http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=16559


 Quote:
THE SANDS OF TIME




I understand that Neil Gaiman has been approached to write for the popular TV series "Doctor Who," for broadcast in 2010.



So what's going on here? Let's find out.



THE MAN WITH TWO HEARTS




Well we all know Russell T Davies is leaving "Doctor Who" after next year’s four episode non-season.



My wife will tell anyone who listens that when Eve was born three years ago, she wasn’t sure what I was more excited about, her birth or "Doctor Who" coming back. I think that's a little unfair, but I do remember watching "Father's Day" with Eve in my arms blubbing like a baby. And now we all watch it together.



Not only did Russell bring back one of my fondest childhood memories, but he turned it into the country’s prime television icon. More people in the UK are exposed to science-fiction through modern "Doctor Who" than everything else put together. It’s a social phenomenon in a multi-channel, online splintered world.



The online geekish criticism Russell gets for his work seems so minor compared to his huge and continuing achievements with the series. Complaints about deus ex machinas, power of love ending, discarded plot points, and out of kilter humour seem like pointing out that Mohammed Ali had a pimple during his big fight. They mean nothing compared to the pure joy, excitement, the spread of genuine subversive ideas under a cosy blanket while simultaneously binding the family unit for a shared experience. And doing it all with bloody Doctor Who as well.



It’s quite possible he’s actually helped reduce violence, and increase social cohesion in the country as a whole with this silly, brave, wonderful television show.



Thank you Russell. We’ll miss you. Please keep writing episodes.



ONE LIFE FURNISHED IN EARLY MOFFAT




So, what does Steven Moffat showrunning "Doctor Who" mean (apart from giving old LITG columns a Google lift)?



Well, we all know his "Doctor Who" work " "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances," "The Girl In The Fireplace" and "Blink." Some of us also know "The Curse Of Fatal Death," "Timecrash" and "Continuity Errors." If you like early "Buffy," "Veronica Mars" and early "Smallville," then "Press Gang" will knock your socks off. Along with "Hitchhikers" and "The Goons." "Press Gang" made me want to write in the first place, managed to make sex symbols out of Julia Sawalha and Dexter Fletcher and given its time slot, probably pushed the boundaries more than Russell T Davies’ "Queer As Folk" did. One episode may have had the "honour" of being swiped by Alan Moore for "WildCATS" while abother featured a Colonel X character seemingly drawn straight from Jon Pertwee's Doctor.



Steven went on to write "Joking Apart," the absolutely perfect sitcom farce, and "Coupling" which seemed to try and top each episode for impossible swallowing-its-own-tail structures, reaching a pinnacle with "Remember Me," as well as a character who ran a comics-and-sci-fi shop. And then there was the genuine fear and invention of "Jekyll." Still gives me chills that one.



Steven is also writing the upcoming "Tintin" screenplays, a new sitcom called "Adam And Eve" and there is still talk of his Bruce Willis-less movie "Me Again" and a revival of "Press Gang" with the original cast.



As for "Doctor Who?" Well, some people see Steven as transforming Doctor Who into something very different. That’s not true, Steven has been a cheerleader for Russell’s work on the project from Day One and will continue in that vein. Indeed, he may well fight aganst what is expected of him. But odds are we’ll get some more fun time travel stories out of it, maybe a slight tweak towards intricate structure, and some interesting geek-friendly names.



Such as the rumour running around my BBC sources that Neil Gaiman being approached to write an episode for 2010. That would be this Neil Gaiman, comic author, fantasy novelist, screenwriter, poet and writer of the Duran Duran Biography 1985. With possibly the most non-committal non-confirmation I’ve ever read. And I’ve read the responses of current Labour ministers.



In fact when I asked Neil if he’d care to comment, he pleaded the Francis saying, "You may very well think that, but I could not possibly comment."



I do very well think that. I do.



Of course, nothing will actually have been commissioned by the BBC at this stage, and there's many a slip 'twixt cup and prosthetic lip, but it's looking good.



So who else? I hear mention that Rob Shearman, who wrote "Dalek" for the Christopher Eccleston season and reportedly had a parting of ways with Davies, has been approached to return to the series.



The one question I really want answered is, as a straight man, will Steven pursue a lesbian agenda on the show?



And as for a new Doctor in a few years time… Dexter Fletcher? Robert Bathurst? Richard Coyle? James Nesbitt? Gina Bellman?? Explore the Moffatverse yourself...



And you know, it was Steven who requested that Jenny survive at the end of "The Doctor’s Daughter," so…