Phil Ford seems like an unusual choice. He's only (co-)written for the series itself on two occasions, and while "Into the Dalek" was good, I didn't hear anyone saying that it was a game-changer in the way that Moffat's scripts were during RTD's run.
Don't get me wrong, I think he's a terrific writer. I just finished my first-ever run-through of
The Sarah Jane Adventures (which Ford was for the showrunner for during most of its existence) and I loved it. But it seems to me like Moffat and the BBC would pick someone more directly involved in regular production of the current series.
http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Phil_Ford
I've assumed that Moffat and the Beeb have been grooming Mark Gatiss for the position. Gatiss has written for every season of the new series; he's even appeared as a number of different characters; plus he has experience with Moffat co-producing
Sherlock.
http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Mark_Gatiss
Looking at the respective resumes of each, Gatiss' is the longer and more impressive.
However, also looking at their resumes, I like Ford's work a lot more. As previously mentioned, SJA was great, with strong characters as well as a tone and feel that more closely resembles the family-friendly spirit of the original series than the modern show. I really do like Moffat's work overall, but it feels like there's a lot of sexual humor and references.
Ford is also the only one to have written for all four series (
DW, SJA, Torchwood and even one of the animated specials). So he really gets the Whoniverse.
Meanwhile, 2005's "The Unquiet Dead" is one of the only Gatiss scripts that I've enjoyed, and I outright dislike a number of his episodes.
And who knows? Maybe Gatiss is more interested in pursuing other projects. For all we know, all of this is a rumor, and Moffat intends to stay around for a number of years (which is fine with me).
So even though it doesn't seem like it's true that Ford would take over, I actually hope that he
does.