I'm reviewing all the Chis Chibnall episodes of Doctor Who in anticipation of him ascending to show runner this next season. I loved BROADCHURCH, but when I dipped into his Doctor Who scripts: 42 (3x07); The Hungry Earth (part 1), Cold Blood (part 2) (5x08, 09), Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (7x02), The Power of Three (7x04), and a group of 2012 mini-episodes: POND LIFE (5 parts) and P.S. (available on YouTube), I thoroughly enjoyed the mini-series - they were top-notch, heart-felt and memorable. Unfortunately the individual episodes were less memorable and diminished by an over abundance of great ideas/plot points/interesting characters all crammed into one episode. This may, however, foretell a strength - as a show runner he could plant this plethora of ideas over the series arch allowing his writers room (a new concept to UK series development but common to US television) to flesh out each of them in the individual episodes. He also had a bad habit of resolving all the crises with a wave of the sonic screwdriver, which is a costly error for anyone creating fantasy worlds, begging the question, why did the magic only seem to have it's ability in the nick of time. Chris Chibnal has also written for LIFE ON MARS (UK), TORCHWOOD, LAW & ORDER (UK), UNITED (film), THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (BBC film). Personally I'm really looking forward to Chibnal at the head, and Jodi Whittaker taking up the mantel next year. It can't come soon enough!
Review by Nancy L DraperVIP 8BlockedParent2017-09-02T21:19:29Z
I'm reviewing all the Chis Chibnall episodes of Doctor Who in anticipation of him ascending to show runner this next season. I loved BROADCHURCH, but when I dipped into his Doctor Who scripts: 42 (3x07); The Hungry Earth (part 1), Cold Blood (part 2) (5x08, 09), Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (7x02), The Power of Three (7x04), and a group of 2012 mini-episodes: POND LIFE (5 parts) and P.S. (available on YouTube), I thoroughly enjoyed the mini-series - they were top-notch, heart-felt and memorable. Unfortunately the individual episodes were less memorable and diminished by an over abundance of great ideas/plot points/interesting characters all crammed into one episode. This may, however, foretell a strength - as a show runner he could plant this plethora of ideas over the series arch allowing his writers room (a new concept to UK series development but common to US television) to flesh out each of them in the individual episodes. He also had a bad habit of resolving all the crises with a wave of the sonic screwdriver, which is a costly error for anyone creating fantasy worlds, begging the question, why did the magic only seem to have it's ability in the nick of time. Chris Chibnal has also written for LIFE ON MARS (UK), TORCHWOOD, LAW & ORDER (UK), UNITED (film), THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (BBC film). Personally I'm really looking forward to Chibnal at the head, and Jodi Whittaker taking up the mantel next year. It can't come soon enough!