geek wish list: Neil Gaiman writes ‘Doctor Who’

[S]ome people see Steven as transforming Doctor Who into something very different. That’s not true, Steven has been a cheerleader for Russell’s work on the project from Day One and will continue in that vein. Indeed, he may well fight aganst what is expected of him. But odds are we’ll get some more fun time travel stories out of it, maybe a slight tweak towards intricate structure, and some interesting geek-friendly names.

Such as the rumour running around my BBC sources that Neil Gaiman being approached to write an episode for 2010. That would be this Neil Gaiman, comic author, fantasy novelist, screenwriter, poet and writer of the Duran Duran Biography 1985. With possibly the most non-committal non-confirmation I’ve ever read. And I’ve read the responses of current Labour ministers.

In fact when I asked Neil if he’d care to comment, he pleaded the Francis saying, "You may very well think that, but I could not possibly comment."

I do very well think that. I do.

Of course, nothing will actually have been commissioned by the BBC at this stage, and there's many a slip 'twixt cup and prosthetic lip, but it's looking good.

(Of course “Steven” is Steven Moffat, who’ll be taking over showrunning duties from Russell Davies after the truncated 2009 season.)

Neil totally dances around the question at his blog.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed. And also for a feature-film script written by Gaiman and directed by Terry Gilliam. But that’s a fantasy for another day.

(A tip of the hat to reader Katie, who first pointed out this news to me.)

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