Chris Chibnall’s Doctor Who episodes: a guide to the new showrunner’s previous adventures

The Broadchurch creator will be taking over from Steven Moffat in 2018
Man in charge: Chris Chibnall will be the new showrunner of Doctor Who in 2018
IROZ GAIZKA/AFP/Getty
Ben Travis25 January 2016

Through its fifty year-plus history, Doctor Who has been a show all about reinvention and change.

For all its iconic recurring components – an eccentric alien time traveller, a human companion, the TARDIS – it’s a show made up of moving parts.

Now Doctor Who is set to undergo one of its biggest changes since its 2005 return, as showrunner Steven Moffat has announced he will be departing at the end of Series 10.

Taking over will be Chris Chibnall, the creator of Broadchurch, who has previously written several Doctor Who episodes, and was also behind sci-fi spin-off Torchwood.

It’s a huge responsibility, with the showrunner responsible for steering the tone and the direction of the series – but it also offers a chance for the ever-adapting series to take on a new voice.

What can we expect from the ‘Chris Chibnall era’, then? We’ll have to wait until 2018 to find out for sure, but here’s a look back at his previous Doctor Who episodes.

1) 42 (2007)

Chibnall’s first Doctor Who episode came in Series 3, during the David Tennant era.

With a 24-meets-Sunshine concept, the episode plays out in real time as the Doctor and Martha Jones attempt to stop a spaceship from crashing into a burning star, while a homicidal infection picks off the crew one-by-one.

Fast-paced, scary, and with some considerable emotional moments – Martha, cut adrift in space in an escape pod, gives a heartbreaking phone call to her mum – it's a very solid episode.

2) The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood (2010)

Chibnall got a bit of flak from hardcore Whovians for his Series 5 two-parter, which saw the return of classic monsters The Silurians. The creatures were given an extensive re-design that was far more in keeping with the look of the current show, but was perhaps too far removed from the original look for some.

Still, The Hungry Earth and Cold Blood are strong episodes, offering a Planet of the Apes-esque exploration of humanity, as a society of prehistoric lizard-people are discovered under the Earth. Can the two species form a truce and decide that they can share the planet?

As with 42, Chibnall nails the emotional beats, too in the first episode there's real panic as Amy is swallowed up by the ground, while the shocking finale sees her fiancé Rory shot, taken by the glowing crack in the wall and erased from history.

Doctor Who: who could be the new companion?

1/8

3) Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (2012)

After playing with more grown-up themes in his Silurian episodes, Chibnall went for the total opposite in this Series 7 instalment.

While the adventure delivers on its title (yes, there are dinosaurs, and yes, they're on a spaceship), the tone veers wildly from extreme silliness (The Doctor, Rory, and Rory’s dad riding on the back of a triceratops), to disturbing darkness (a genocidal black market trader villain).

It’s frantically paced too, with a whole lot of jarring parts that don’t feel like they fit together – Queen Nefertiti is along for the ride, just because, while David Mitchell and Robert Webb play squabbling murderous robots.

Fun for some, headache-inducing for others.

4) The Power of Three (2012)

Toning down the zaniness, The Power of Three offers a tantalising mystery: what happens if a bunch of alien cubes arrive on Earth and… do nothing?

While the conclusion to the 'slow invasion' mystery is decidedly unsatisfying, the rest of the episode is – mostly a chance to explore the Earth-bound lives of Amy and Rory, signalling the end of their time with the Doctor before their big farewell in the following episode.

Full of humour and emotion, this is what Chibnall should be aiming for when he takes over.

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