Most Doctor Who critics fall back on a convenient, one-size-fits-all explanation for why it screws up: bad writing. And that's true, sometimes. But it ignores something really obvious. Because I think it's one of the absolute hardest things to write for.

Some of the brightest stars and biggest names in TV and literature and audio struggle with it. Not because they're bad writers, but because Dr Who's a unique blend of "anything's possible" and "don't do what's already been done" stirred with "also there's no budget and no time."

Like, I think Neil Gaiman's wildly overrated. But he's a great writer, yet somewhere along the way, Nightmare in Silver happened. And he's not the only "celebrity guest writer" who needed massive help.

Even Douglas Adams - I mean, let's not kid ourselves, Shada has issues.

So it's frustrating when people are like, well, if *I* were in charge, I'd simply write GOOD scripts! Why hasn't Stephen Mofffatt thought of this?!

You could give Dr Who to the world's greatest writer, and there's a decent chance it'd suck. And that's baked into why it's great.