave me such joy!
RTD: Gotta be Midnight (TBH I generally like him pretty well as a showrunner but very few of his episodes are standouts for me, and Midnight is definitely the biggest exception to that)
Moffat: Heaven Sent is the definite winner for me, but it’s also part of a 3-parter where Moffat didn’t write the first episode, so to pick one where the story is fully his, The Husbands of River Song.
Chibnall: Is saying Flux cheating? If so, then Eve of the Daleks
Midnight is the easy (and obviously most popular) choice for RTD.
I think many round here will be familiar with my lack of enthusiasm for Heaven Sent (it does need a rewatch to be fair) so I’m going to plump for The Day of the Doctor.
Chibnall - hmmmm. The Power of the Doctor maybe but I also think The Woman Who Fell to Earth is a really good Doctor introduction, particularly one which had a HUGE job to do.
And The Woman Who Fell to Earth would be my runner-up for Chibnall.
I’m not counting Chibnall’s pre-showrunner scripts, because then I would have to do the same for Moffat and all of his best scripts would be from his pre-showrunner days (Blink, Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead, The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances).
RTD: So many good ones. But probably Midnight or Waters of Mars
Moffat: Blink. If it needs to be during his run I would say Eleventh Hour or The Day of the Doctor
Chibnall - Power of Three. If it needs to be during his run: Eve of the Daleks or Fugitive of the Judoon
RTD - I concur with Midnight! Such a phenomenal script and episode. Runner-ups would be The Waters of Mars and Wild Blue Yonder.
Moffat - I think pre-showrunner days count! I’d have to go for Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead. That’s been one of my all-time favorites for so long. I think it nails the ending particularly! Runner-ups would be Blink and Heaven Sent.
Chibnall - I think he was really on a roll with Flux and the 2022 Specials. Today I’ll choose Flux, because I really enjoy the ride! It doesn’t all come together perfectly, but it’s got some of the best original villains in Swarm and Azure, great parts with Sontarans and Weeping Angels, and it just made me love Doctor Who again. It’s especially impressive it even exists! Runner-ups would be Eve of the Daleks and The Power of the Doctor.
I’m really surprised nobody has mentioned this one as far as I can tell, but World Enough and Time seems worth mentioning. Sure, Moffat isn’t the sole credited writer but his fingerprints are all over it and it’s a fantastic episode.
