The Writers' Room

Folks! It may be the end of 2025, but it's a brand new era, a brand new season, and a brand new Doctor for Erik and Kyle. Having bid a fond farewell to the Eleventh Doctor, this month they discuss the first adventure of the Twelfth. That is, of course, Deep Breath, written by showrunner Steven Moffat. How well does this 11-year-old episode hold up, and what can we already learn about what will be the most divisive season of the Moffat era? WOOHOO!

Amazingly, folks, it's time to bid farewell to Matt Smith and the Eleventh Doctor. While Erik and Kyle have already spoken about each of his stories at length, this month they're going to discuss the era as a whole. What did Steven Moffat do right and what did he need to revamp for his second Doctor? And what was the very worst Matt Smith story? Next month, we take a Deep Breath...

Time (ha) has come to bid the Eleventh Doctor farewell. It's also time to talk about the biggest comedown in Doctor Who history. How did Steven Moffat follow up the glory of "The Day of the Doctor?" Well with the decidedly messy "The Time of the Doctor." Erik and Kyle talk about the last episode for Matt Smith and what it positions for the Peter Capaldi years to come.

It's finally here! The episode Erik and Kyle have been waiting for since they began Doctor Who's modern series. It's the 50th anniversary special, "The Day of the Doctor," quite simply the best Doctor Who episode of all time. Spoilers, big fans.

As we head toward wrapping up the Matt Smith years, it has come time to talk about two incongruous episodes. First, "A Town Called Mercy" by Toby Whithouse and then "The Name of the Doctor" by Steven Moffat. Not a lot connect these two aside from both being in Series 7 but we needed 'em checked off the list. One is a mealy mouthed pastiche of Italian westerns and the other is a pastiche of episodes that have plots that make sense. Sooooooooo....

Anyway, next month it's The Day of the Doctor, yaaaaaay!

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It's another episode of Mark Gatiss here on Doctor Who: The Writers' Room. This month, Erik and Kyle look at the two stories Gatiss wrote for Series 7B. First up, "Cold War," the story that reintroduced the Ice Warriors aboard a Russian submarine in 1983. Second, "The Crimson Horror," a penny dreadful riff with the Paternoster Gang and a delicious Diana Rigg performance. Are these maybe Gatiss' best scripts?

This month, Kyle and Erik look at the two stories written for Doctor Who by Luther creator Neil Cross. Those are, as commissioned, the Nigel Kneale-inspired "Hide" and the many other things-inspired "The Rings of Akhaten." One of those stories was immediately derided upon release while the other was generally considered good. Will that still be true 12 years later? Let's find out!

Erik and Kyle return to their old pal Steven Moffat for a pair of stories smack in the middle of the muddy series 7B, "The Snowmen" the only mid-series Christmas special, and "The Bells of Saint John" which officially introduced Clara Oswald Prime. Do these stories work? Do we like them? Why is Clara the best and people need to accept it?

Every once in a while Erik and Kyle have to talk about exceedingly boring episodes of Doctor Who. That time is now as our heroes look at the two scripts credited solely to Stephen Thompson, aka the guy who wrote stuff for Steven Moffat when he was too busy. Those episodes are "The Curse of the Black Spot" and "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS," two episodes that legally exist.

Like it or not, it's impossible to talk about the Steven Moffat years without discussing the single most ubiquitous other writer of the era, Moffat's longtime collaborator and co-creator of Sherlock, Mark Gatiss. In the first of many episodes about Gatiss' Who output, Kyle and Erik discuss "Victory of the Daleks" and "Night Terrors," one of which might even be better than you think.