Doctor Who‘s fifth season has been a bit of a quandry for some fans, but not for me. While some found the season to be uneven and otherwise lesser in quality, I found it to be a well-written, well-acted series, for the most part — that is, if you axed “Victory of the Daleks,” one of the worst episodes the show has had since 2005.
In any case, Doctor Who will be returning in 2011 along with showrunner Steven Moffat and stars Matt Smith and Karen Gillan (and hopefully Arthur Darvill) for thirteen episodes, confirmed a spokesman for the BBC. Previous series of the show have lasted thirteen episodes as well, meaning that season six is maintaining the status quo. Meanwhile, Moffat has confirmed that he’ll be writing five episodes of the sixth series, as well as this year’s Christmas special.
“I’m doing the Christmas special plus five [episodes], so it’s the same. Six again,” the writer told Den of Geek.
“I’m basically following what Russell did,” Moffat said, referring to his writing schedule.. “Having worked out the sums and worked out how he does it, I thought that’s a perfect way of doing it.”
In addition to Moffat’s five episodes of series six, acclaimed fantasy author Neil Gaiman will be writing the third episode of the series, which is still very shrouded in mystery. That means seven episodes remain without confirmed writers. I personally hope one-time writer Simon Nye (“Amy’s Choice”) returns for an episode next year. Richard Curtis, another first-timer who wrote “Vincent and the Doctor” would be another welcome return. I’d also like to see Gareth Roberts return for an episode or two. Though his earlier contributions were a bore, this year’s “The Lodger,” was enough to redeem him, I think. Mark Gatiss, who crafted the awful “Victory of the Daleks” will undoubtedly be back due to his friendship with Moffat. This is all speculation, of course, but the writers of the series almost fascinate me as much as the series itself. I’m very interested to see where the show goes from here.
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