Has Moffat ruined Doctor Who?
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paulbeardsley — 9 years ago(November 25, 2016 01:28 AM)
As a fan of Doctor Who for close to 40 years I find it hard to watch new episodes of Doctor Who.
43 years for me. And although the last couple of seasons have had a few too many duds, and arcs that went nowhere interesting, I still think Moffat's Who has been the best it's been since the mid 1980s.
For me Moffat has destroyed the mystery of The Doctor, regeneration and just about everything that once made the show fun.
On the contrary, these "mysteries" had been so demystified by Colin Baker's era that they had to start throwing in that "more than just a Time Lord" stuff that went nowhere during Sylv's era.
He has insulted the shows past
Horses' hooves.
the 50th anniversary was a disappointment
Not to me it wasn't. We had an excellent anniversary story, the middle section of a mostly very good Doctor trilogy; we had an excellent drama about the show's origin; we had a hilarious spoof. There was loads of merchandise. What else did you want?
with plenty of wasted opportunities by not bringing back past Doctors like McGann etc
I'm guessing you're dismissing Night of the Doctor rather than simply unaware of it. That was a brilliant surprise - not so much an Easter egg as a ten speed bike when you thought you'd already received your main present. To call the anniversary a disappointment when you got the unexpected return of McGann's Doctor to the screen sounds pretty ungrateful. Yes, his appearance left us wanting more, but a) that's better than the opposite and b) there's nothing to stop you getting into his audio adventures, many of which have been available for free on Radio 4 Extra.
As for the previous Doctors, they're all obviously much older - so much so that different actors would be more convincing. There's only so much dialogue and action to go round - did you really want some old men doddering about in the background with nothing to do?
We got cameos of all the past Doctors, and we got the Classic Doctor actors in their own spoof. Anything else would be unrealistic.
while pulling a one off missing Doctor out of his arse thus wasting a regeneration.
You complain about the lack of mystery. I thought the revelation of a hitherto unknown incarnation was wonderful. I got goosebumps when the John Hurt Doctor was introduced. Just as we're thinking we know all there is to know about Doctor Who, something like this happens. While it admittedly contradicts a couple of scenes in previous Matt stories, it's otherwise entirely fair - at no point did Chris's Doctor put his hand on the Gallifreyan Bible and swear he was the 9th incarnation.
As for an arse-pull, what about all those RTD stories that were "resolved" through some action that made no sense and were not foreshadowed? Turning that Slitheen back into an egg? Her using a surfboard to escape from Earth?
And as for "wasting" a regeneration - WTF? What about David regenerating into David - worst cliffhanger resolution of all time. And we always knew the Doctor was going to get a new set of regenerations once he'd reached the end - we'd known it since 1983! So why not have it happen in the 50th anniversary year?
In doing so rather than making The Doctors final regeneration dramatic Moffat solved this problem by having Clara pray to the Time Lords through Amy's crack, what a joke!
You're trying to make it sound bad but it worked for me. Not perfectly, by any means - I expect some writer could have come up with something more satisfying - but it worked. The crack had been set up years in advance, and the "what happened to Gallifrey?" was a mystery fresh in our minds.
So what's your idea of making it dramatic? Have everybody on Earth say "Doctor" at the same time?
On a related subject, I am so bored of the "Clara does too much" whinge. Maybe when you sent the memo to the BBC saying what the companion can and cannot do, it slipped down the back of a filing cabinet?
This years Christmas episode looks like the series is set to continue down the space time continuum of the sewage.
Because you can always judge an episode by its trailer. Right.
In conclusion, I think you are yet another fan who feels they somehow "own" Doctor Who. You want mystery but you don't want surprises. Your critical faculties are highly selective. You've been watching for 40 years, but you've lost track of the fact that it defies fans' claims to define it. Once that happens, you lose the ability to enjoy it.
So this is permanence, love's shattered pride.
What once was innocence, turned on its side. -
crogoon — 9 years ago(November 25, 2016 02:46 AM)
It's funny that whenever a modern producer wants to introduce new things into the show he's pulling it out of his arse or destroying mistery.
Example: Two says that he left Galifrey because he was bored even thougt First mentioned the exile and Doctor Who is not destroyed and everybody lives! Twelve speaks about the hybrid prophecy and DOCTOR WHO IS DESTROYED. /fandom -
Culfy — 9 years ago(November 26, 2016 02:45 AM)
Well if you watch the end of Ressurection of the Daleks, The Doctor says that Tegan's reasons for leaving him reminded him of his own reasons for leaving Gallifrey. And Tegan's reasons where we she was sickened by the bloodshed, not she was bored.
So 'I was bored' has never been particularly canonical
1 mark deducted for not being Curse of Fenric. Insert 'The' into previous if you are Ant-Mac -
GladysOver — 9 years ago(November 25, 2016 03:48 AM)
Well it's arguably declined under his tenure - which is something I never imagined I would ever say or feel when it was announced Moff was taking over from RTD, but hardly "ruined".
The general quality of writing has certainly been diminishing for the last few seasons though - bar obvious, superb exceptions. Far worse though is that 'Who just feels so terminably self-indulgent (and even more so than RTD's era which is no easy feat!) and uninspired these days.
There are numerous theories as to why these problems have manifested of late but for me the predominant problem is that Moff has simply stayed too long (probably by a couple of seasons) in the job and, creatively at least, stretched himself far too thinly what with his Sherlock commitments. Incidentally the previously superb Sherlock's been on the wane too of late with the divisive 3rd series (though I enjoyed it) and the truly piss awful 2015 Xmas special.
Regardless, hopefully Chibber's will inject 'Who with some much needed freshness, though I remain somewhat pessimistic regrettably.
Disclaimer: The above is only my
opinion
of course and therefore merely subjective. -
paulbeardsley — 9 years ago(November 25, 2016 06:01 AM)
Shorter answer: a) No, Moffat has not by any stretch ruined Doctor Who and b) What does that even mean?
As long as there is demand for more stories about the chap in the flying police-box-shaped time machine, the series is not ruined.
So this is permanence, love's shattered pride.
What once was innocence, turned on its side. -
DoctorDangerDisco — 9 years ago(November 25, 2016 06:59 AM)
Are you trying to cause arguments or something?
No he hasn't seeing as the most popular episodes in new who are all Moffat ones. Also not bringing back Mcgann? Think you might've missed something there. -
MikeF-6 — 9 years ago(November 26, 2016 09:15 PM)
Oh, sure. Moffat has ruined DW just like Davies did before him and Nathan-Turner did before him and Williams before him - all the way back to Verity Lambert ruining the First Doctor in the first serial.
And there is no doubt in my mind that Chris Chibnall will ruin it after Moffat.
Jeez Louise. Come up with something else, can't you?
mf
Trust me. Im The Doctor. -
ladyljd — 9 years ago(December 02, 2016 02:29 PM)
Personally the Capaldi era is my favourite of New Who, and I'd assume the current leading man likes at least some of the scripts he's been given.
Well said and I couldn't agree more. Steven Moffat hired 2 amazing actors for the role with Capaldi being my favorite. Since series 8 he's written intelligent, mature and complex stories that have kept me very much interested in the show. For me, Heaven Sent is the best episode of Doctor Who ever.
In short, Steven Moffat has done the opposite of ruin Doctor Who. He's saved it by growing it up a bit and broadening the audience appeal. I've no doubt that all of his detractors will be sorry when he's gone.
Goodnight sweet Prince -
ed_zeppelin — 9 years ago(November 27, 2016 10:12 AM)
He's merely making it within the confines of the modern production style. His predecessor wasn't any better and his successor won't be any worse.
Frankly it'd be an improvement if we could have a regular character - Doctor or companion - who didn't talk like a media studies student. When the Doctor - played by the oldest actor ever to take on the role - struts out wearing a hoodie and "sonic sunglasses", I want to reach through the screen and slap some gravitas back into him. -
strawberry_switchblade — 9 years ago(November 27, 2016 10:41 PM)
For me Mary Whitehouse, JNT, Saward, Grade, Ian Levine and RTD had already ruined it.
Moffat merely delivered the final nails in the coffin.
Paul McGann IS the War Doctor in my fic
http://dalekwars.blogspot.co.uk/ -
Bobby9976 — 9 years ago(November 29, 2016 12:05 AM)
I like Capaldi as the Doctor, but I have found the whole attitude around the reboot to rely too heavily on Daleks, Cybermen and stories set around Cardiff.
A massive flaw to me is that most storylines are now only one or two episodes meaning there can be no significant story arc.
Additionally recent comments from the production team stating they intend to satisfy the BBC's remit of inclusion and diversity by revising history to include diverse characters anachronistically is to me, lazy storytelling and an insult to all viewers. To illustrate my point I would refer them to DC Legends of Tomorrow S02E04 Abominations which went into surprisingly graphic detail about how some of the black slaves were treated in 1860's America. The BBC could be pursuing such rich and relevant and informative storylines rather than just inserting black people into a medieval storyline for instance.
Similarly Agent Carter was an interesting show, set in the late 40's it was another superficial entertainment, but it did not shirk from illustrating how women, disabled soldiers and black men were marginalised, it is a shame the show was cancelled.
I can see no potential from Doctor Who except to continue wheeling out the Daleks and producing Christmas specials of no real interest. -
The-Valeyard — 9 years ago(November 30, 2016 07:52 PM)
I can see no potential from Doctor Who except to continue wheeling out the Daleks and producing Christmas specials of no real interest.
And as a long life fan I no longer have any interest in either.
And it would appear that the declining ratings has proven that many people are losing interest in the series as well.
If Chibnal fails to fix the show then cancellation "hiatus" is inevitable! -
Damienracer — 9 years ago(December 01, 2016 02:45 AM)
declining ratings
And thank God for that seriously!!!!! Who in their right mind would sit through an hour of an old man talking rubbish and pulling faces, that's not intellectually entertaining at all - especially these days don't Brits have better things to do and watch, honestly. -
paulbeardsley — 9 years ago(December 02, 2016 10:18 PM)
If Chibnal fails to fix the show then cancellation "hiatus" is inevitable!
So
again
I ask, what does "ruined" even mean in this context?
What does "fix" mean?
What's the point in starting a thread if you're going to ignore every point made except by those who agree with you?
So this is permanence, love's shattered pride.
What once was innocence, turned on its side.