Writing Doctor Who

Writing Doctor Who was a live Q&A session in the 大象传媒 Radio Theatre in Broadcasting House on 30th September 2016. Showrunner, lead-writer and Executive Producer of Doctor Who Steven Moffat and Script Editor Nick Lambon answered questions from Gavin Collinson and the audience.

Listen to clips from the event below which include some great insights and advice on subjects including giving and receiving script notes, structure, tone, drafting and read-throughs which are relevant to anyone interesting in scriptwriting and the TV drama production process.

Part 1: Showrunner Steven Moffat and Script Editor Nick Lambon discuss the origins of the Doctor Who 2016 Christmas Special 'The Return of Doctor Mysterio'.

Part 2: Story of the week or story of the series? Steven Moffat discusses striking a balance between the story of the week or building to a climax with a serial storyline across all the episodes of the series. He also reveals what he thinks make a good Doctor Who script.

Part 3: Giving and receiving script notes - "You will make more improvements by praising the good rather than criticising the bad"

Part 4: The writer's dilemma - getting to the good bits Steven Moffat discusses how he structures his writing and why you should never hand in a script that you don't feel is perfect - but you must also be ready to change it all!

Part 5: What's a tone meeting? About 6 weeks before shooting begins the heads of all the production teams sit down for a 'tone' meeting, but what does that actually mean, and what does it mean for the writer and their vision?

Part 6: The read-through - Script Editor Nick Lambon describes the importance of the read-through and why you should never write a part that he ends up reading!

Part 7: How will you look back on Doctor Who? To conclude the event, Steven and Nick ponder how they'll look back on the show in ten years time.

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