Straczynski Would “Love Nothing More” Than to Run Doctor Who, But Asks, “Would I Be Worthy?”
Veteran sci-fi writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski has sparked fresh interest among Doctor Who fans after posting on X (formerly Twitter) about the idea of joining the Whoniverse.
Responding to a fan who asked if he might be stepping in as the next Doctor Who showrunner, Straczynski said: “I would love nothing more in life than to take on that job, it’d be the thrill of a lifetime, but we’ll see.”
He later added: “I suppose the question is, would Doctor Who fans be willing to accept an American, even a hardcore Anglophile with a UK visa, for such an inherently British series, given Babylon 5 and Sense8 and the like? Would I be worthy?”
It’s not the first time JMS has been linked with the show. But this time it lands a bit differently, especially after a post he shared in May announcing that he’s now legally allowed to live and work in Britain.
For many fans, this new development only strengthens the case for JMS and Doctor Who. He’s certainly got the sci-fi credentials, including the aforementioned space opera Babylon 5 and the Netflix psychic thriller Sense8. He’s also worked on comics like Spider-Man and Superman: Earth One, and wrote for films such as Changeling and Thor.
Straczynski has not hidden his love for British television, citing shows like UFO, The Avengers, The Prisoner, I, Claudius and of course Doctor Who as early inspirations.
He previously expressed interest in Doctor Who back when Chris Chibnall stepped down, even contacting the BBC. But with Russell T Davies returning, nothing came of it.
This time, though, things are different. There are no longer any legal barriers stopping him from being part of a British production. That alone makes his latest message feel a little more loaded.
It also raises the question of whether being American matters when it comes to writing for something as quintessentially British as Doctor Who. In the past, it has. American author Joe Hill, known for Locke & Key, once pitched ideas for the show, only to be bluntly told by the BBC, “We have never let an American write Doctor Who, and if we were going to, we wouldn’t start with you.”
Whether Straczynski would encounter the same attitude today is impossible to say. But fan reactions to his question of “worthiness” have been largely positive. Many are excited by the idea of someone with JMS’s experience stepping into the Whoniverse.
That said, we don’t even know what state Doctor Who is in at the moment. There’s been no official announcement about the future from the BBC, leaving fans to wonder what comes next for the main show. Though, a CBeebies animated spin-off was just announced.
