Steven Moffat reveals the one thing he’d do differently if he was in charge of Doctor Who again

[ATimson]

Maybe someday he'll come back and write another episode (maybe Davies, too), but it won't be anytime soon.

Davies said "no" but has ended up flirting with it a couple of times - first trying to write a graphic novel (although BBC Books wasn't interested), and now working with Big Finish. (They've made lots of mention of his involvement with Torchwood, but he's got at least some involvement with other New Series stuff too; they mention in the behind-the-scenes of the War Master set that they'd discussed the concept with him.) I even thought that he was going to write an episode for series 9 or 10 but the scheduling didn't work?

It'll be interesting if Moffat goes down a similar route, given his prior "experience" with Big Finish...

 

[The Wormhole]

I even thought that he was going to write an episode for series 9 or 10 but the scheduling didn't work?

That definitely was never going to happen. Moffat invited him back for every season, but RTD always turned down the invitation. I think it was prior to season 9 that Moffat made this public, which I guess could have caused some confusion.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

I'd love it if Davies ends up writing this arc that goes across Doctors, like three seperate Doctors stories, sharing the villain and world. Kinda like what they do with the Main Range, but with 8, 12 and whichever other Doctor RTD hasn't written for but could for this occasion.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Davies said "no" but has ended up flirting with it a couple of times - first trying to write a graphic novel (although BBC Books wasn't interested),

As I understand it from sources within the industry, the two Dalek graphic novels (The Dalek Project and The Only Good Dalek) didn't sell as well as hoped, and Davies' involvement wasn't likely to move the needle any, so they passed on the project.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Davies said "no" but has ended up flirting with it a couple of times - first trying to write a graphic novel (although BBC Books wasn't interested), and now working with Big Finish. (They've made lots of mention of his involvement with Torchwood, but he's got at least some involvement with other New Series stuff too; they mention in the behind-the-scenes of the War Master set that they'd discussed the concept with him.) I even thought that he was going to write an episode for series 9 or 10 but the scheduling didn't work?

I'm happy that Davies is working with Big Finish now, even if I wasn't the biggest fan of his showrunning at the time. I don't blame him for staying away from the show, but hopefully over time, he'll give it another go.

It'll be interesting if Moffat goes down a similar route, given his prior "experience" with Big Finish...

Yeah. I'm still surprised how quickly he spurred Big Finish in its early days, but considering he's written at least one episode that's acknowledged their work, perhaps he's had a change of heart. I would be very interested to see what kind of stories he might write for the audio format.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

I'd love to see him write for Six and Seven. That'd complete the set, for him, really. All the Doctors from 5 til 12.

 

[Butters]

Two things of Moffat's I would buy if they ever came about are a definitive River’s diary. I’d account for three sales of that, maybe four. And his writers notes, if he came to publish them, honestly. What his original thinking was at the time of each episode, and which ideas he diverted to Sherlock.

The cheque is written Steve, get em published!

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Yeah, I would be very interested in reading his version of The Writer's Tale. I never bothered with Davies' but I would read Moffat's in a heartbeat.

I could go either way with a River's diary. We're already getting that in some form (really, just new stories) with Big Finish.

 

[The Wormhole]

Yeah. I'm still surprised how quickly he spurred Big Finish in its early days, but considering he's written at least one episode that's acknowledged their work, perhaps he's had a change of heart.

I always assumed having Paul McGann mentioning his Big Finish companions was done mostly for McGann's benefit. If he's going to be reciting names of the various companions this Doctor has had, they might as well be names that mean something to McGann himself.

 

[Starkers]

Who knows maybe the 60th anniversary season will feature stories by RTD, Moffat and Chibnall (abd possibly the new showrunner by then?)

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I always assumed having Paul McGann mentioning his Big Finish companions was done mostly for McGann's benefit. If he's going to be reciting names of the various companions this Doctor has had, they might as well be names that mean something to McGann himself.

Perhaps so, but it's not like The Eighth Doctor had to recite some of his companions' names. I like to think Moffat deliberately included as a tribute to the Big Finish era for McGann.

Who knows maybe the 60th anniversary season will feature stories by RTD, Moffat and Chibnall (abd possibly the new showrunner by then?)

That would be quite lovely.

 

[Jedman67]

For all of Moffat's faults, and I'll admit he had his fair share (but I don't necessarily agree with the number or the extremeness), he did give me my third favorite Doctor (Eleventh) and two of my favorite companions ever (Amy and Rory). His tenure produced some of the best individual stories ever (at least since the show returned) such as "The Doctor's Wife," "The God Complex," "The Girl Who Waited," "Vincent and the Doctor," "A Christmas Carol," and "Last Christmas" (among many others and your mileage may vary). His biggest problem was his story arcs.

Honestly, I kind of hope Chris Chibnall avoids story arcs for the most part. Of course, there should be character arcs for The Doctor and her companions, but do we really need these great sweeping story arcs that both Davies and Moffat gave us? Less is more and I would love to see the show go back to "simpler" times of the classic run (aside from the Cartmel Master Plan).



I completely agree about those of episodes, and if I squint just right, I'm able to pretend those are their actual exit episodes. Also helps that not only were those two episodes great exits for those companions, but they were great stories unto themselves. It's a shame Moffat doesn't know how to let go because that really hurts his writing. Same thing has happened for Bill twofold: Not only not allowing her to keep her tragic ending as a Cyberwoman, but after she was magically fixed from that state, she''s going to return for "Twice Upon a Time." Granted, Davies had the same problem (aside from Donna).

I really liked S5, and most of 6. After that it started to get tiring for me. For Capaldi, I only watched Series 8 and parts of 9; I just got tired of Doctor Who and stopped watching except for the specials. To be fair, i thought that RTD went a bit heavy-handed with The End Of Time; nonetheless some of his episodes were absolutely fantastic.

Prior to becoming showrunner, Moffat wrote some great episodes for the series (The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, Blink, Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead). Does anyone think he could (or would want to) return to write an episode or two in the future for a new Doctor, or is he done like RTD?

Moffat's biggest weakness was in Arcs and Not Letting Characters Go. Theres certainly something to be said for subtlety.
I do hope both SM and RTD show up as guest writers for Chibnall; as stand alone writers they were both quite good.

 

[MNM]

Just to be clear, I don't think that Moffat should be free of criticism. But, there's a difference between criticism and slagging on someone for "destroying" your favorite show. Name calling and tantrums are no criticism.

On the other hand, dismissing peoples criticisms as "name calling and tantrums" doesnt help either. Its a classic way to try and shut down discussion.

 

[Professor Zoom]

On the other hand, dismissing peoples criticisms as "name calling and tantrums" doesnt help either. Its a classic way to try and shut down discussion.

When it IS name calling and tantrums, why should I take it seriously? Why does someone have to resort to a tantrum to make a point?

What point is there when it’s “Moffat is the WORST, he’s stoopid, I’m only hate watching now!!”

What should I take seriously from something like that?

 

[Qonundrum]

Well I'm not too familiar with Chibnall's work in a non-traditional setting apart from his few Doctor Who episodes, and the broadchurch series. My issue with Moffat was always his adamant and smug stance that nothing he did in the series was a mistake. The man thinks way too highly of himself, and any fans who disagreed with his "vision" were idiots. Like it or not, he's brought a lot of the criticism on himself too. In a perfect world in sure we could say "it's all those people." but reality is there are always two sides to every story. Moffat just gets to write his own unopposed by being a celebrity. Fandom consensus or detractors don't matter, when the winner is writing his own history. However, Moffat should remember JNT..

Frankly, I don't blame him one damn bit. Fans have been vicious about him and to him (he quit Twitter and stopped visiting GallifreyBase for that very reason), worse than what Davies experienced and he was regularly roasted, too. Unfortunately, as much as I hate it and despite how much I wish this wasn't the case, the vitoriol comes with the job, especially this job.

Worse, a fair number of fans (including here) already have preexisting hatred for Chris Chibnall, so it's not going to get any better, no matter what he does. Hopefully he takes Moffat's advice and remain in the background as much as he can.

Speaking of roasting, you'll love this:

Steven (Moffat): How could you? I'm talking retrospectively now, when I look back at Doctor Who now. I laugh at it, fondly. As a television professional, I think how did these guys get a paycheck every week? Dear god, it's bad! Nothing I've seen of the black and white stuff - with the exception of the pilot, the first episode - should have got out of the building. They should have been clubbing those guys to death! You've got an old guy in the lead who can't remember his lines; you've got Patrick Troughton, who was a good actor, but his companions - how did they get their Equity card? Explain that! They're unimaginably bad. Once you get to the colour stuff some of it's watchable, but it's laughable. Mostly now, looking back, I'm startled by it. Given that it's a children's show, and a teatime show, I think the Peter Davison stuff is well constructed, the characters are consistent...

http://doctorwho.org.nz/archive/tsv43/onediscussion.html

When the professionals get as vicious as us dilettantes, forgetting they can do what the critics can't - which is they get to make the stuff and people will find plot holes and everything else (or even enjoy the stories as a whole because plot holes are ubiquitous and omnipresent), and I won't deny I've had my own share of getting blunt - though I've been gobsmacked by others who redefine "blunt" to a far lower level... at least they're not doing the "Oh everything was candy and incense when we were together, it was so perfect and shiny and happy" garish stuff readily found on the modern series home video releases' extras. But the resources back then were far inferior; the fact anything could be made and be well-received is a testament. But Moffat surely does know the pilot was re-made due to numerous production/stage issues cobbling the episode? ...

Or Moffat is trolling and/or lying - like he's never done that before along with everybody else? (He's a showrunner who also has to redirect the audience if they accurately predict what's going on, I suppose.)

80s companions are consistent - they're also not being developed, which is one the more pronounced flaws of JNT's era and companion actors have largely all said the same thing, they were stick figures or "personalities". I agree in that Davison's era is largely well-constructed, but it did put characters aside for the sake of the plot.

But JNT did get the show in a harder sci-fi direction, with occasional mysticism. Moffat used more mysticism fantasy with occasional sci-fi. That's all up to the individual's taste. Some probably think "Kill the Moon" and "The Forest of the Night" are the best-ever masterpieces. Others think those are fluffy bunny nonsense. Some find bits to both like and dislike.

 

[Mr Soak]

One thing that came to annoy me during Moffat's run was his repeated callbacks of a few phrases. "You've redecorated/I don't like" it for one. It was used once (as far as I know) in the original 26 seasons and Moffat used it at least twice.

"You may be a doctor, but I am the Doctor" as spoken by a newly regenerated Fourth Doctor in Robot, repeated by the First Doctor in the recent stories. The First Doctor continues, going on to say "the original you might say," as also spoken by the also-recast First Doctor in The Five Doctors, which itself was a rewording of the Fourth Doctor's continuation of "the definite article, you might say".

I think the most obvious lifting of a phrase is the Tenth's "I don't want to go." It's fine as last words before regeneration, but the way it's said in Day of the Doctor, it is so blatantly a callback, it's eyeroll-inducing.

It's as if Moffat can't come up with classic lines all by himself.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Actually, the First Doctor introduced himself as "the original, you may say" in very much the same way in The Five Doctors.

And I don't mind these callbacks in the multi-Doctor stories. They're all the same person. Of course he's gonna repeat himself, especially if that incarnation happens to forget it afterwards.

 

[Mr Soak]

Actually, the First Doctor introduced himself as "the original, you may say" in very much the same way in The Five Doctors.

Close enough to not make a difference.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Plus, I think with Ten he had him say "I don't want to go" as a jab to RTD and Ten, really. Moffat knows how controversial the line was and is and he probably, in a way, trolled fans with putting it there.

 

[Photoman15]

No, I think Moffat just thinks some lines are funny ("Doctor? Doctor Who?") and will use any chance he gets to throw them in. Personally I think it was funny when 10 said it about going to Trenzalore. One of the few times a throw back like that worked.