Doctor Who and Sherlock forced Steven Moffat to cancel a new comedy series
New comedy Adam and Eve was all ready to go, until the screenwriter realised he had too much on his plate
TV fans around the world know screenwriter Steven Moffat for his work on Sherlock, Doctor Who and Coupling among many other series – but in another life, could we also have known him for hit comedy Adam and Eve?
That’s the question we’re asking ourselves this weekend anyway, after learning that the now ex-Doctor Who showrunner had to pre-emptively cancel one of his own TV shows thanks to his overwhelming Who and Sherlock workload.
"I haven't talked about it much, [but] there was a show also in the mix called Adam and Eve which had been greenlit,” Moffat said during a special Doctor Who Fan Show interview on YouTube.
Apparently, the series would revolve around a boss and his PA who were long-term friends but never got together romantically – but when it came down to working out how he’d write all three shows, Moffat realised he’d bitten off more than he could chew.
"Sue [Vertue, TV producer and Moffat's wife] had done a wall-planner of what it meant to write all three series, and I said, 'I can't – that's just not possible,’” he said. “‘I can't do all three of those. One of them has to go.'
"I had to be fully involved with all three of them, so I said, 'I can't do that'."
So alas, Adam and Eve had to bite the dust – and given that Moffat is now busy working on a play and a new drama series about Dracula (with Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss), we’re guessing it won’t rise again any time soon. A sad casualty of all those great episodes of TV.
Authors
Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.
