Television is traditionally a writer’s medium. It is a writer-showrunner who helms the show, with different directors coming in to take on one episode at a time.

Because of this structure, directors, while vital to the TV craft, don’t tend to have as much of a consistent influence on TV shows. Sure, you’ve got the director who films the pilot and, therefore, helps set the visual tone and language of the series. But, past that, directors come and go, and are often left out of the TV criticism conversation.

While directors might not often get recogized for their role in TV (especially outside of the prestige TV model), Steven Moffat emphasizes just vital they are to delivering a good episode of Doctor Who.

“The director’s influence is massive,” Moffat told Den of Geek at San Diego Comic Con. “These shows are all but impossible to make, and we’re making it for an audience that will then watch a Marvel film immediately afterwards. And there is no way we can keep up with that, but we have to pretend we can.”