Catching Up with Moment Mission Studios

Moment Mission Studios is a name you might not be familiar with, unless you’re a long time fan, but he was the winner of the 2018 “Submit a Story” competition for Season 48. Now, four years on, we catch up with him...

Hi, I’m Moment Mission Studios. I began watching WIDWWA in 2017 and basically in 2018, I won a competition with my idea for the story The Man at the End of the Street for Season 48. I’ve just been a loyal fan ever since.

What’s your history with Doctor Who itself, how did you get into it?

I got into Doctor Who around about 2006. It could’ve been in 2005, but I don’t really remember anything, unless it was DVDs or repeats, and even then my memory isn’t clear about DVDs of Series 1. I definitely remember being recommended to watch The Age of Steel, and then I didn’t know if I wanted to watch the show at that point, so I decided to come downstairs and watch The Idiot’s Lantern, which was the episode afterwards, and that was really my proper introduction to Doctor Who. I didn’t end up watching the week afterwards, though, I don’t know what it was, apparently I’d heard it was a bit scary for the next two weeks, but I came back for Love and Monsters. That’s how I got into the show, and I’ve watched every episode ever since. I definitely caught up with Series 1 and the beginning of Series 2 by Christmas 2006, I’m sure of that.

I didn’t get into Classic Who until a bit later, but it may have been 2006 or 2007, when UKGold repeated the TV Movie, and I think I also had the DVD of Remembrance of the Daleks, and perhaps even The Five Doctors. It was when the DVD of The Invasion came out that I became really interested, as that was an animation and as a kid anything animated interested me. It piqued my interest in black & white Doctor Who, which gave me a good representation of a different sort of Doctor Who from an early age.

What sort of Doctor Who is your favourite, overall?

It’s episodes like The Deadly Assassin or Midnight where the Doctor finds themselves on their own, without a companion. As much as I do like the dynamic of the Doctor and a companion, I feel like my favourite thing is when the Doctor is on their own and they have to survive without help. I love Midnight and David Tennant’s acting when he is possessed by the creature is just sublime, to be honest. I do like other stories like The Enemy of the World where there’s a lot of suspicion and intrigue, and it’s my favourite Classic story. However, it’s companion-lite stories that I really like as the Doctor is really challenged.

How did you start watching WIDWWA, and also why did you start watching WIDWWA?

I’m not sure how I first stumbled upon it. I know I had recently watched the documentary on the Survival DVD about the plans for Season 27, and I believe when I came to it, it was about 2017, and I know it was in the Richard E. Grant era, and also that Leftover had started. I think I just came across it on YouTube, and I just found them very entertaining and very intriguing. I enjoyed that it wasn’t just fan fiction but it looked at the behind-the-scenes stuff, as speculative fiction. I’m surprised more people haven’t written things in this style.

Let’s cut forward a year, when you submit a submission for the Season 48 competition. So, why did you decide to enter it?

I think I heard about the competition at the end of the Season 47 video, possibly, but I’ve not gone back and rewatched the videos, so I’m not sure. At that time, I was really into the series, and I saw the opportunity and wanted to just get involved in it. I know it was a tight-knit team, at that point, but the competition gave me a real opportunity to become creatively involved. You know, I thought to myself, I have hundreds of ideas in my head, I’ve been writing Doctor Who fiction since I was a kid, like maybe 2008, so it was a no-brainer to enter.

So, tell us a bit about your idea and how it might be slightly different to what made it into the Season 48 video?

To be honest, there weren’t too many changes from my original idea, the only one I really remember was the fact that Chris’ dad wasn’t in it, and the man was just an unknown figure. I didn’t see that coming, but it was a great twist. I believe Matt told me, afterwards, that it was his idea. I also remember saying in my submission that it would be written by Neil Cross, but you guys changed it to Mark Wright & Cavan Scott, and I also had it as directed by Joss Whedon, which thankfully you decided to change to Lisa Bowerman. If I could choose the director now, I’d probably go with Joe Ahearne or Nick Hurran, though.

Take us through the actual story, itself, what is The Man at the End of the Street actually about?

Basically, at night, around about 10pm, there’s basically a bloke who comes from the end of the street and everyone on the street is in danger of being killed by him, as the only thing the man knows how to do is kill him. Anyone who tries to leave the street is killed, so they’re stuck in terror. It seems like there’s no way out of this, but there is a way out because the Doctor and his companions arrive and sort everything out.

Tell us about when you found out you won the competition. I remember us holding a stream to announce it, and that we also invited you on. So, what are your memories of that night?

I can’t remember what stream it was, it might’ve been the Season 47 stream, or a special dedicated one. I know I sent in the submission around about the summer, and then it was a couple of months later that I found out I’d won. I think you emailed me in advance of the stream. That was exciting knowing I had won, because, to be honest, I thought that the idea would be too dark, and too out there, but with Robert Shearman as Script Editor, I guess that’s what you wanted. I wasn’t expecting to win, that’s for sure. When I was asked to be on the stream, I was a bit surprised, and I had a bit of stage fright, but I did agree to go on. When I joined the community, it was small, but at that point in 2018, I think the community was at its largest ever, much bigger than it is now. So, trying to present myself to that audience was quite nerve wracking.

This was the first time we properly spoke, at that moment, and I had this sense of nervousness, as you were like a really big deal, at the time. I didn’t think it would have gone well, but it was nice and that, and I enjoyed it. It was a nice conversation, but I wouldn’t want to watch it back. I remember being scared and I didn’t know how to react. I wish we had spoken beforehand, as I was scared of you, but everything turned out fine.

How did that experience, of being, albeit briefly, on the “inside” change your view of WIDWWA?

It affected things because once I met you and Matt, I had a sense of “now I know what’s going on”, because when I used to watch it, I wasn’t quite aware of just how much thought and work went into it. When you and Matt spoke about it to me, I realised just how big the plans were and the detail put into it. I thought, beforehand, that it was just sorta made up on the spot, but speaking to you guys about it, showed me the amount of work that was put into it.

Some of the earlier decisions, the producers and that, were probably why I originally thought this, even that you corrected it some time ago! I guess those must’ve been made on the spot, which is why I thought what I thought. But by the time of Season 48, things were obviously very well thought out.

By the time of Season 49, as it was quite a while later, I had gotten over this sort of revelation about how WIDWWA was made, and I sort of was able to watch it more in the way I did before and I really enjoyed that.

Now, I know like many others, when the video series ended and we moved over to Wordpress, you dropped off the series. However, some time ago you did get back into it again, so why was this? What made you go back to WIDWWA?

It was when the Newsletter began, and when I started talking to a few members of the community, again. They were talking about it, which got me interested. The Newsletter really helped, as it explained things I had missed out on. When I started speaking to you again, you explained which posts on the blog to read, which made it really simple to get back into it. I was surprised when I heard about Paul McGann becoming Michael French, but I think the change makes sense. It also made me realise that rewatching the videos was a bad idea, as they weren’t fully correct, so it kinda made reading the blog the only option.

Let’s talk about your opinions, from an in-universe perspective, who’s your favourite WIDWWA Doctor, favourite kind of stories, favourite era?

This is easy, because it’s always been this, since the time, and it’s Anthony Head, and my favourite era is his era, too. That era is absolutely my favourite, because it was very different to what came before, and it’s just the sort of thing I’m into. I’m into longer season arcs, and that. I think when you get a show that does the same thing all the time, it gets a bit boring, but the Anthony Head era reinvigorated the show, after the last few years of the same thing, year in and year out. My favourite stories were more from the Paterson Joseph and the David Suchet era, to be fair. The Phantom Doctor is one of my favourites, as well as Mad World and I loved Brave New Town. My favourite Anthony Head episode, though, is definitely the Confrontation of the Wicked, which was his finale.

So, speaking of Anthony Head, what are your thoughts on Doctor Who: The New Renegade, which takes his Doctor and places him in a very new context?

I’ve read both seasons and I do like it, yeah. It’s taking a Doctor who was situated in the sorta “Jon Pertwee” era but in a Gallifrey setting, and then like Season 10 and 11, it takes him out of that and puts him into the TARDIS to have adventures, which is very interesting. I think, as well, the show was made at the right time, with it being about 15 years since his era came out. I know some people weren’t fond of the Anthony Head era, but I think the New Renegade can appeal to both his fans, and the people who weren’t keen on the setting. My only issue with the show is when it gets a bit too confusing, because I believe there’s a plot which just confuses the hell out of me. If I’m having to consider going back to reread, then I think it was just too confusing. I think the show suffers through a lack of accessibility, which is a shame, because it is good. I think going into the show, you don’t need to know anything extra, it’s just the plot within the series itself, it is quite dense.

Now, your favourite spinoff series is Leftover, could you give your thoughts on the show and explain why it’s your favourite?

I think it’s because one of my favourite genres of TV shows is sort of mystery and investigative shows. When I first heard about Leftover, I was a bit weary, wondering how it would work, with older companions working with Katie, but actually it worked well. I think the stories and feel of the show really elevate the premise into working. The biggest flaw with the show is how it’s premise limits what it can do, but Series 3 proved that it wasn’t tied down, which I enjoyed. I just really like the show, to be honest. I like getting another set of episodes with old companions, especially as it was before some of them passed away.

Finally, if a story competition came up again, would you enter, or would you leave it, as you’ve had your opportunity, or would you happily throw your hat into the ring again?

Yeah, I’d love to enter again. I think since then, which was four years ago, I’ve grown older and wiser and learnt much more, and I’ve been through a lot personally, so I’d love to throw my hat into the ring. Yeah, honestly, if another came around, I’d come in and I’d 100% do it.