Doctor Who -- Moffat's view of the Doctor

[chloris]

I have now seen the Doctor Who Christmas special! \o/ It'll be good to be able to read everyone's discussions about it now. Not that I was fussed about spoilers but I didn't want preconceived notions in my head as I watched

Comments

[kilodalton]

This is a common refrain I've heard. And it's sad =( I really dislike it too, but I'm sticking with it if for no other reason than to be up-to-date with canon for when a new writer takes over.

That, and I make icons. Hard to make icons if I don't watch the eps for screen grabs XD

[kilodalton]

Really? I know a lot of people who love Eleven and Moffat. (And that's a wonderful thing!!)

I think it might be community-specific - birds of a feather and all. Most of the people I am friends with (online and rl) are big Ten fans, and like RTD's character-driven style more than Moffat's idea-driven style. Then again ... birds of a feather, so YMMV XD

My husband for one LOVES Eleven, but he's kind of "mehhh" on Moffat. On first viewing, he loved s5, then he got the DVD set to rewatch it ... and got bored halfway through and decided not to rewatch the rest because it was dragging.

[papilio_luna]

For me a better term for Moffat's style would be "concept-driven." He likes to latch on to a speculative "what if" sort of concept and run with it. The characters are just kind of there to react to the concept and help reveal it to the viewer. So, he's idea-driven in a sort of impersonal way, but not idea-driven in a philosophical "here is what I feel about the human condition" sort of way. It's more like "here is what I feel about how weird it would be if you met someone backwards."

Pretty much all of Moffat's writing leaves me cold. I intellectually understand why people like it, but nothing he's done has ever really been able to interest me. And a lot of the time it actively kind of makes me want to go take a shower afterwards for some reason. It feels cynical to me. I know a big feature of his era of Doctor who is "fairy tales" but in my eyes it just feels cynical and cold and lacking heart. I feel like I must be lacking the Moffat-gene.

[kilodalton]

Concept-driven ... I like that. (I'm the one who said idea-driven ... but I didn't really like that term, but it sounded better than plot-driven, which I don't think is true bc I think his plots are weak).

Concept-driven though ... I think I might borrow that if you don't mind! =)

[kilodalton]

I don't want to be critical of Moffat, but...I don't understand why people think his work is "idea-driven" - his plots are often clever, yes, but I don't see any interesting ideas in them - any at all. RTD's writing has a LOT more philosophical depth, IMHO...

Oh I completely agree with you. I only said "idea-driven" for lack of a better term (still looking for the perfect phrase, although I think the previous poster's term "concept driven" might fit the bill!) ... he seems to get a little lightbulb going off in his head about a script idea, and then he writes based upon that inspiration (without confirming that the plot makes sense or that the script is right for the characters). I really didn't want to say "plot-driven," because I think his plots are nonsensical and a lot of the climactic plot twists make the Doctor look like a complete moron, not the smartest man in the universe. Like

[chloris]

I think that their styles are so diametrically opposed that it's hard to be a big fan of both. It's been a big adjustment for me and I was predisposed to be happy with Eleven. We were so close to Ten that I've gotten some whiplash when we shifted to the distant view of Eleven. I get the feeling that we're never to going to really understand Eleven or his particular motivations because that's not something that interests Moffat.

[ravenskyewalker]

(Here via who_daily...)

Iiiinteresting. Whereas, I'm a DW fan dating back to 1981, and got terribly tired of the wild emotion in RTD's era. It just struck me as often inappropriate. I didn't need to be told that, in all the universe, the Doctor's "soul mate" was a teenage human girl. Oh well, doesn't matter, except that I stalled in my Tenth Doctor DVD-watching and had to force myself to get back and finish it up.

Eleventh Doctor, I like. Moffat's not perfect, hardly, but his DW is something I actually like again and am willing to watch, despite its missteps... so far. Hope it lasts. Might not. *shrug* We'll see.

[chloris]

I personally loved the emotion of the RTD era. (And loved the Doctor's relationship with Rose though I think his soul mate is the Master which was made quite clear once again in EoT. *g*)

But, like anything, you can only take so much tragedy before you are ready for breather. So, even though it's jarring since it's so different, I think the more distant and opaque feel of this era is a nice change of pace. It doesn't move me like RTD's era did but that's okay, not everything has to.

[chloris]

Hey, if it's not working for you, no reason to continue! There are 4+ years of RTD Doctor Who for you to pull apart and think about, and, who knows, you might become of a fan of one of the earlier eras.

I'm still enjoying the series. Not as much as I was previously but I do like it! What I find most interesting is how many professional critics vastly prefer Moffat's Who to RTD's. The opinions of regular fans is definitely more mixed.