Chris Chibnall Chris Chibnall wrote several episodes of " Doctor Who " from series 3 in 2007 to series 7 in 2012 , and was also the effective head writer of series 1 and 2 of " Torchwood " from 2006 - 08 , after becoming co - producer of those first two series . This status made him a regular interviewee on " Torchwood Declassified " . He has also made four appearances on " Doctor Who Confidential " . That said , " many " people were frequent guests of " Declassified " and " Confidential " . What made Chibnall unique as a " DWU talking head " was that he was the only one who can claim to have done it in the 1980s . Of all the producer s of the BBC Wales version of the " Doctor Who " universe , he was the only one to have appeared on the BBC talking about the " 1963 version " of " Doctor Who " , while it was still on the air . Biography . As a youth . In 1986 , Chibnall represented the Doctor Who Appreciation Society on the BBC ' s public opinion show " Open Air " . There he famously criticised " The Trial of a Time Lord " season as a specific example of the generally inconsistent quality of the series in the 1980s . The segment can be seen as a special feature on the BBC DVD of " The Ultimate Foe " . Career . Chibnall ' s first major piece of television was 2002 ' s " Born and Bred " , a rural medical dramedy for which he was co - creator , prolific writer , consulting producer and executive producer . Originally produced by Phil Collinson , the show swiftly came to be produced by Chris Clough — ironically , the man who had directed half the episodes of " Doctor Who " that Chibnall had railed against in his teens . In 2005 , he wrote his first script for , and a script for " All About George " , a six part serial . Also in 2005 , Chibnall was brought into " Torchwood " by Russell T Davies , who would officially credit him as co - producer , but effectively make him the head writer . During this period he also wrote his first " Doctor Who " script , " 42 " , and his second script for . He did not participate in the third " Torchwood " series , " Children of Earth " , but instead spent the 2008 production year working on , starring Freema Agyeman and Bill Paterson . There , he wrote — or , to be more accurate , adapted from the original American scripts — the majority of the episodes in the show ' s first series . RTD lamented the loss of Chibnall in his book , " The Writer ' s Tale " , pointing out how much work Chibnall had actually shouldered in the previous two " Torchwood " seasons . Around the end of his run on " Torchwood " , he also wrote the fifth episode of , a spin - off of on which writer James Moran and actor Georgia Moffett both worked . At some point around his time on " L & O " , Steven Moffat commissioned him to write a two - part Silurian story for " Doctor Who " , which became " The Hungry Earth " and " Cold Blood " . In the 2009 - 2010 production season , he saw the production of his script for the tele - movie , directed by James Strong and featuring a post - Tenth Doctor David Tennant . However , by 2009 , Chibnall was moving on to his next big series , , an adult adaptation of the King Arthur legend . Broadcast on and co - produced by Starz , " Camelot " saw Chibnall return to the role of series creator and head writer . However , days before the launch of " " — another Starz original — the network announced that the generally well - reviewed show had been cancelled due to scheduling problems with its main actors . Chibnall was again left to find new work . He has spoken out against " Torchwood : Miracle Day " stating that the show had lost its " essence " . In 2013 , he wrote the ITV drama " Broadchurch " , which was directed by Euros Lyn , starred David Tennant and also featured Arthur Darvill . He was interviewed in issue 485 of " Doctor Who Magazine " for the revival series ' tenth anniversary . He commented that he always hoped that the show would return to TV . Awards . Chibnall is a three - time nominee for a award for best series , but , unusually , he only lost once . Nominated , along with other writers , for series 3 and series 5 of " Doctor Who " , he won for series 3 . That same year , 2007 , he was also nominated for series 2 of — meaning that he effectively lost . . . to himself .