Just over a week ago, fans of Doctor Who were handed three bits of information that brought great joy to some but some sadness to others.  And because show runner Steven Moffat is involved, Sherlock plays into the conversation a little bit, too.

The first bit of information was that the tenth “series” of Doctor Who would not air until the spring of 2017.  That means the stretch of an entire year between “The Husbands of River Song” and whatever comes next for the Doctor.  On one level, this could be a new thing, since the show needs to cast a new companion.  At the same time, that’s a long wait.  Not as long as our wait for Sherlock, mind you, but a wait nonetheless.

The second bit of information was that the tenth series of Doctor Who would be Steven Moffat’s last.  This was met with great excitement by some sectors of Who-dom.  While he hasn’t been the show’s only show-runner since the NuWho reboot, he has been the most prolific.  He was often the writer of the best episodes from the Russell T. Davies era. And while many of his episodes-as-writer were good, fans thought the poor quality of other episodes really brought the show down.  I don’t totally agree with this assessment, but I understand it.  I think series five (his first) and series nine (the most recent) were two of the best of NuWho.  I don’t think, though, that Matt Smith’s Doctor will “age” as well as David Tennant’s.  I’m also not sure how well Amy and Rory Pond will “age.”  I would love to be proven wrong.  Only time (and space) will tell.

The third bit of information was the Chris Chibnall would be taking over with series eleven.  This has left a good amount of Who-dom at least a bit skeptical.  Moffat had some amazing NuWho episode under his belt before taking on the show.  Chibnall?  Not so much.  The thing he has going for him, of course, is Broadchurch, the BBC series that loves to beat its audience emotionally and mercilessly.  Even in the weakest moments of that show’s second season, it carried tons of weight and was wonderfully acted.  I’m not sure how that will translate to the Doctor, though, especially when we have episodes like “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” to get over.

Count me among those sad to see Moffat go.  When he was “on,” he was really “on.”  He consistently got the pathos right (something I felt Davies did occasionally but not often enough).  There were still too many “interior” or “static” episodes for my taste (trapped in a freaky house, trapped in another spaceship, trapped near the center of the earth), but maybe that won’t be as evident from a safer distance in time (and another viewing).  Miracle of miracles: by the end of her run, Moffatt had made me a fan of Clara.  The first series with Amy was spot-on.  The last series with Clara was, too.  Most of the stuff in-between?  I’ll have to think about it.  Moffatt’s masterful work on the 50th anniversary special, though, makes him deserving of the fan’s gratitude as much as anything else.

We still get Moffatt with Sherlock, of course.  That show has also had something of an issue with getting consistent episodes out.  Last month’s “new year’s” episode was a nice oasis in a three-year desert.  I missed the original air-date of the episode, but that made me all the more excited to see it at the theater that next week.  And I really, really enjoyed it.  I walked in believing that it would be set entirely in the past, with no real connection to the main series beyond the creators and cast.  So when the scene flashed to Sherlock on the plane, I was quite surprised.  I liked the porous nature of the two realities.  Granted, it’s probably easier for me to think of the two stories as different realities instead of one being an egg nested in the other.  I found the “abominable bride” story engaging and just short of heavy-handed in its moral.  And while I’m not sure the “present day” part of the story is ultimately satisfying (let’s face it, it wasn’t), it is good to know that though dead, Moriarty will always have a presence in Sherlock’s mind palace.

And so now “a year without.”  I do hope that when Moffat returns for his final season that it is unlike anything we have seen so far.  I think his “River Song wrap up” from the Christmas special is  actually the perfect “farewell” episode.  I hope they map out something big and brave that doesn’t involve too many psychological episodes and doesn’t bring in the Dalek or the Cybermen (or even the Silence, really).  I hope it’s a season for sowing seeds that new writers will reap for years to come.  With that kind of hope, maybe this “year off” is something of a gift.

(image from doctorwhotv.co.uk)