Moffat Penned Episodes - Yay or Nay

Discussion in 'Doctor Who' started by Mitty, Jan 13, 2014.

  1. Mitty

    Mitty Vice Admiral Admiral

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    So I thought it might be fun to go through the episodes actually written by Moffat. Don't rate them, simply say if it was "Yay" or "Nay". I'm actually curious to see how many I don't like, and how many I do. There seems to be a pretty general concensus in fandom that it's time for him to go, which doesn't look like happening any time soon now.

    You can quote the below, and then add your "Yay" or "Nay". Note: He was Executive Producer on a lot of episodes as well, but I'm only including the ones he wrote. Of course your definition of "Yay" or "Nay" might be different to mine. EG I did like some bits of "Time of the Doctor" quite a lot, but overall I had to give it a "Nay". So I would request you consider your "overall" thoughts on the episode.

    The Empty Child
    The Doctor Dances
    The Girl in the Fire Place
    Blink
    Silence in the Library
    Forest of the Dead
    The Eleventh Hour
    The Beast Below
    The Time of Angels
    Flesh and Stone
    The Pandorica Opens
    The Big Bang
    A Christmas Carol
    The Impossible Astronaut
    Day of the Moon
    A Good Man Goes to War
    Let's Kill Hitler
    The Wedding of River Song
    The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
    Asylum of the Daleks
    The Angels take Manhattan
    The Snowmen
    The Bells of St John
    The Name of the Doctor
    The Night of the Doctor
    The Day of the Doctor
    The Time of the Doctor

    My ratings:
    Yay - The Empty Child
    Yay - The Doctor Dances
    Yay - The Girl in the Fire Place
    Yay - Blink
    Yay - Silence in the Library
    Yay - Forest of the Dead
    Yay - The Eleventh Hour
    Nay - The Beast Below
    Yay - The Time of Angels
    Yay - Flesh and Stone
    Yay - The Pandorica Opens
    Nay - The Big Bang
    Nay - A Christmas Carol
    Yay - The Impossible Astronaut
    Yay - Day of the Moon
    Yay - A Good Man Goes to War
    Yay - Let's Kill Hitler
    Nay - The Wedding of River Song
    Nay - The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
    Yay - Asylum of the Daleks
    Yay - The Angels take Manhattan
    Nay - The Snowmen
    Nay - The Bells of St John
    Nay - The Name of the Doctor
    YAY - The Night of the Doctor
    Yay - The Day of the Doctor
    Nay - The Time of the Doctor

    Wow... more yays than I thought!
     
  2. Professor Zoom

    Professor Zoom Admiral Admiral

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    Mostly yays for me.

    My nays:
    Wedding of River Song
    Angels Take Manhattan
    Time of the Doctor
    The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe.

    Oddly, three of them suffer from the same problem: poorly done wrapping up of a story.
     
  3. davejames

    davejames Vice Admiral Admiral

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    The only real Nays for me are Wedding of River Song and Time of the Doctor, which both had some cool ideas but unfortunately came off feeling like a bit of a mess.

    And yeah Beast Below was pretty lackluster visually, but the story itself I thought was really strong and a lot better than people give it credit for.

    And I'll never understand the criticism episodes like Asylum and Wardrobe get.
     
  4. BruntFCA

    BruntFCA Commander Red Shirt

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    Yay for me on all of them, in fact, "The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe" is the only one that I don't love though I still like it quite a bit.
     
  5. intrinsical

    intrinsical Commodore Commodore

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    Most of the episodes were straight forward yays. I had to pause and ponder on 5 episodes but I ultimately gave them yays as well.

    So the only episodes with nays are:
    Day of the Moon
    A Good Man Goes to War
    The Wedding of River Song
    The Bells of St John
    The Time of the Doctor
     
  6. Spocktapus

    Spocktapus Lieutenant Red Shirt

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    The only definite nays for me are
    -A Good Man Goes to War
    -The Wedding of River Song
    -The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe

    But I could really go either way with
    -Day of the Moon
    -Let's Kill Hitler
    -The Angels Take Manhattan
    -The Time of the Doctor

    Also, just to nitpick, if The Night of the Doctor is on the list, shouldn't Time Crash be on there too?
     
  7. Thestral

    Thestral Vice Admiral Admiral

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    All Yays for me. The closest to Nay is "The Wedding of River Song."
     
  8. C_Miller

    C_Miller Captain Captain

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    I think that Moffat is a far better writer than he is a show runner. Actually, I found the opposite to be true with RTD. But honestly since the show returned, I always found Moffat's scripts to be the best of the lot, especially in Seasons 1-5. But when it comes to Moffat crafting an ongoing plot through many stories (not just his own), that's where he loses me.
     
  9. Venardhi

    Venardhi Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I'll include a "meh" category for episodes that are neither great nor terrible.

    Yay - The Empty Child
    Yay - The Doctor Dances
    Yay - The Girl in the Fire Place
    Yay - Blink
    Yay - Silence in the Library
    Yay - Forest of the Dead
    Yay - The Eleventh Hour
    Nay - The Beast Below
    Meh - The Time of Angels
    Meh - Flesh and Stone
    Meh - The Pandorica Opens
    Meh - The Big Bang
    Yay - A Christmas Carol
    Yay - The Impossible Astronaut
    Yay - Day of the Moon
    Yay - A Good Man Goes to War
    Nay - Let's Kill Hitler
    Nay - The Wedding of River Song
    Meh - The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
    Yay - Asylum of the Daleks
    Meh - The Angels take Manhattan
    Meh - The Snowmen
    Meh - The Bells of St John
    Meh - The Name of the Doctor
    Yay - The Night of the Doctor
    Yay - The Day of the Doctor
    Nay - The Time of the Doctor
     
  10. The Mirrorball Man

    The Mirrorball Man Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I enjoyed most of these stories. I don't think it's time for Moffat to go and I wouldn't say that there is any kind of "consensus" about that.
     
  11. Anachronus

    Anachronus Commodore Commodore

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    My thoughts exactly. :techman:
     
  12. Lonemagpie

    Lonemagpie Writer Admiral

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    Yorkshire
    I'm gonna add a "Meh" for middling between the yay and nay...

    The Empty Child - Yay
    The Doctor Dances - Yay
    The Girl in the Fire Place - Yay
    Blink - Yay
    Silence in the Library - Yay
    Forest of the Dead - Yay
    The Eleventh Hour - Yay
    The Beast Below - Yay
    The Time of Angels - Yay
    Flesh and Stone - Yay
    The Pandorica Opens - Yay
    The Big Bang - Yay
    A Christmas Carol - Yay
    The Impossible Astronaut - Meh
    Day of the Moon - Meh
    A Good Man Goes to War - Meh
    Let's Kill Hitler - Nay
    The Wedding of River Song - Meh
    The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe - Fuck, Nay!
    Asylum of the Daleks - Yay
    The Angels take Manhattan - Meh
    The Snowmen - Meh
    The Bells of St John - Yay
    The Name of the Doctor - Yay
    The Night of the Doctor - Meh
    The Day of the Doctor - Ultra-Yay
    The Time of the Doctor - Fuck, Nay!

    So, basically, Yays all the way up through the season 5, and after that he's all over the fucking map...
     
  13. Mr Awe

    Mr Awe Vice Admiral Admiral

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    No, there's not a consensus on that. Fandom is split. Some do enjoy his work but others do think it's time for him to go. But, no consensus.

    The Empty Child - Yay
    The Doctor Dances - Yay
    The Girl in the Fire Place - Yay
    Blink - Yay
    Silence in the Library - Yay
    Forest of the Dead - Yay
    The Eleventh Hour - Yay
    The Beast Below - Yay
    The Time of Angels - Yay
    Flesh and Stone - Yay
    The Pandorica Opens - Yay
    The Big Bang - Yay
    A Christmas Carol - Nay
    The Impossible Astronaut - Yay
    Day of the Moon - Yay
    A Good Man Goes to War - Yay
    Let's Kill Hitler - Nay
    The Wedding of River Song - Nay
    The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe - Nay
    Asylum of the Daleks - Nay
    The Angels take Manhattan - Nay
    The Snowmen - Nay
    The Bells of St John - Yay
    The Name of the Doctor - Nay
    The Night of the Doctor - Yay
    The Day of the Doctor - Yay
    The Time of the Doctor - Nay

    18 Yays and 9 Nays. However, the Nays are increasing in frequency as time passes. Some of the Nays are more Mehs though. Not downright awful but mediocre.

    Mr Awe
     
  14. davejames

    davejames Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Perhaps, but if he wasn't the showrunner it's doubtful he would have been writing as many episodes as he has, so personally I think it's worth whatever other issues there might be.

    For me the main problem is just that his stories are usually so clever and ambitious that it kinda makes the other ones feel a bit flat and routine in comparison. Especially when most of the time they just consist of a monster chasing the Doctor and his companions around (yawn) yet another hotel/castle/boat/spaceship.
     
  15. Emperor-Tiberius

    Emperor-Tiberius Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Well, here's my nay:

    The Beast Below - The first really underwhelming episode of his.
    The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon - Well, its certainly entertaining, and the Silence's first appearence is great... but the story is way too whimsical for its own good.
    A Good Man Goes to War - And here's where the shit hit the fan... River Song is, as it seems, Amy and Rory's kid... COME ON!
    Let's Kill Hitler - And not only that, she grew up WITH THEM, while they were all KIDS!!! And, as it seems, she's a "kid of the TARDIS", meaning regeneration capabilities.... What the fuck? How does that work?!
    The Wedding of River Song - So-so, but ultimately extraordinarily dissapointing.
    Asylum of the Daleks - Visally splendid, and the Clara mystery is neatly nested, but... The Rory-Amy seperation just simply makes no bleedin' sense.
    The Angels take Manhattan - I love it, but its a nay because it doesn't make sense. Like, almost at all. I mean... a huge Weeping Angel? In New York City? Good luck explaining that away.

    I kudos to Spocktatus for pointing out that Time Crash should be in the list, too - of his shorts, only that and Night of the Doctor are of real value (though the prequel to the 2011 Christmas Special is the most essential, so much so that it should've been in the episode itself), and can be semi-considered as stand-alone stories themselves. They're both that good.

    And honestly, I do think Moffat has to go. I do wish he'll keep writing for the show, unlike RTD (who I hope will eventually write an episode of Capaldi, during that one's run), but as a showrunner, the show is a lot more... whimsical, for lack of a better word right now, and as a result, the series does feel fairytale-like, but at its own expense: The monsters can only be so scary and the villains so intimidating at such a stage. I honestly hope Capaldi's run will feel and be ostensibly different from Smith's, certainly on the tone of the show overally.
     
  16. MickJo1701

    MickJo1701 Commander Red Shirt

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    The only episodes I have beef with are The Beast Below (meh) and The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (nay).
     
  17. Relayer1

    Relayer1 Admiral Admiral

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    Let's face it, Moff's written most of the best episodes, including the three very best - Girl In The Fireplace, Blink and Empty Child.

    Whereas RTD wrote most of the awful ones...
     
    Last edited: Jan 14, 2014
  18. Candlelight

    Candlelight Admiral Admiral

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    His only good ones were:

    The Girl in the Fire Place
    Blink
    The Eleventh Hour
    The Day of the Doctor (bits of it)

    The rest were below par, and yes, it's time for him to move on. Or bring back RTD.
     
  19. RoJoHen

    RoJoHen Awesome Admiral

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    Yay on every single one, though I admit it sometimes took a second viewing to accomplish that. It's funny; many of Moffat's episodes I did not enjoy the first time through, but upon rewatch they have become my favorites.
     
  20. Count Zero

    Count Zero No nation but procrastination Moderator

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    I'll have to rewatch the later ones from season 5 to 7 before I can pass judgement. I only vaguely remember some of them.