Tag: steven moffat

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Essay

The Problems of Steven Moffat

Collage of Danny Pink magically jumping over a Skovox Blitzer in "The Caretaker"

Steven Moffat has been the showrunner and head writer of Doctor Who since 2010, when Russell T Davies left the show. The first Doctor that he wrote for was Matt Smith, and he continued in the 8th season with Peter Capaldi. As a writer under Davies, Moffat wrote award-winning stories: “The Empty Child”/”The Doctor Dances,” “The Girl in the Fireplace,” “Time Crash,” and “Silence In The Library“/”Forest of the Dead.” Since running both Doctor Who and Sherlock, critics say his work suffers from being spread too thin.

Most of Moffat’s episode endings don’t make sense. For instance, in the very beginning of “Listen,” The Doctor is writing with a piece chalk. When he puts it down, the chalk disappears and the word “listen” is written on a chalkboard. This is supposedly written by the “perfect hider,” a monster The Doctor is speculating about that causes mysterious events seen later throughout the episode. Later on, The Doctor states that everyone throughout history has the same dream, at some point in their lives, that is caused by the “perfect hider” somehow. In the end the truth is revealed: there was never a monster. The dream was caused by Clara Oswald, who grabbed The Doctor’s leg as a child in the night and gave him that dream. And…I guess gave everyone else the dream too. How can this even happen? Unless Clara grabbed every single person’s leg in the universe, it’s impossible. This entire ending is just one big plot hole.

Another problem I see in Moffat’s writing is that some of the episode subplots are entirely messed up. As an example, I will be using the episode “The Caretaker” (co-written with Gareth Roberts). The Doctor was trying to capture the Skovox Blitzer by placing devices around the school to send it billions of years in the future. If The Doctor really wanted no one to notice the devices he placed to trap the monster, he probably shouldn’t have put flashing green lights on them. And if he really needed those lights, he could have at least told the school staff not to mess with them. And Danny Pink, who removed the devices from where they were placed, shouldn’t mess with things in the first place, especially if he doesn’t know what they do. And when they finally do encounter the monster, towards the end of the fight when The Doctor is preparing the analog for the Skovox Blitzer, Danny runs at the robot and jumps over it to distract it so it doesn’t shoot The Doctor. The robot (instead of turning around) could have just shot The Doctor first then dealt with the rest of them. And there was DEFINITELY a trampoline under Danny in that scene.

And on top of that are the speeches. Moffat apparently loves writing completely useless, overly sappy speeches. Poor Peter Capaldi! In the episode “Into the Dalek,” after The Doctor repairs the Dalek, he acknowledges the fact that all he did was fix it. Clara then uses this time to yell at him to try harder. However, the way she did this is in an incredibly long and drawn out cliched speech. The result would have been exactly the same had she just told him not to give up. The only reason for that speech is to waste our time and torment the actors. I think they should just remake the classic Doctor Who episodes with today’s special effects. Then, Steven Moffat can stop ruining the show.

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Essay

On the Road to New Who’s Tenth Anniversary: Show Runner Extraordinaire, Russell T. Davies

photo: Russell T. Davies thinking of Peter Capaldi as the twelfth Doctor
Why didn't I think of that? Russell T. Davies thinking of Peter Capaldi as the twelfth Doctor

Stephen Russell Davies was born the same year as Doctor Who—1963. His family had no idea that their son would become one of the most influential writers/producers of British television. Under the pen name Russell T. Davies, Stephen resurrected Doctor Who after a 16-year hiatus of the BBC run series and a failed attempt at a back-door pilot telemovie. A collaboration of the BBC and FOX, the 1996 movie was a ratings success in the UK but not America. It had been intended to kick-off an American-produced Who series, which was not commissioned. Who was waiting for Davies.

As a young adult, Davies had wanted to become a comic book artist. His color-blindness forced him to study English literature, which led to screen and playwriting. In 1985 Davies began working for BBC’s Children’s department. His work on Dark Season and Century Falls was highly successful. In l994 he began writing for adults, which ultimately led to his stint as show runner for the new Doctor Who. A fan since childhood, Davies had been lobbying for Doctor Who‘s return since the late 90s. His ideas (doubling the episode length, paring back the mythology of Gallifrey and the Time Lords, increasing the production values) were accepted. During Davies’ reign, the longer episodes were welcomed. The reduced Time Lord mythology led to plot holes, which continue to cause confusion for the fandom.

Davies writes openly about sexual orientation and continues to develop sexually diverse characters. The pansexual Captain Jack Harkness is one example. Doctor Who and Torchwood have same-sex couples. (Davies created Queer as Folk before Doctor Who, and gay lifestyle shows Cucumber, Banana, and Tofu after.) John Barrowman, the actor who portrayed Captain Jack, said that Davies “changed the face of television in the U.K.” Barrowman added, “He has taken subject matter that nobody else will touch, and he has put in characters that nobody else will bother doing.”

Davies was approached about becoming involved in a tenth anniversary celebration for new Who:

“Someone from the [BBC’s] branding team sent me a very lovely email saying do you want to do something. I don’t know what they imagined…a talk or a convention, perhaps. I just said no, to be honest. A program can’t have its fiftieth and then its tenth anniversary. I think that’s just confusing. It’s marvelous and glorious; let it carry on.”

According to Davies, current show runner Steven Moffat asks him to write an episode every year. Davies response: “I love Doctor Who with all my heart but nothing is more important to me than my own stuff.”

Cucumber, Banana, and Tofu seem to have Davies full creative attention. Ironically, Davies was quick to confirm interest in writing a Doctor Who movie if approached: “If we could get the lawyers and contracts flying now. You know I would do that because I think there’s a big leap to be made.”

Davies’ imprint on the cult-status Doctor Who continues. Moffat said Davies had a theory for Peter Capaldi, who appeared in Davies’ “The Fires of Pompeii” and in an episode of Torchwood. Davies phoned Moffat to applaud the casting of Capaldi as the twelfth Doctor. Moffat asked: “Okay, what was your theory, and does it still work?” Davies’ reply was, “Yes it does. Here it is…“

Moffat (who often lies) says that he will use Davies’ original plan for Capaldi, and will “play that one out over time. It’s actually quite neat.” However, in Radio Times Davies said: “I know Peter Capaldi. He did a Doctor Who with us and he did a brilliant Torchwood and when they cast him I was just envious. I just thought: so brilliant. Why didn’t I think of that? Brilliant.” Does that contradict Moffat’s assertion that there was secret plan?

Davies continues to be touted as the savior for Doctor Who. One aspect of his legacy seems certain: “It’s now impossible for it to ever be axed,” he told Radio Times. “It’s certainly heading that way. Could you imagine if it was axed now? There would be uproar in the streets. Twitter would be set on fire.”

You can take the man out of Doctor Who, but apparently cannot take Doctor Who out of the man. If the BBC’s offer is right, we may see Russell T. Davies pen a script for the Doctor again.

Who Fact: Stephen Fry wrote a Doctor Who script. It was inspired by the story of Sir Gaiwan and the Green Knight, a traditional Celtic medieval poem. Davies thought it too complicated and requested revision. Fry never had time to do so.

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No Prize

Death in Heaven: How To Beat the Cybermen

Screenshot
Cyber Danny Orders the Troops

How the heck did Danny Pink and the Brig reverse full Cyberman conversion in “Death in Heaven“? Most failures were during the conversion process (Toberman “Tomb of the Cybermen“, Commander Lytton “Attack of the Cybermen“, Mercy Hartigan “The Next Doctor“, the Doctor “Nightmare in Silver“, Craig Owens “Closing Time“). The only pre-“Death in Heaven” full-conversion failure I can think of is Yvonne Hartman in “Doomsday“.

The No-Prize Solution

Steven Moffat never specified where the material to build the new Cybermen came from. They were obviously built in a hurry with faulty material, allowing a higher failure percentage. To put it another way, they don’t make Cybermen like they used to.

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Essay

On the Road to New Who’s Tenth Anniversary

The first episode of Classic Doctor Who aired in 1963, then saw two plus decades of air time ending in 1989. After a failed attempt to bring the series back in 1996 with a television movie, the BBC rebooted the program with Russell T. Davies at the helm as showrunner and head writer on March 26, 2005. In millions of homes, Billie Piper (alongside Christopher Eccleston as the 9th Doctor) burst onto the screen in “Rose” as the Doctor’s new companion. The show is ingrained in British culture and has become a world-wide phenomenon and a cult favorite. Recently, Russell T. Davies said “It’s now impossible for it to ever be axed. It’s certainly heading that way. Could you imagine if it was axed now? There would be uproar in the streets. Twitter would be set on fire.”

Indeed, the recently completed Series 8 with Peter Capaldi debuting as the 12th Doctor, was viewed by 30% more Americans than the previous series (Moffat, November, 2014). The term “Whovian” may be on its way into Webster’s and the words Time and Relative Dimension in Space are synonymous with a time-traveling vehicle. I cannot help but wonder what H.G. Wells would have to say. Or, perhaps he has been feeding Who writers. After all we saw a similar feat occur in “Blink” (Series 3, Episode 10).

As the tenth anniversary for New Who nears, there has been ongoing speculation as to whether there will be a celebration. Radio Times reported that Russell T. Davies was approached by the BBC to participate in the tenth anniversary. Davies’ answer was a resounding no. Currently, Davies keeps very busy with his new venture, Cucumber, Tofu, and Banana, a serialized drama examining gay life in Britain. While his focus and commitment to his new project is understandable, the fandom certainly loses.

Davies’ contention is that Doctor Who recently celebrated its 50th anniversary and a tenth anniversary the following year is confusing. On November 23, 2013, BBC aired “The Day of the Doctor” to mark the 50th. A New Who tenth anniversary special would air a mere 16 months later. However, with the first episode of Series 9 another 8 months away, many Whovians would welcome the oasis of a celebration amidst the desert of empty months after “Last Christmas“, which aired on December 25, 2014. When Steven Moffat, Who’s current showrunner and head writer, was asked in August of 2014 about a tenth anniversary special, he indicated that a special would not occur, “unless” he said, “I’m lying.” Ironically lying has been a theme in Moffat’s Series 8.

So what’s a Whovian to do as the March New Who tenth anniversary approaches and thirst for the Doctor increases? The Doctor Who Hub on facebook is hosting “Rose” Day. Many may choose to join this event and watch Series 1, Episode 1 “Rose” in celebration. Others may host house parties offering Who episodes for viewing, and yet others may find Who-related events at nearby pubs. How do you plan on celebrating New Who’s tenth?

Who Fact: Russell T. Davies and David Tennant chose to leave Doctor Who at the same time (2009). When Davies was asked if he would write an episode for Tennant’s successor, Matt Smith, his reply was: “Absolutely none. I wouldn’t want to write a single word for him. When he appears, every word will be written by Steven Moffat. He’s Steven’s, and Matt’s, character.” (Undated interview with Russell Davies and David Tennant on david-tennant.com)

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Essay

Into the Dalek: Spaceman Don’t Play That

comic book art
Next time, try words

A lot of bloggers liked this moment of “Into the Dalek”. Who Say described Clara’s slapping the Doctor “put this new, colder Doctor in his place”. Tech Times said it “Bravo for smacking some sense back into the Doctor right when he needed it.” The AV Club said “literally slaps sense into the Doctor”.

I completely disagree. There was nothing in the Doctor’s behavior to suggest he enjoyed being right more than he wanted to live. Clara’s actions makes her the worst possible companion to have in a crisis. Because the script was written Steven Moffat (with Phil Ford), her actions implausibly work. This is a lame attempt to make an underwritten female character “strong” by making her mean. Throughout Season 8, their relationship seems more like an Eric Stanton fantasy fantasy.

My Doctor’s reaction is closer to the “rebel Time Lord” they talked about in the Doctor Who World Tour.

Longtime fans will spot my influences. “Clara Oswald never existed” came from the Season 8 finale “Death in Heaven“. During the world tour, Peter Capaldi described his portrayal as a “rebel Time Lord”. “That’s the kind of Time Lord I am” is from David Tennant’s first episode “The Christmas Invasion“.

Materials used for this story
12″ x 18″ live area on Strathmore 500 bristol paper
Blick Black Cat india ink
Speedball nib #512 (phase one inking, outlines)
Short-handle round #4 sable brush (phase two inking)
Ruling pen (borders)
Speedball B6 and B5 (lettering)
Ames Lettering Guide (4.0 even-spaced calibration)
Adobe Photoshop (production, Duo-Shade gray tones)

Inked with the pen first, brush second technique perfected by Alex Toth, Steve Ditko and Joe Maneely. Gray tones applied with an Duo-Shade emulation technique, in an attempt to make this look like a Warren publication.

— Dave M!, making a right with two wrongs.