I agree that Chibnall has not done his best work on Who. But, in addition to the first season of Broadchurch (I haven’t seen season 2), I think he wrote some ass-kicking stories for the first 2 seasons of Torchwood, when he was effectively the showrunner as well. Season 4 could have used him.

The same is true with showrunners. Fans complained bitterly about Russell T. Davies and dreamed about Steven Moffat taking on the position. Now, Davies has been exalted in retrospect and Moffat is the one who can’t do anything right.

Eva Green would be a fantastic choice! But, as with Chiwetel Ejiofor (another great actor who has been proposed for the Doctor), Green is probably both too busy and too expensive for the BBC. I would, however, be thrilled to have either of them as the next Doctor for a single season/series.

I think I’ve seen Hot Fuzz at least a dozen times. I see something new in it each time.

Crap! I cannot watch clips from Scott Pilgrim without wanting to watch the entire movie immediately.

Much as I understand Swinton’s choice, based on her own experience, to steer clear of the Harry Potter movie franchise, I do regret it because she’s such a unique actor that I wish there was an opportunity to see what she would do with material from that source. The movies have used a number of singular actors (Alan…

That’s an interesting insight that I will have to mull over. I agree that Capaldi and Tennant both bring a certain glee to their performances that is less apparent in the performances of Eccleston and Smith. But I am not necessarily convinced that it’s about their background as Doctor Who fans rather than just their…

I have no problem with Disney acknowledging that one of its considerations in looking for directors for future Star Wars (or any other) movies is that some be women. At this point in history, it’s difficult to argue credibly that a female director would not bring something different to a movie in this series than the…

A great little speech, perfectly delivered by Sylvester McCoy! But I believe that Rona Munro didn’t write it. If I recall the extras on the DVD of “Survival” correctly, Andrew Carmel wrote it when he learned that the show was being cancelled, well after the script had been completed.

UK readers, help out a Yank. Is the Mirror a reliable source?

I read that the Republicans will control 37 of 50 statehouses come January (13 remain majority Democratic). Much scarier than 30 of 50.

“After the meeting, Trump even indicated he would start taking Obama’s advice, saying, ‘I very much look forward to dealing with the president in the future, including counsel’—a major turnaround for a man who once called Obama ‘the most ignorant president in history.’”

Sadly, I agree. These guys aren’t, in the end, interested in principles or ideals, they are interested in winning. Trump won. He owns them all now. The ones who can’t stomach taking Trump’s orders will quit (or will be pressured into retiring).

Not to knock Tim Miller, who I think did a good job on the movie, but one of the reasons for Deadpool’s fantastic success was because it was so small-scale, and flew so under the studio’s radar (Fox basically made it because Ryan Reynolds and Miller embarrassed them into it, but they had no faith that it was going to…

AvED can be seen on disc, for dinosaurs like me who still get discs from Netflix. I am in the midst of Season 1 now. Good fun!

I didn’t have as ... strong a reaction to the casting as you did, as I think Chris Pine is a good actor, as is Gugu Mbatha-Raw. But I still don’t like the casting. I do understand that Meg, Charles Wallace and the twins are to be biracial in the movie, and I am looking forward to that.

The major news media (TV and cable news, major newspapers) is hopelessly corrupted by the commercial drive toward ratings over all else. By this, I don’t mean that individual reporters — or even individual news organizations — are corrupt (i.e., taking payoffs or covertly supporting one side over the other). I mean…

Only if Zoe comes too.

I don’t watch Gotham (though I used to love Bricken’s recaps), but Benedict Samuel, playing the Mad Hatter, might get me to try it. He’s really magnetic (I thought so for his turn on The Walking Dead as well). Get that man his own show, Universe (co-star him with James Frain, maybe?)!

“Did I fall asleep?”