Steven Moffat Talks About The "Raw", "New Direction" For The Series

[DWF]

Steven Moffat has revealed that the next series of Doctor Who will see the tone of the show change from recent years.

The showrunner told Nerd³: "If Russell [T Davies] had stayed on, [the show] would still have changed. I remember when we had our handover chat, he was saying ‘so what are you going to do, are you going to change that?’ and I said ‘well, what would you change?’ and we both agreed ‘it’s time to kick a lot of stuff out’. And actually, it is time again to do that."

He added: "I just felt watching last time around [Series 7] that ‘oh, it’s time we fixed that and changed that and moved that up a bit and changed that tone’."

Matt Smith departed the show on Christmas Day in 'The Time of the Doctor', which wrapped up the majority of the Moffat era's plotlines so far.

Moffat explained: "It changes all the time, and it’s keeping ahead of the audience in a way. All shows age and they all age sort of in the same way. You learn how to do it, you get really slick at it, and then you think you’re really, really slick at it and everyone’s started to yawn. And you think ‘oh God, we’re really slick at this but everyone knows what we’re going to do’."

He teased: "So now we’ve got to actually get a bit raw at it and do it in a different direction. It happens on every show – you get good at it and ‘good at it’ is the enemy in the end."

Series 8 begins filming next month and is expected to start airing on BBC One in August 2014.
​

http://www.cultbox.co.uk/news/headli...wRE7rw.twitter

 

[tomalak301]

Re: Steven Moffat Talks About The "Raw", "New Direction" For The Serie

I hope the series goes into a new direction. Like RTD or not, at least his stories were easy to follow. In the Moffat Era, we've had 3 seasons of this over arcing narrative which was hard to follow and the long breaks didn't help. There was some good material in the last few years, but most of it was a mess.

It actually reminds me of Farscape's 4th season, where we went from various episodic storytelling and getting the crew back together to Wormholes and Unrealized Realities. I wonder if going back to watch the Moffat seasons in a short time span will help make sense of everything. It sure did watching Farscape, even though I still consider it the weakest of the four seasons.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Re: Steven Moffat Talks About The "Raw", "New Direction" For The Serie

I do think that it's time for the show to go in a different direction (or have a new attitude) and having a different kind of Doctor will go a long way towards that, IMO. I'd also like to see less multi-episode stories about some big impending doom for the Doctor. Now that he's got a brand-new lease on life, the show should reflect that as well.

On a separate note, with filming start to begin next month, we're probably only weeks away from seeing the new Doctor's costume.

 

[Ubik]

Re: Steven Moffat Talks About The "Raw", "New Direction" For The Serie

Changing tone and attitude and approach sounds like an awesome idea. There are so many things about the entire run of Matt Smith's tenure that I couldn't stand (none of which were particularly Matt Smith's fault, mind you), but the whole fairy-tale-Mad-Hatter-childish-nonsense approach got really old for me, really fast. And having the whole universe, and the companions, and the show, constantly telling us how fabulous the Doctor is also got really old, really fast. This hero-worship of the Doctor makes the whole show feel like fan-fiction. The condescending fairy tale approach was smug and unconvincing.

I want my science fiction show back. I want the main character to be an adult (the man is over 1000 years old, after all), and a scientist, and I want the more adult tone of the show when it's at its best.

I also want the strong 3-dimensional female characters back that Russell Davies brought to the show. Rose and Donna (and to a lesser extent Martha) brought the show forward into the 21st century in terms of female characterization, and then Moffat came around and turned the women into girls, and dressed them up like they're 16 years old, and made them hero-worship the Doctor, and be his saviour, and be his mystery girl, and overall be anything but fully-realized, complex adult female characters.

Anyway, there's plenty of room for change and improvement, and I hope Moffat realizes some of the mistakes he made and changes them in the next year.

 

[RoJoHen]

Re: Steven Moffat Talks About The "Raw", "New Direction" For The Serie

I wonder if going back to watch the Moffat seasons in a short time span will help make sense of everything. It sure did watching Farscape, even though I still consider it the weakest of the four seasons.

I think this is one of the reasons I actually do enjoy the Moffat seasons so much. I've watched them multiple times in very short time frames on DVD and Netflix. Even commercial breaks are enough to ruin the flow of an episode for me these days. I can't even imagine watching these shows week-to-week.

This is why I really want to rewatch the Christmas special without commercial interruptions. I feel like it will make a lot more sense that way.

 

[Christopher]

Re: Steven Moffat Talks About The "Raw", "New Direction" For The Serie

Ooh, "‘good at it’ is the enemy in the end." I like that.

I'm wondering if the new Doctor's evident memory loss is more than the kind of post-regenerative temporary amnesia we've seen before. Maybe he's been reset into a character who's got a lot to relearn -- more like Hartnell, who was just discovering all these new things like Daleks and Cybermen, rather than being this cosmic know-it-all who'd been everywhere and done everything. Still as ingenious and creative at solving problems as ever, but having to figure it out as he goes like the early Doctors did. Maybe that's what Moffat means by "raw": going back to basics and having the Doctor start over, in a way.

It would also be interesting if he's permanently forgotten how to navigate the TARDIS, putting things back to the way they were in the '60s where his wandering was pretty much random -- and his companions were stuck with him rather than being able to commute back home.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Re: Steven Moffat Talks About The "Raw", "New Direction" For The Serie

I wish I didn't feel like this is all just a dry intellectual exercise for Moffat, that outguessing the viewer is the endgame in and of itself.

 

[RoJoHen]

Re: Steven Moffat Talks About The "Raw", "New Direction" For The Serie

I'll agree with that. If you move too far ahead, the audience is just bound to get lost. There is something to be said for taking your time and making sure all the pieces make sense before moving on.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Re: Steven Moffat Talks About The "Raw", "New Direction" For The Serie

It changes tone with every change of Doctor - this isn't news, just empty waffle.

 

[SG-17]

Re: Steven Moffat Talks About The "Raw", "New Direction" For The Serie

Hopefully Moffat stops treating women as set-pieces. "The Impossible Girl", "The Girl Who Waited", "The Girl in the Fireplace".

 

[Green Lantern]

Re: Steven Moffat Talks About The "Raw", "New Direction" For The Serie

I'd like them to mainly go back to the more "monster/villain of the week" thing that the RTD and the classic series had instead of this more "overarching" cameo thing Moffat has going on.

As for tone, I want to take a darker route. Matt Smith was quite jolly and light as far as doctors go (he's certainly the lightest of the new series doctors), I'd like a contrast to that with Capaldi. He's older and been stuck on Trenzalore/Christmas for about 500 fucking years, he must be a bit pissed off. At least have a new gag that the doctor hates Christmas.

 

[Leonardo T. Dragon]

Re: Steven Moffat Talks About The "Raw", "New Direction" For The Serie

I'll agree with that. If you move too far ahead, the audience is just bound to get lost. There is something to be said for taking your time and making sure all the pieces make sense before moving on.

This summarizes my thoughts on "Showrunner Moffat" entirely!

"Episode Writer Moffat" produced some of my favorite episodes of nuWho. He wrote interesting and engaging installments in the saga of the series that were just fun to watch and had all sorts of unexpected twists.

"Showrunner Moffat" is almost like M. Night Shyamalan on speed. He's so obsessed with "out-thinking his audience" that he produces story arcs so contrived that they only make sense after multiple repeated viewings of the DVD's and countless visits to online forums. The whole "Church of Silence" bit? Ridiculous and ill-explained aside from countless bits of throwaway exposition.

Here's a new direction for the series-- good story telling that isn't all about the Doctor's life. Seriously-- the classic series was about the Doctor traveling the whole of time and space and stumbling into all sorts of situations in which he was the catalyst of change. It wasn't about convoluted sagas centered on "Doctor Who?" or "Who is River Song?" Instead, the Doctor brought hope and change wherever he went.

I'm also hoping that we can get away from the fan-service of having the Doctor as a near-Messianic figure whose enemies run from the mere mention of his name. When your main character is treated like he's God, what else is there to do?

I started watching Doctor Who with the Tom Baker era-- those days when Robert Holmes penned some of the series better episodes. I'd love to see nuWho take on more of that kind of feel instead of being the soap opera "As the TARDIS Turns..."

Of course, I'm probably in the minority as most folks seem to love Moffat's run.

 

[Thestral]

Re: Steven Moffat Talks About The "Raw", "New Direction" For The Serie

And having the whole universe, and the companions, and the show, constantly telling us how fabulous the Doctor is also got really old, really fast. This hero-worship of the Doctor makes the whole show feel like fan-fiction. The condescending fairy tale approach was smug and unconvincing.

I'm also hoping that we can get away from the fan-service of having the Doctor as a near-Messianic figure whose enemies run from the mere mention of his name. When your main character is treated like he's God, what else is there to do?

Tell me again which Doctor saved the world by having the companion instruct all humanity to pray in his name? Or was carried by angels out of a raging inferno to save the Earth? Or once said to the Daleks: "Yeah [I don't have a plan]. And doesn't that just terrify you?" Or was once described as "...ancient and forever... he burns at the center of time and he can see the turn of the universe... and... he's wonderful"? Or whose sobriquets included "the Oncoming Storm," "the Lonely God" and "Timelord Victorious?"

This has been going on since 2005, at least.

 

[DWF]

Re: Steven Moffat Talks About The "Raw", "New Direction" For The Serie

Ooh, "‘good at it’ is the enemy in the end." I like that.

I'm wondering if the new Doctor's evident memory loss is more than the kind of post-regenerative temporary amnesia we've seen before.

You forget that Capaldi was seen in the anniversary special and he did seem to know to pilot the TARDIS, so I'd say it's only temporary.

 

[RoJoHen]

Re: Steven Moffat Talks About The "Raw", "New Direction" For The Serie

Ooh, "‘good at it’ is the enemy in the end." I like that.

I'm wondering if the new Doctor's evident memory loss is more than the kind of post-regenerative temporary amnesia we've seen before.

You forget that Capaldi was seen in the anniversary special and he did seem to know to pilot the TARDIS, so I'd say it's only temporary.

Well, considering Smith's Doctor lived for like 900 years, "temporary" is relative.

 

[RoJoHen]

Re: Steven Moffat Talks About The "Raw", "New Direction" For The Serie

"Showrunner Moffat" is almost like M. Night Shyamalan on speed. He's so obsessed with "out-thinking his audience" that he produces story arcs so contrived that they only make sense after multiple repeated viewings of the DVD's and countless visits to online forums. The whole "Church of Silence" bit? Ridiculous and ill-explained aside from countless bits of throwaway exposition.

And you know what? I love Moffat's run of Who, but I think the only reason I do is because I've watched it multiple times and actually took the time to put pieces together. Most people don't do that. I completely understand the Silence storyline, but I definitely wouldn't if I only watched the show once on TV. I've had several years to think about it, plus lots of participation in conversations here to figure out what was happening.

At the end of "The Big Bang," we were left with the question, "Who destroyed the TARDIS?" That episode aired 3 years ago, and that mystery was never mentioned again. Those of who actually cared probably came up with our own fan theories. Most people probably forgot all about it or just accepted it as a plot hole.

The explanation we finally got, three years later, was a throwaway line about a random alien spaceship that did a fly-by shooting of the TARDIS. How lame! I'd rather be left with no explanation than a boring explanation.

At this point, the convoluted explanations actually more sense. As much as some fans hate it, "River did it" would have been a more logical answer to the question, "Who blew up the TARDIS?" While she was flying it around, she subconsciously set off the self-destruct as a result of her Silence programming. Boom. Done.

 

[DWF]

Re: Steven Moffat Talks About The "Raw", "New Direction" For The Serie

Ooh, "‘good at it’ is the enemy in the end." I like that.

I'm wondering if the new Doctor's evident memory loss is more than the kind of post-regenerative temporary amnesia we've seen before.

You forget that Capaldi was seen in the anniversary special and he did seem to know to pilot the TARDIS, so I'd say it's only temporary.

Well, considering Smith's Doctor lived for like 900 years, "temporary" is relative.

Post regeneraton ammesia is a fairly common thing and always temporary.

 

[Tulin]

Re: Steven Moffat Talks About The "Raw", "New Direction" For The Serie

Of course, I'm probably in the minority as most folks seem to love Moffat's run.

Nope.

Even though "Blink" is one of my favourite episodes of almost ANY SF show, Moffat's run basically killed DW for me.

Stopped watching a couple of years back as I COULD NOT stand the fan-wankery writing that was up its own arse.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Re: Steven Moffat Talks About The "Raw", "New Direction" For The Serie

I'm wondering if the new Doctor's evident memory loss is more than the kind of post-regenerative temporary amnesia we've seen before. Maybe he's been reset into a character who's got a lot to relearn -- more like Hartnell, who was just discovering all these new things like Daleks and Cybermen, rather than being this cosmic know-it-all who'd been everywhere and done everything. Still as ingenious and creative at solving problems as ever, but having to figure it out as he goes like the early Doctors did. Maybe that's what Moffat means by "raw": going back to basics and having the Doctor start over, in a way.

It would also be interesting if he's permanently forgotten how to navigate the TARDIS, putting things back to the way they were in the '60s where his wandering was pretty much random -- and his companions were stuck with him rather than being able to commute back home.

The novels did amnesia-Doctor with Paul McGann. He still knew how to do some of the usual Doctor-y things but only subsconsciously. Like, in "EarthWorld," he can only use the sonic screwdriver if he's not thinking about it while he's doing it.

I would definately like a return to the more random wandering of the classic series. He spent way too much time doing constant drop offs & pick ups with Clara, as well as with Amy & Rory towards the end.

You forget that Capaldi was seen in the anniversary special and he did seem to know to pilot the TARDIS, so I'd say it's only temporary.

Well, we have no idea where that scene in "Day of the Doctor" fits within Capaldi's timeline yet. It could be well towards the end of his run for all we know.

 

[Christopher]

Re: Steven Moffat Talks About The "Raw", "New Direction" For The Serie

As for tone, I want to take a darker route. Matt Smith was quite jolly and light as far as doctors go (he's certainly the lightest of the new series doctors), I'd like a contrast to that with Capaldi. He's older and been stuck on Trenzalore/Christmas for about 500 fucking years, he must be a bit pissed off. At least have a new gag that the doctor hates Christmas.

I don't see that happening. I think the Doctor's arc in this final episode was all about acceptance. He knew that Trenzalore would be where he met his end, and he was okay with that. He didn't rail against it and fight it like his predecessor did. He didn't try to extend his life; it was Clara who convinced the Time Lords to give him that. And when the time came to regenerate again, his final speech was all about accepting change and being okay with things not being the same anymore.

So if each Doctor's personality is influenced by the events of his previous life -- and it's been very well argued that it is -- then I really don't see this new Doctor being angry or bitter over past business. All the past business got resolved to the Doctor's satisfaction -- except for actually recovering Gallifrey -- and now he's able to start over with a psychologically clean slate.

I think a lot of people are assuming Capaldi will go dark because that's what he did in his most famous role. But I think it's the other way around: Capaldi will have to distance himself from that famous role so that people will see him as the Doctor instead of Malcolm Tucker. Or Torchwood's John Frobisher, who also went very dark. I think this Doctor may well be lighter, more of an innocent, by contrast with those roles. That's the impression I got from his brief debut scene this week as well; he came off as a quirky figure with a tenatative and polite speech pattern ("Just one question: Would you happen to know how to fly this thing?"), not unlike Patrick Troughton. Granted, Smith was trying to be Troughtonesque, but I never really got that sense from him because he was so bombastic and cocky. So far, the Twelfth Doctor reminds me more of Troughton than Smith ever did. Although I freely admit I have an inadequately tiny sample to go by.