{"id":32804,"date":"2021-07-31T03:27:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-31T02:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/?p=32804"},"modified":"2021-07-30T16:28:50","modified_gmt":"2021-07-30T15:28:50","slug":"j-michael-straczynski-would-like-to-be-doctor-who-showrunner-and-hed-be-amazing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/2021\/07\/31\/j-michael-straczynski-would-like-to-be-doctor-who-showrunner-and-hed-be-amazing\/","title":{"rendered":"J. Michael Straczynski Would Like to Be Doctor Who Showrunner (And He’d Be Amazing)"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

After the announcement that Chris Chibnall will be leaving the role of showrunner on Doctor Who<\/em>, lots of replacement names have been shown into the hat — and one, J. Michael Straczynski, would apparently jump at the chance to be in charge of the franchise!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When someone mentioned the writer on Twitter, Straczynski replied<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I don’t know if the BBC would ever consider an American to show-run #DoctorWho<\/a>, but if so, I would be there in a heartbeat. (Well, technically two heartbeats, since two hearts….)”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Anyone fancy starting a petition?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might know JMS best for creating the sci-fi heavy-hitters, Babylon 5<\/em> and, with Lana and Lilly Wachowski, Sense8<\/em> (the latter of which starred former Martha Jones actress, Freema Agyeman).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His career extends far beyond those two series, however — in fact, he’s one of my favourite writers. I first came into contact with his work through The Amazing Spider-Man<\/em>; regular DWC readers will know I’m a huge Marvel fan, and his run on Spidey, chiefly alongside artists John Romita Jr. and Mike Deodato Jr., is my go-to Spider-Man. It’s what I reread when I need cheering up or want to feel inspired… or just want to enjoy an exceptional story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

His Marvel work also includes great runs on Thor<\/em>, Supreme Power<\/em>, and Fantastic Four<\/em>, while his other comic book work includes Superman: Earth One, Wonder Woman<\/em>, and Midnight Nation<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m currently reading his latest novel, Together We Will Go<\/em>, about a road trip across America with a final destination: everyone on the bus is going to commit suicide, and this is just one last hurrah. It sounds morbid, but it’s a truly affecting, beautifully-written, and compelling piece of fiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So yes, I’d love for Straczynski to take over Doctor Who<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadly, it’s pretty unlikely: not only is JMS a hugely popular writer who no doubt has many plates spinning for the foreseeable future, but Joe Hill previously spoke<\/a> about getting a rejection from the BBC which noted:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We have never let an American write\u00a0Doctor Who<\/em>, and if we were going to, we wouldn\u2019t start with you.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

An incredibly short-sighted reaction from the Beeb there!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly, JMS is also executor of the estate of Harlan Ellison, the legendary writer who wrote a foreword for Pinnacle Books’ Doctor Who<\/em> Target novelisations sold in America, which claimed “the greatest science fiction series of all time is Doctor Who<\/em>“.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Couldn’t agree more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who would you like to see as the new showrunner of Doctor Who<\/em>? Should the BBC look beyond these shores, to America or elsewhere? Or would someone with a history writing for the series like Toby Whithouse, Mark Gatiss, or Maxine Alderton be a better bet?<\/p>\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“I would be there in a heartbeat. (Well, technically two heartbeats, since two hearts….)”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"J. Michael Straczynski (@straczynski) Would Like to Be #DoctorWho Showrunner (And He'd Be Amazing)","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[205],"tags":[4351,411,6545,857,2897,6546],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/J-Michael-Straczynski.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21024,"url":"https:\/\/thedoctorwhocompanion.com\/2019\/06\/08\/paul-darrow-1941-2019\/","url_meta":{"origin":32804,"position":0},"title":"Paul Darrow (1941- 2019)","author":"Frank Danes","date":"8 June 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"It is with great sadness that\u00a0the Doctor\u00a0Who\u00a0Companion\u00a0records the death of actor Paul Darrow.\u00a0He died on Monday morning, 3rd June 2019, after a short illness. 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