Writers, It’s OK to Have Doubts: Neil Gaiman Discusses His Doctor Who Episodes & Season 9 Possibilities

Yes, even the supremely talented Neil Gaiman thinks he could have done better. There’s hope for us all!

Speaking to the Radio Times, Gaiman said that while he’s written countless works of prose, it’s his two episodes of Doctor Who which seem to be getting him a lot of attention while in public these days. He told them, “My waiter in a restaurant recently came up to me and said, ‘Are you Neil Gaiman?’ I said yes. ‘I loved The Doctor’s Wife! Nightmare in Silver, not so much, but the Doctor’s Wife is so wonderful!’ and then I found myself being interrogated by a Japanese waiter in a sushi restaurant if I was writing for series nine!”

It’s true, “Nightmare in Silver” didn’t receive rave reviews, but anything was going to be a tough follow up to “The Doctor’s Wife.” Gaiman said, “the only thing we were certain of was that, for it to work, it had to be the only time [the TARDIS coming to life] ever happened. You couldn’t repeat it. And I think there is something in that that kind of powers it.” But here’s what he said about his second episode:

“Nightmare in Silver is some people’s favourite but everybody, including me, thinks, ‘oh if we had another week, we could’ve changed this,’ and then you’re kind of stuck with it. I think there are things that could’ve been better, but I also think that the thing I wanted to do in Nightmare in Silver I did: to show people that Matt Smith could act.

“It was one of those things that fascinated me watching Matt, getting to know Matt a little bit: it was sensible people who should’ve known better assuming that the Eleventh Doctor was just Matt Smith, and I’m going, ‘No, that’s a part that he’s playing,’ and he’s an incredible, fantastic actor, who is, as the Doctor, capable of this enormous range, and yet there’ s a lot of stuff he’s not doing. So I thought, ‘wouldn’t it be amazing to have him go up against himself?’ Which is something that even though is a staple of sci-fi drama, is not something that’s ever happened in Doctor Who. Even people who don’t like bits of Nightmare in Silver love the ‘Matt Smith as [Cyber-Planner alter-ego] Mr Clever’ stuff.”

As for Season 9: “I am determined to write for Peter Capaldi,” Gaiman said. “As long as Peter is Doctor Who, I will write for him.”

(via Blastr)

Are you following The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?