Doctor Who Showrunner Chris Chiball Wants Peter Capaldi To Stay On
By Sundi Rose
New showrunner Chris Chiball tried to convince Peter Capaldi to stay on as Doctor, but in the end the search is still for the thirteenth Doctor.
Peter Capaldi announced he’s leaving Doctor Who, we’re all still reeling from the vaccuum his departure will create. There have been dozens of actors proposed for the role of the thirteenth Doctor. It looks like British bookmakers have Tilda Swinton as the favorite replacement. However, new showrunner Chris Chiball tried to convince the current to say on for at least another year.
“Chris tried to persuade him to stay,” said former Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat to Broadcast. “I knew it was a possibility that [Capaldi would] leave because Doctors tend to do three years. I thought that he might want to opt out, rather than go through the trauma of a change in command and maybe leaving a year later anyway. But I think he came close to staying.”
Despite this small glimmer of keeping Capaldi on, he’s definitely leaving and Chibnall is faced with finding his replacement. Rumors are swirling about when audiences will get to see the new season, with some reports suggesting we may have to wait until the fall of 2018.
In the same interview with Broadcast, Steven Moffat spoke about his time at Doctor Who and his decision to leave. He drops this bombshell about his time with the show, “For various reasons, during my third series I wasn’t as happy. It was the only time doing Doctor Who where I felt it was slipping away from me a bit. I wasn’t quite as in control of it as I should be. I wasn’t enjoying it as much, and I wasn’t as pleased with it.”
Related Story: Neil Gaiman Suggests Sue Perkins to take on the Thirteenth Doctor
Even though Moffat isn’t writing any new episodes for a while, he knows he’ll be nostalgic about this time with the iconic show. “I’m sure I’ll miss it for the rest of my life,” Moffat said, “and reminisce to very bored people about how I used to be something, I used to matter, then sob on their shoulder and get kicked out the pub.”
Both Moffat and Capaldi will stay on through the tenth season, with the 2017 Christmas Special being their last moments with Doctor Who.