Yahoo News Here's why Chris Chibnall almost turned down Doctor Who
Ex-Broadchurch boss Chris Chibnall is about to take Doctor Who on a bold new adventure – but the award-winning writer has revealed he was originally unsure about accepting the showrunner gig.
Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy, Chibnall explained that, once he'd agreed to replace Steven Moffat as head writer and executive producer, he had a very clear idea of how he wanted to approach the legendary BBC sci-fi series.
"I just had a sense of where I wanted to take it, [and] how it was going to relate to the world that we live in now," he said, speaking at Comic-Con International in San Diego.
"Obviously, Peter [Capaldi] deciding to go then opens up choices going forward... so yeah, it was pretty clear to me what I wanted to do, and how we would do it."
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But despite this, Chibnall insisted he'd never thought about becoming Doctor Who showrunner prior to Moffat's exit, and indeed was surprised to be offered the job.
"I wasn't walking around with [what I'd do] in my head. No, no, not at all. I never expected to be in this job. I wasn't sitting at home, thinking, 'Well, of course, I'd do it like this...' because I was off doing other things.
"No, it was when I was asked. The first thing you think is, 'I don't wanna do that' and then it was, 'Oh, we could do that, [and] we could do that...' so the ideas start coming and then they sort of coalesce...
"You think, 'Oh, that would be... that's a direction of travel, and that's something that honours the show but then also creates it fresh' – hopefully!"
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In fact, Chibnall disclosed that he came close to rejecting the offer, since he already had plans in place for new writing projects post-Broadchurch, and was aware of the enormous impact that doing Doctor Who would have on his life.
"It's a massive job," he explained. "The place of the show within popular culture, and globally... and obviously, I've been around the show intermittently, so I've seen how Russell [T Davies] did it, I've seen how Steven did it, I was around for Torchwood...
"It was knowing how much work it was, how much that was going to change my life, and my family's life... and I just didn't expect to be offered it, and I had plans for what I was going to do after Broadchurch, which was not this.
"So it took me a while to say yes."
Having now taken on the mantle, though, Chibnall says he couldn't be happier with his final decision, and with the series of Doctor Who he's produced. "It's a rollercoaster of fun and emotion, and thrills, and scares," he enthused. "With a group of your new best friends."
Doctor Who will return to BBC One this autumn. Stay tuned to Digital Spy for more news direct from Comic-Con International in San Diego.
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