The Scots Views

That slightly grumpy man with a Scottish accent and dark suit coat has answered some of the universe’s greatest mysteries once again. No, not the Twelfth Doctor, silly! Doctor Who‘s showrunner extraordinaire, Steven Moffat. On 11 November, Moffat spoke at the Royal Television Society’s event Doctor Who: Anatomy of a Hit (nice title!).

The talk covered a variety of topics and questions, but two of the biggest concerned the revelation behind the Mistress of the Nethersphere’s true identity and the healthfulness–or perceived lack thereof–of the show’s Series 8 ratings.

As for the return of the Doctor’s best enemy, Mr. Moffat said that he had always been a fan of the Master (he specifically mentioned Roger Delgado and John Simm) and simply wanted a chance to write the character: “I wanted a go at the Master and I thought, ‘It’ll be a woman!’ and I then got lost for several months, thinking… It’s exactly the kind of gimmick I’m always saying you shouldn’t do – I’ve always said that you cast a person, you cast an individual, you don’t cast a gender… and I found a list [of actors] for another part and Michelle Gomez was on the list, and I thought, ‘My God – that’d be brilliant. Michelle is the person. I can write it now, I know what she’s going to be like!’”

 

In today’s changing and evolving TV market, it’s also no secret that there’s a perceived Doctor Who ratings drop, which Moffat basically called errant nonsense and simply said, “There is no drop-off in the ratings.” And according to the BBC, the showrunner is probably quite correct about Series 8′s Doctor Who ratings: “Figures from ratings agency Barb bear out his assertion. Once catch-up services [such as iPlayer] are included, consolidated viewing figures show an average increase of 39% on the overnight ratings. As a result, the first 11 episodes of recent series averaged 7.35 million viewers. That compares with 7.45 million for the previous series and 6.98 million for the one before that… [Overnight] Ratings did slide over the course of Capaldi’s first season in the Tardis – but the show faced scheduling changes on BBC One…”

Michelle Gomez has said that she’ll be returning for Series 9.

Gomez is asked in the new DWM whether or not Missy be back next year and she replies, “Yes.”

Adding: “‘Yes’ is my answer. I’ll be back. Can I say that? Am I allowed? If not… well, I guess we’ll have to see how she’s received…”

Michelle Gomez has given her views on the recent Doctor Who complaints over the Series 8 finale with the way it addressed death and whether it was suitable for children.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5, she said: “There was around five million viewers, I believe, and I think there was around about 100 complaints. Now that’s not very many.

“My philosophy is that it’s a bit like The Simpsons – there’s something for everybody. If you’ve got kids you want to sit down and watch something with your children, but you also want to get something out of it as well.

“Now if you’re a child you’re not necessarily going to get the concept of death. But if you’re a little older it gives you something to think about. And if you are watching it as an adult can I just point something out – it’s Doctor Who. So you get what you tune in for.

“We are blessed with Peter Capaldi now because he does bring maturity and gravitas to it. So there really is something for everybody. And I do think if you’re a kid you’re not necessarily going to grasp all those larger, scarier concepts we were dealing with. [They’re] just going to enjoy the blowing up of Cybermen and stuff. The adults will get the slightly darker stuff.”