Chris Chibnall might have just been named the new showrunner of Doctor Who, but his history with BBC’s classic sci-fi show stretches back much, much further than that.

He’s already been a Who and Torchwood writer since 2006, but one of his first TV encounters with the Doctor came as far back as 1986.

Chibnall appeared on BBC feedback show Open Air, discussing the latest series with the then-writers as a representative of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society.

Yep, this is a man who knows his Who.

In fact, Chibnall admitted he was pretty disappointed with The Trial of a Time Lord, the 14-part ‘story’ that ran from September-December 1986.

Who had been off air for 18 months by this point. Was it worth the wait?

“It doesn’t seem to have much to it,” he said. “It hasn’t improved that much since it went off the air. It could have been a lot better; it could have been slightly better written, especially the last story.”

He added, “It was also very clichéd, it was very routine running up and down corridors and silly monsters.”

All this while the writers were there with him. Tough crowd.

Now, of course, Chibnall’s in the hot seat – and ready to take Who into a new generation.