Steven Moffat's time as showrunner of Doctor Who is nearly up, and many seem totally jazzed about it. But his work really clicks with me. In the earlier series of the show his was the first name I began to associate with standout episodes, so when he was announced as the successor to Russell T. Davies it was like a wish being granted. His tenure hasn't been perfect, but I'd boil down the major reasons I dig his version of the show to these points.
1. I like Time Travel
With two capital Ts. I appreciate stories that really take advantage of it, moreso than just using it to set the story in an arbitrary time and place. He was pretty good at stretching what could be done in a single episode with his episodes in the Davies days like Blink and Girl in the Fireplace, but as showrunner he was both able to make this happen on many of the biggest episodes (premieres, finales) as well as having nonlinear elements that spread across a whole series or even multiple. The Doctor from the end of series 5 popping into an earlier series 5 episode. The events of the end of series 7 being a cause for events at the end of series 5. I eat this shit up.
2. I like Moffat monsters
For better and worse we're probably never going to get away from Daleks and Cybermen, but it's great to see new types of foes with new twists. Statues that can only move when not being looked at. Creatures you forget you ever saw when they leave your sight. Making fear of the dark legitimate with living shadows that can eat your flesh. Something that can hide so well... the episode can't even come to a conclusion about whether it exists.
3. I like that he goes Big
Some of this is chance. Him being around for the 50th anniversary gave him an excuse to write something Major, in this case a story that revealed an unknown Doctor and in small part brought all the past ones back. Thanks to that unknown Doctor, he put himself in the position of being the one to write around that mysterious regeneration limit. Beyond that we see him doing things like letting the Doctor get stuck on a planet for hundreds of years in a single episode (without reversing it), or get stuck in a loop that takes billions of years to work through. Destroying and recreating the friggin' universe! He's also more willing to play with the various regenerations than any showrunner I'm familiar with, like having a phone call from Eleven in Twelve's first episode. That he's pulling back the First Doctor for his last Christmas special just seems par for the course.
ALL THAT SAID, he's had six full series and then some to make his mark on the franchise and some of his hallmarks have become pretty repetitive, so it probably is time for some fresh blood. It just probably won't be blood that tickles all of my specific fancies so well.
Comments