(A wee bit late) The Girl in the Fireplace and why I dislike it...

[shinyopals]

I've been thinking about GitF a fair amount recently, trying to work out which bits bug me.

Unfortunately, I'm pretty much at the stage where most of it bugs me. It just doesn't work for me, as an episode. I am one of those people that likes the lack of emotional continuity because it makes it easier to pretend it never existed

Comments

[fauxkaren]

But instead it's set up as an extra-marital affair.

I totally agree. This is what bugs me about the Reinette/Doctor "relationship".

I feel so conflicted about Moffat. On one hand, I loved TEC/TDD. And Blink was one of the best episodes of Series 3. But TGitF just comes out of nowhere in season 2. Moffat is brilliant at creating monsters. He's created some of the best monsters of the New Series, but he's crap when it comes to character arcs. I think that the problem with Moffat is that he will sacrifice characters and relationships to service his story. So while I think he's a brilliant writer, I don't think that he should ever be put in charge of Doctor Who.

RTD, on the other hand, is a decent writers. Some of his scripts have been a bit clunky, but he really is great at developing characters. He shows growth and within each episode that he writes the characters act in a way that makes sense for them and their personal story. This is why he's a great Executive Producer. He makes sure that at the end of the day, a story is being told throughout the whole series. I don't think Moffat could do that.

[shinyopals]

For me personally, I can forgive the most craptastic plots as long as I get the fantastic characters. I do generally like Moffat's other episodes but I tend to prefer RTD even if you could fly the TARDIS through his plot holes! I'm definitely a little worried about him leaving!

[reaperfox]

It's very important to remember Moffat hadn't even read the previous script (School Reunion) so he wouldn't have known of the relationship intensity or jealousy that had previously been brought in...

*staunch Moffat lover*

(fwiw, I LOVE Girl In The Fireplace for a lot of reasons, but HATE HATE HATE it as a Doctor/Rose shipper.)

[shinyopals]

I would argue that he *should* have read the script though. Or at very least got a summary and talked to RTD and the School Reunion writer about the emotional tone at the end of the ep, since he planned to continue directly on. If a fanfic author wrote something and said "I've only watched one episode!" they'd be told to watch the rest. Just because he's getting paid, I don't think that should excuse him!