Doctor Who is a notoriously grueling show -- for its showrunners and actors

Den of Geek

"Doctor Who showrunner is one of the most high-profile TV jobs in the U.K. But that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily one of the most sought-after," says Kayti Burt. "Last month, the BBC rocked the Whoniverse when it announced that Russell T. Davies, the man who relaunched Who in 2005, would be returning as the next showrunner, with Bad Wolf Productions coming on to co-produce alongside BBC Studios. No doubt the BBC is hoping that Davies (and Bad Wolf’s Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter) will be able to capture some of the magic of their NuWho era, and get a broad audience excited about the show again. But was that always the post-Chibnall plan? During a recent press conference promoting the upcoming Season 13 premiere, current showrunner Chris Chibnall answered some questions about 'passing the baton' onto Davies, saying: 'I’ve been throwing batons at people for about a year now and finally someone’s picked it up.' The comment suggests that the BBC potentially approached others about the Doctor Who showrunner position prior to offering the job to Davies, or perhaps that Davies was initially hesitant to pick up the baton, as it were, and took some convincing. This is not necessarily surprising, but does yield some follow-up questions: Just how many people have turned down the Doctor Who showrunner job over the years? And why does it often seem so damn difficult to find a Doctor Who showrunner? That latter question is the easier to answer… one need look no further than another Chibnall quote from the same press conference, regarding his post-Who life: 'Frankly, I’ll get to see my family again, which has been really nice.'"