Favorite Moffat Season

[The Borgified Corpse]

I really loved "Heaven Sent," so I totally get it. I'm surprised that Season 4 did so well in that poll but I guess I'm not totally shocked. I guess that was at the height of Tennant's popularity and it seems like Donna just gets more popular with each passing year.

Some further thoughts on Season 7 vs. Season 9:

I think Season 7 works better as a unit. The Impossible Girl arc is interesting, if a bit contrived. And there is some nice build up to Amy & Rory's departure.

Season 9 doesn't have much of an arc at all. And the stuff with the confession dial & the hybrid just don't make any sense to me. Also, Clara is not used very well in Season 9 (apart from "The Zygon Inversion" & "Hell Bent"). We got a pretty complete sense of what she was up to both on & off the TARDIS in Seasons 7 & 8. In Season 9, she's more of a cypher and feels like she could be any companion.

On the other hand, if we're just counting the seasons in terms of overall individual episode quality, Season 9 wins that fight. Pitting their best episodes against each other, Season 9 has some heavy hitters on its side like "The Zygon Inversion" & "Heaven Sent." Season 7 can only muster up 2nd tier stars like "The Power of Three" & "Cold War." Pitting their worst episodes against each other... well... that's actually pretty painful. But putting "The Bells of Saint John" against "The Magician's Apprentice," I would probably give a slight edge to "The Magician's Apprentice." It's a little messy but it's not as irritating as the headache that "The Bells of Saint John" always gives me for some reason.

 

[kirk55555]

I totally agree with the best episode of Series 9, Heaven Sent was great. For the series overall, I'd have been a bit lower, probably a 7 (because the underwater base two parter, the eye booger episode and Face the Raven just weren't very good, and bring the series down a bit). My favorite series would also be pretty different, although I agree with Series 8 being the lowest.

 

[Newspaper Taxi]

#1: Season 5
RTD's season arcs ran thusly: Repeat a phrase or sentence that turned out to mean something in the finale. (Bad Wolf, Torchwood, Vote Saxxon, Missing Planets, Knock Four Times.) Besides Season 5 being an awesome introduction to Matt Smith and the Ponds, it tried to progress the formula of a story arc. The Cracks in the Universe had an introduction, progress, and then a solution. Wonderful. Best season of NuWho and maybe Who-Who.

#2. Season 8
This one also had the most stable continuing storyline, thanks to Clara becoming a 'real girl.' Whlie this season had the worst science in Nu-Who (Moon is an egg, giant insta-forest) it did have a reinvigorating sense of energy missing since season 5 for me. Mostly, though, it just had some fantastic episodes, though. Danny Pink was an interesting counter-point to the Doctor in that he had traveled the world, fought in war, and discovered the joy and beauty of staying home. As opposed to the Doctor, who can never stay still nor live the domestic life.

#3: Season 9
I liked the thematic unity of the season, even if it was a touch morbid. (And even if the "Hybrid" sort of gets lost in the middle.) The only episode that was a real dud for me was the one with the Sandmen, which had a too silly concept and poor pacing. The Zygon-two parter was ill-thought out, but at least ended up with one of the best speeches the Doctor has ever given. "Heavensent" was a mind blowing episode for me, and Hellbent, while not what I expected, was something I also really enjoyed. Also, The Under the Water/Before the Flood is probably my favorite "Base Underseige" story of NuWho.

#4: Season 7:
I don't really feel a need to separate the two halves. It lagged, at times. Spending half a season with the Ponds kind of not wanting to return mixed with the Doctor kind of trying to wean off of them was an odd energy, and Clara wasn't much of a character for me in the second half. Although there were some pretty good episodes in both halves, this was the season that made me wonder if Moffat was bored of Doctor Who. Thankfully Day of the Doctor and Time of the Doctor seemed to have re-energized the bloke.

#5: Season 6
My least favorite of Moffat's run, and tied with season 2 for my least favorite season of Nu-Who. I felt this season was too serious and dark: It made me realize that I really didn't want to see a Doctor Who that was written primarily for adults, despite what I had kind of thought before. While I applaud the ambition of the storyline, it felt more designed to screw with the audience than be a natural storyline.

I did like the concept of the "Silence", though, and "Good Man's War" and "God Complex" stood out as being pretty fantastic for me.

 

[TJ Sinclair]

#1: Season 5
RTD's season arcs ran thusly: Repeat a phrase or sentence that turned out to mean something in the finale. (Bad Wolf, Torchwood, Vote Saxxon, Missing Planets, Knock Four Times.) Besides Season 5 being an awesome introduction to Matt Smith and the Ponds, it tried to progress the formula of a story arc. The Cracks in the Universe had an introduction, progress, and then a solution. Wonderful. Best season of NuWho and maybe Who-Who.

#2. Season 8
This one also had the most stable continuing storyline, thanks to Clara becoming a 'real girl.' Whlie this season had the worst science in Nu-Who (Moon is an egg, giant insta-forest) it did have a reinvigorating sense of energy missing since season 5 for me. Mostly, though, it just had some fantastic episodes, though. Danny Pink was an interesting counter-point to the Doctor in that he had traveled the world, fought in war, and discovered the joy and beauty of staying home. As opposed to the Doctor, who can never stay still nor live the domestic life.

#3: Season 9
I liked the thematic unity of the season, even if it was a touch morbid. (And even if the "Hybrid" sort of gets lost in the middle.) The only episode that was a real dud for me was the one with the Sandmen, which had a too silly concept and poor pacing. The Zygon-two parter was ill-thought out, but at least ended up with one of the best speeches the Doctor has ever given. "Heavensent" was a mind blowing episode for me, and Hellbent, while not what I expected, was something I also really enjoyed. Also, The Under the Water/Before the Flood is probably my favorite "Base Underseige" story of NuWho.

#4: Season 7:
I don't really feel a need to separate the two halves. It lagged, at times. Spending half a season with the Ponds kind of not wanting to return mixed with the Doctor kind of trying to wean off of them was an odd energy, and Clara wasn't much of a character for me in the second half. Although there were some pretty good episodes in both halves, this was the season that made me wonder if Moffat was bored of Doctor Who. Thankfully Day of the Doctor and Time of the Doctor seemed to have re-energized the bloke.

#5: Season 6
My least favorite of Moffat's run, and tied with season 2 for my least favorite season of Nu-Who. I felt this season was too serious and dark: It made me realize that I really didn't want to see a Doctor Who that was written primarily for adults, despite what I had kind of thought before. While I applaud the ambition of the storyline, it felt more designed to screw with the audience than be a natural storyline.

I did like the concept of the "Silence", though, and "Good Man's War" and "God Complex" stood out as being pretty fantastic for me.

Pretty much my thoughts exactly. Thanks for saving me from typing out virtually the same thing, even down to the dislike for series 2.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Oh, alright:

Season 5: The most consistent run in Moffat's tenure. A solid story arc, with some really good episodes. Smith's boldest performances are her.

Season 6: Not nearly as well thought-out as the previous season, and certainly jumped the shark with River Song ending up being Amy's daughter, but... it still got a lot of good episodes! And Smith's best performance is here in The Doctor's Wife.

Season 7: A very mixed bag. It should've began with The Snowmen, simply put - the extended Pond adventures just seem like buying time and fan-pandering to me. That said, it was great to see them again and that first half, to me, fared better than the second. I only liked a few of the Clara-11 episodes, the specials included. And the arc... well, it became about the Impossible Girl, until it suddenly became about Gallifrey and bringing that back again. Very all-over-the-place. But, it did again have some good episodes, the specials especially. Really good stuff, but Moffat's already running out of steam.

Season 9: Much better than 8, but it still seems clear to me that Moffat clearly remains bored. His episodes all lack inspiration and interest, and seem to be rehashing past glories without much vigor. And its clear that he let two parters take over the series because of that. That said, there's some really good episodes, and while ultimately nonsensical, I liked Moffat's Davros two-parter. And in some ways, its better than the seventh series, but the final episode was so abysmal, the arc so nonsensical and the overall handling of Clara's final fate (a character who clearly, clearly should've left the show by last Christmas - get it?), put me off so, so much, I am contemplating not watching the next series at all until its out on DVD.

Season 8: Easily Moffat's worst series. I don't want to say more. I only like four episodes, including Deep Breath. Five, if I take the first part of the finale two-parter. But damn, its absolutely boring. And I intensely dislike Danny Pink. Maybe the character worked on paper, but that Anderson dude just didn't sell it for me. At all.

So, anyway.

 

[Starkers]

I'm not sure how anyone can say Moffat lacks inspiration and interest when he gives us something like Heaven Sent.

For me there are two problems with Series 8, the first is the inconsistency of Capaldi's portrayal, but more so, for me at least, is the fact that it plays less like a Moffat season than an RTD one! Think about it, a lot of episodes set on Earth grounding the show in the present day, even giving Clara a boyfriend 'now' and winding up with the Cybermen trying to invade present day Earth. The arc is simplistic, and pretty much revolves around "The promised land" being mentioned pretty much in every episode ala Bad Wolf. There are lots of standalone episodes into the bargain. Yup it's an RTD season but and here's where I surprised you, without the verve RTD might have bought to the party. I'm not sure if there was a conscious decision to dial back on the timey wimey stuff but it felt like it, and by comparison S9 has felt much more like a Moffat season.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

The thing I hated about series 7 and 8 is how the companions go in and out of their lives with the Doctor. Its nonsensical IMO, because its a frickin' time machine they're travelling on. I understand they might've tried to shake things up and tried new things, but... it just didn't work, for me.

And thats all on Moffat, too.

 

[RoJoHen]

The thing I hated about series 7 and 8 is how the companions go in and out of their lives with the Doctor. Its nonsensical IMO, because its a frickin' time machine they're travelling on. I understand they might've tried to shake things up and tried new things, but... it just didn't work, for me.

And thats all on Moffat, too.

Honestly, this doesn't bother me at all because I'd probably want the exact same thing.

Even though I know it's a time machine, I'd still want to come back home every now and again. I don't even like going out of town for more than a couple days as it is; I certainly wouldn't want to be gone for an indeterminate amount of time, even if I knew that I could return to the point where I left.

I'd need to bring my cat with me.

 

[DS9Continuing]

What's your favorite season of the Moffat Era?

Season Five: Matt Smith's first year and The Crack
Season Six: The Doctor's Death at Lake Silencio
Season Seven: Goodbye Amy and Rory, Hello Impossible Girl
(Day of the Doctor and Time of the Doctor should be included with S7)
Season Eight: Capaldi's first year and Missy
Season Nine: Goodbye Clara

My favorite was far and away Seven. I really liked that season, it had a lot of good episodes, and I really loved Clara from the beginning. And if you include the wonderfully excellent "Day" and "Time" it's no contest. Those two are my favorite stories from the Moffat Era.

Second would be Eight. I really liked Capaldi from the start, and most of the episodes were very solid. Aside from my intense dislike for Danny Pink I thought it was a really strong year.

Five, Six, and Nine were all mixed bags for me. They all had a lot of duds in them, and halfway through Six I actually started to lose interest in the show. But Five had a lot of bad episodes (the Silurian two parter, Vampires in Venice, etc).

I agree with pretty much every word in this post, except maybe that I don't mind 'Vampires in Venice'.

I would say that 7 and 8 have been my favourites for very different reasons. Obviously it goes without saying that every season has its good and its bad, but I'm talking about the general impression I was left with by the season as a whole.

I will never understand the overwhelming love for Season 5. I don't think the Cracks arc was all that more special than RTD's version - in fact hasn't Moffat himself said that he deliberately emulated RTD's style in that season to make sure everybody knew it was the same old show? The 'hints' along the way are no more than the word-drops RTD would do, except for the two big reveals in 'Flesh & Stone' and 'Cold Blood', both of which come out of nowhere simply because the plot said it was time for them now. 'The Beast Below' and 'Victory of the Daleks' are both abominable. But I do like 'The Pandorica Opens' for not taking place in present-day London, and I like that 'The Big Bang' basically only features the four main characters.

Season 6 was kitchen-sink throw-it-all-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks chaos. I enjoyed some of the sheer bonkers energy that went into it, but at other times it really felt out of control. Some individual episodes were very strong indeed - 'The Doctor's Wife', 'The God Complex', 'The Girl Who Waited'. But it remains the worst example of Moffat's occasional tendency to set up major questions and then either completely forget about answering them or just get distracted by something else.

Season 7 was actually less of a game of two halves than it seems. I find the build up to the 50th very rewarding, with all the deliberate call backs and references to previous Doctors and their adventures. And if the Impossible Girl arc really was made up on the fly as Moffat claims, then it still works a damn sight better than the pre-planned Silence arc. The constant motifs of 'echoes' and 'reflections' lead perfectly to the reveal without bashing us over the head or jumping up and down screaming "I've got a secret ahahahaaaaaah!". I think all the 50th stuff is done just about as perfectly as it could be. And while I didn't love 'Time' at first, I've come to appreciate it a lot more in retrospect and now find it quite touching.

Season 8 was a breath of fresh air - after four years of incessant timey-wimey bollocks, the Twelfth Doctor's era has eschewed that almost completely and was tight and streamlined, with a focus on the Doctor's and Clara's relationship and characters. I'll take any amount of that over another non-linear wankfest. I adored Twelve from his first line ("Shush!"), found Clara to be a far better and more interesting character here than with Eleven, and Missy is just a delight. Yes, a couple of dodgy episodes again, but the overall feel is much more to my taste.

Season 9 seemed aimless and blah. Great two-parters at the start and the end, but none of the ones in the middle really did it for me. The Clara-getting-reckless arc is still a character-based one rather than a plot-based one, and that's good, but it just wasn't very interesting until the very end. The Doctor himself was far less fun this year than last as well. In fact the fun seems to have bled out of the show altogether at this point. It's like a combination of 6 and 8.

.

 

[Karzak]

Series 5 was probably his best. The rest are an ADD-riddled, poorly written mess.

There are some good episodes, yes... but taken as series-arcs, 6, 7, 8 and 9 have been of subpar quality compared to the Davies era, saved in large part by the phenomenal actors performing in them.

 

[davejames]

The thing I hated about series 7 and 8 is how the companions go in and out of their lives with the Doctor. Its nonsensical IMO, because its a frickin' time machine they're travelling on. I understand they might've tried to shake things up and tried new things, but... it just didn't work, for me.

And thats all on Moffat, too.

Yeah as much as I liked many of the episodes in those seasons, that did really get on my nerves after a while. Even if it's a sensible (and probably healthy) arrangement on the part of the Companions, there's just something much more compelling about the idea of people who've made the commitment to go on one long and crazy adventure with The Doctor. Instead of people just calling on him anytime they're feeling bored and want something fun to do for the weekend.

And it also kinda bugged me how there seemed to be either huge gaps in between visits, or entire exciting adventures that we somehow never got to see. I know that was always kind of hinted at before, but not nearly to the extent that it was in these more recent seasons.

 

[DS9Continuing]

Yeah as much as I liked many of the episodes in those seasons, that did really get on my nerves after a while. Even if it's a sensible (and probably healthy) arrangement on the part of the Companions, there's just something much more compelling about the idea of people who've made the commitment to go on one long and crazy adventure with The Doctor. Instead of people just calling on him anytime they're feeling bored and want something fun to do for the weekend.

That doesn't bother me. It's part of Clara's character to make it all about her - the Doctor is just her chauffeur to take her to exciting places. It could also be interpreted as the woman not sublimating her life and goals to the man, and surely that's a good thing.

.

 

[M.A.C.O.]

Season 6. Season 5 made promises but didn't really deliver. Moffat talked up how great 11 was, but it wasn't till 6 that we got a smidgen of that.

 

[Timewalker]

I had to vote "no opinion" because there's no option for "none of the above - they're all crap."

I liked individual scenes in specific episodes, and while Peter Capaldi makes an adequate Doctor, the last time I really looked forward to watching Doctor Who (aside from the 50th anniversary stories) was when Tennant was the Doctor.

I missed the second half of the recent Zygon story, and I don't even care. I've got no interest in searching it out if/when it ever comes to Netflix, and no interest in subscribing to the Space Channel to see if it turns up during the annual Christmas/Boxing Day Doctor Who marathon.

There are a grand total of TWO Doctor Who stories I've completely enjoyed since Tennant left, and neither of them were on TV: The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot... and Night of the Doctor.

If it was Moffat's goal to alternately annoy and bore me into apathy about the show, he succeeded admirably. The only reason I've kept watching has been the hope that it would improve. There have been little bits here and there that were good - I liked the recent season opener, for instance - but they really need somebody else.