Stunt writing

[Ian]

Picking up on a comment from a recent cast, we've had a 'stunt' writter twice now, Richard Curtis last year and Neil Gaiman in season 6. Personally I'd quite like to see this as a recurring theme, as I've loved the fresh angles and quality writting that they've brought to the show.

So, if this became an annual standard, who would you like to see writting for Who and what sort of story would you like them to write?

I'll get the ball rolling by getting the obvious one out of the way, Joss Wheadon! I've got to say I'd love to see him write a Firefly-esque Who episode.

[Nick off of Twitter]

Joss gets my vote . Also:

Alan Moore
Ben Aaronovitch
Christopher Nolan
Stephen Fry
Troy Kennedy Martin
Noel Clarke
Adam Buxton
Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg/Nick Frost
Jimmy McGovern
Rob Shearman
Darin Morgan

[lamuella]

I'm not sure why we count Neil Gaiman as a stunt writer and not, say, Simon Nye

[Rory Pond]

Rob Shearman's already written an episode: "Dalek" in Series 1.

[Nick off of Twitter]

Rob Shearman's already written an episode: "Dalek" in Series 1.

I know. It wasn't enough

[Ian]

I'm not sure why we count Neil Gaiman as a stunt writer and not, say, Simon Nye

Because Simon Nye is a noted television writter, so him writting for this particular show, while interesting, is not particularly unusual. Writting for TV shows is what he does.

Whereas Gaimen doesn't often write for a regular series like this, and has a somewhat higher profile than Nye, so it is a more notable event. Ditto Richard Curtis who is a very big name. This is no disrespect to Nye, just a comment on their respective profiles.

Here's another name to throw into the mix

Guillermo del Toro

I'd love to see what his imagination could do with Who, especially with Moffat's dark fairytale themes, which would really play to his strengths. Even better if they could talk him into Directing as well! (not very likely though)

[Rory Pond]

Lamuella and I would both love to see Grant Morrison write an episode (his DW comic scripts were great), and I'd also add Peter Milligan to the list.

[lamuella]

Lamuella and I would both love to see Grant Morrison write an episode (his DW comic scripts were great), and I'd also add Peter Milligan to the list.

A Morrison scripted episode would easily be the craziest thing imaginable, and easily one of the best, but I'd imagine it would be quite divisive.  People who didn't like the strangeness and complexity of Moffat's multi layered episodes probably wouldn't care for Morrison in full blown Morrison mode.

On the other hand, if Grant loves a character, then that love will shine through like a beacon.  All Star Superman is pretty much the most eloquent love letter to a fictional character ever written.

[judgefloyd]

Alan Moore would write a Doctor Who episode which could only be properly understood after buying the dvd and watching it and the extras twelve times.  It would also probably be brilliant.

I'd love to see Garth Ennis do one, if he could turn off his obscenity valve for a bit (as he can do sometimes - eg his recent Dan Dare comic).
 Australian writers; Christos Tsiolkas and possibly Marieke Hardy might be good (the former has written The Slap,a very readable account of life in multi-culti Melbourne, the latter used to write for Neighbours and writes funny-ish stuff.
Charlie Brooker would be terrific for Doctor Who - he likes it a lot and he's very witty. 

H H Munro, aka Saki would be good.  True, he's dead, but that's the sort of thing Doctor Who could always overcome.

[Rory Pond]

Alan Moore would write a Doctor Who episode which could only be properly understood after buying the dvd and watching it and the extras twelve times.  It would also probably be brilliant.

Agreed. And writing directly for the screen should overcome his innate hatred of filmed adaptations of his work. OTOH, he and Moffat could become locked in a verbal death grip after the episode's aired. So few of Moore's professional friendships seem to have lasted very long (Alan Davis & Stephen Bissette, to name a couple that have soured).

H H Munro, aka Saki would be good.  True, he's dead, but that's the sort of thing Doctor Who could always overcome.

As long as we're resurrecting writers, I'm putting in a suggestion for some new Robert Holmes scripts.

[Mr Lister]

I like Larry Niven. As a writer, that is, not necessarily as a person.
He knows more about time travel and the problems it can cause than many Doctor Who writers.

[judgefloyd]

Haruki Murakami would be great - he'd add a certain amount of Japanese Magical Realism to the show, as anyone who has read The Hard Boiled Wonderland at the End of the World and Dance, Dance, Dance could attest. He'd out-Moffatt, Moffatt by having complicated surreal conundrums which never ever get resolved, and would help get the show that inner-city, macchiato-sipping 30 hipster audience its been missing out on. Probably.  Also I'd love the Doctor to meet the SheepMan

[E-magination]

Alan Moore? Seriously?!
Don't get me wrong, he's one of my favourite writers. But I can't imagine him even contemplating writing Doctor Who, unless it was an episode entitled "Let's Kill Thatcher"

[James (DWP)]

I'd quite like Stephen King to write a DW story......

[judgefloyd]

Alan Moore has written Doctor Who before; that is, he's written DW comics before.  He can be a bit over-clever and over-Jungian* at times, but his interests are much wider than 'let's Kill Thatcher' would suggest.  True, having him onboard would mean running the risk of some kind of massive re-write of established Who cannon (the Doctor isn't really a Timelord, he's actually on with Rory, Daleks are really harmless household pets and have been all along due to some massive misunderstanding) but it'd be worth it. I'd love to see 'the weeping ape' **as a backdrop poster in some future episode.

* here, I'm thinking 'Promethea'
** also from 'Promethea'