DW
As regards the new series, I'll say this:
For all there have been some episodes that I've really enjoyed since the departure of Tennant/Russell T Davies (e.g. Mummy on the Orient Express, Smile, Flatline), for me, the whole thing has seemed like a completely different programme since Davies left. The stories are darker and themes of whole episodes and series intertwine meaning if you miss one little detail in an episode which aired weeks ago, you find yourself completely failing to understand what's happening in future episodes. It's seemed more like a hardcore-sci-fi-fans-only spin-off of Doctor Who to me, in all honesty.
The inclusion of a variety of complex supplementary characters which seemed to reappear whenever the mood took Moffat didn't help. I'm referring to the lizard woman and her Victorian girlfriend, Ashildr (I couldn't even tell you who or what she is or what happened to her despite having watched the episodes in full when they aired), Osgood (again, not a clue), the Sontaran which helped the Doctor for a while, and so on. I won't even get started on River Song as I found the entire saga utterly baffling and despite having watched every episode at least once since Tennant left, I couldn't tell you more than a couple of points about her endeavours subsequent to her appearance in Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead.
I also found that there seemed to be a lot of plot holes or unexplained aspects of the episodes during Moffat's tenure. To use a recent example, in the very last episode to air, The Doctor tells Bill, The Master, and Missy that they cannot simply escape using the TARDIS because it is at the very top of the ship, nearest the black hole and it would take 'a thousand years' to get to it. Yet, at the end, once they'd used things like guns and apples* to blow the Cybermen up (*yeah, I'll just gloss over that - this post is long enough as it is), they were triumphantly back in the TARDIS. I get that the Cybermen were no longer a threat to them getting back to the TARDIS, but what happened to the immense amount of time it would take to get to it? This seems to have just been completely forgotten about. Unless I've misunderstood, which, since I've barely understood anything that's happened since Moffat took over, is not an unlikelihood. Genuinely, if anyone can be bothered to try to explain that to me, I'd be delighted to try and understand it.
In summary, I am really hoping that Chibnall goes back to the 'Davies' way of writing the series, which is, in short, the Doctor and his/her companion go somewhere, finds something happening, sorts it out, and goes again, and there's no convoluted interwoven stories or obscure returning characters - they just go, have an experience, and leave again. I am pretty tired of needing a PHD in 'how Moffat thinks' in order to understand what's happening and I'm really hoping that we can see a simplification and a less dark approach to the series compared to the Smith/Capaldi era.
(P.S. I'm well aware that most people will disagree with my feelings about Moffat's time on the show, and I don't doubt that he can be an incredible writer, (take The Girl in the Fireplace, The Empty Child (and its second part The Doctor Dances) and Blink for example), but as a showrunner, for me, he tried to be far too clever and took the show in a direction which I hugely disliked.)
For all there have been some episodes that I've really enjoyed since the departure of Tennant/Russell T Davies (e.g. Mummy on the Orient Express, Smile, Flatline), for me, the whole thing has seemed like a completely different programme since Davies left. The stories are darker and themes of whole episodes and series intertwine meaning if you miss one little detail in an episode which aired weeks ago, you find yourself completely failing to understand what's happening in future episodes. It's seemed more like a hardcore-sci-fi-fans-only spin-off of Doctor Who to me, in all honesty.
The inclusion of a variety of complex supplementary characters which seemed to reappear whenever the mood took Moffat didn't help. I'm referring to the lizard woman and her Victorian girlfriend, Ashildr (I couldn't even tell you who or what she is or what happened to her despite having watched the episodes in full when they aired), Osgood (again, not a clue), the Sontaran which helped the Doctor for a while, and so on. I won't even get started on River Song as I found the entire saga utterly baffling and despite having watched every episode at least once since Tennant left, I couldn't tell you more than a couple of points about her endeavours subsequent to her appearance in Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead.
I also found that there seemed to be a lot of plot holes or unexplained aspects of the episodes during Moffat's tenure. To use a recent example, in the very last episode to air, The Doctor tells Bill, The Master, and Missy that they cannot simply escape using the TARDIS because it is at the very top of the ship, nearest the black hole and it would take 'a thousand years' to get to it. Yet, at the end, once they'd used things like guns and apples* to blow the Cybermen up (*yeah, I'll just gloss over that - this post is long enough as it is), they were triumphantly back in the TARDIS. I get that the Cybermen were no longer a threat to them getting back to the TARDIS, but what happened to the immense amount of time it would take to get to it? This seems to have just been completely forgotten about. Unless I've misunderstood, which, since I've barely understood anything that's happened since Moffat took over, is not an unlikelihood. Genuinely, if anyone can be bothered to try to explain that to me, I'd be delighted to try and understand it.
In summary, I am really hoping that Chibnall goes back to the 'Davies' way of writing the series, which is, in short, the Doctor and his/her companion go somewhere, finds something happening, sorts it out, and goes again, and there's no convoluted interwoven stories or obscure returning characters - they just go, have an experience, and leave again. I am pretty tired of needing a PHD in 'how Moffat thinks' in order to understand what's happening and I'm really hoping that we can see a simplification and a less dark approach to the series compared to the Smith/Capaldi era.
(P.S. I'm well aware that most people will disagree with my feelings about Moffat's time on the show, and I don't doubt that he can be an incredible writer, (take The Girl in the Fireplace, The Empty Child (and its second part The Doctor Dances) and Blink for example), but as a showrunner, for me, he tried to be far too clever and took the show in a direction which I hugely disliked.)
Last edited by DavidWhitfield on 19 July 2017 3:33pm - 2 times in total
