Steven Moffat is Running the Asylum - A Trope Picspam
Steven Moffat is Running the Asylum trope but in the best way possible. Really he's more of a Promoted Fanboy
Moffat has been a Doctor Who fan since he was a young lad and therefore he's always known what he's wanted from the episodes he has written; he's working from a fanboy perspective and this could be (ok definitely is) why his episodes are a lot more intricate than others, they include the time aspect beautifully (he never forgets the Doctor is a time traveller, Russell nearly always did which infuriated me) and the scariest monsters that have ever been endured. Yes. The Angels are freakier than the Daleks. Admit it.
He started out his Doctor Who writing with frankly the hilarious
Doctor Who and the Curse of the Fatal Death
Made for Comic Relief in 1999
But what is really fanboyish about this?
The Doctor and the Companion are engaged
(and being adorable... well Emma is.)
At one point the Doctor even points out that Emma is the only companion he's ever had. To which she replies, "you've had many companions". His eyes darken as he leans in and repeats "The only Companion I've ever had". "Oh!"
WOOO TIME TRAVEL
So the Doctor saves the day by always being one step ahead of the Master with the uber power of Time Travel. And being able to communicate to the locals of Terserous
Daleks
Every fanboy NEEDS to bring the Daleks up at least once. Steven doesn't disappoint
And finally.
The Constant Regeneration
The fact that this hasn't been made a joke of before this skit is beyond me, but I love that the Doctor cycles through personalities. And I adore them all. Starting with the impossibly sex driven Richard E. Grant. Followed by Jim Broadbent who is scared of women (infuriating Emma) and suddenly changing into the charming. The dashing. The GORGEOUS. Hugh Grant. To which Emma replies "Result!" and thus fanservice was created.
As a final insult to injury. The Doctor regenerates once more and this time in the best way possible. And turning this (lets face it) episode into crack fiction. Joanna Lumley, turning every Doctor Who fan into a quivering mess of laughter (and thoroughly depressing Emma).
He then followed up his crazy skit writing with a few books here and there. Finally he was presented with his dream, he was asked by one Russell T Davis to write an episode of the reboot series. From there he got one episode ever series and aside from Russell he's the only writer to achieve that, also these episodes that he wrote were considered the most successful by fans (even one which featured minimal Doctor and instead had the simply gorgeous Carey Mulligan running around (who has since won a BAFTA)). So yeah, he's a bit of a genius is our Steven.
Doctor Who (2005)
Ring Ring
The Empty Child
So in the 40 years that Doctor Who has been around has there ever been a moment where the telephone on the phone box actually rang? I dont know but I do think that THIS is an awesome moment. Moffat completely disarms everyone with the Doctor being all incredulous, then there's the mysterious girl who appears and then the immortal words of "Are you my Mummy?" ring through and suddenly, you're pretty damn scared. Fan service in Moffat-land tends to mean freaking you out.
Jack Harkness
Introduced in The Empty Child
So Steven introduced a fantastic new character near the end of S1. Not only was he dashing, handsome, flirtatious and a little bit foxy but he was so popular he garnered his own spin off series (ever heard ofTorchwood?). Now I'm not saying that Jack is Steven's own personal creation, but he introduced him beautifully, making him a compelling, flawed and rather damn exciting new character. Not only that but the whole situation created a brand new love triangle (well square if you include Mickey). Which has compelled fanfiction writers to just spout off as many fics as humanely possible. If this isn't fanservice I can't imagine what else is? Because come on, we all know 90% of fanfiction is flirtin', lovin', hot and steamy fic. And this just fuels our desires with the greatest Sex God ever to enter the Whoniverse making Jack an unofficial member of the Estrogen Brigade much like Mr Ten.
The Doctor Dances
The Doctor Dance
I kinda think that Steven is as in love with the Doctor as the rest of us. Because in a single scene he portrays the Doctor as loveable, intriguing and down right amazing. Also solidifying the jealousy of Rose's affections to Jack and just proving he's better. FAN SERVICE YAY!
A lot of people attribute this particular scene to a trope called Getting Crap Past The Radar since people have since assumed that Dancing is a mild euphemism for sex.
Romance
The Girl in the Fireplace
Again, Steven loves the Doctor just as much as everyone else because he wants the Doctor to have him have a good time with a historical mistress of amazing womanliness. Of course we already keep hearing about Elizabeth I and then there's Cleo. But Madam De Pompadour is enough to keep the legions of girls salivating over the (frankly) gorgeous Mr Tennant; angry that it is not they who the Doctor basically swoops in, saves and upon meeting him again to become overwhelmed with the need to have a little make out sesh with the man of their literal dreams. And as I have already pointed out, fanfiction is mainly of the lovin' kind and Steven is keeping up his end of the deal with a steamy and romantic story going on here. This episode IS fanfiction of the most perfect kind. We can watch it :D
Blink
Blink
This is one of the episodes which if you ask any Who-fan whats your favourite of the Revival this episode will appear, even in passing, it's an episode that once seen is kinda never forgotten and it's to Steven's credit. Not only are the immortal words of a big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey... stuff uttered but also many MANY other quotable lines. This is classic Who. Not in that the Doctor is dominating the episode, in a way he is but not physically, but in the way that this is TV on at about 7 o'clock on a Saturday night, it's still bright outside and you're scared out of your skin by the end. Like I said. A lot of Moffat fanservice is simply freaking you out. This is the stuff of Nightmares.
River Song
Introduced in Silence in the Library
Already in this season we had the Doctor's daughter introduced (which made a lot of fans squee joyfully and others howl in anger) so Steven introduced us to another character of amazing beauty and possibilities. And potentially the Doctor's future wife. Now I think River gets a bad wrap personally. She's a wonderful creation, with a wonderful actress who is able to portray the years of joy with the Doctor and the heartbreaking moment when she realises he has no idea who she is. And to die declaring that he still has the future with her. This is another romantic story of epic proportions with endless possibilities. But I find this isn't a nod to the fanboys but a big longing look to the fangirls. Making them suddenly begin to wonder what the Doctor would be like as a husband.
River is also a Canon Sue by many tropers in that she's in prime position for many fangirls dreams and also is awesome in that Alex Kingston outacts... well everyone.
AND THEN! Suddenly, as if the Gods of Doctor Who had opened their heavens and simply smiled almost evilly, Steven Moffat was declared to be the head writer of Season 5. And many a fan rejoiced knowing their fan-ish-ness would be sated every week with the glory of the biggest Who Fan in the history of Who-fans.
Doctor Who (2010)
The Moffat has done something Davis didn't want to (well not often, one episode to take note of is Family of Blood; you can see the sketch of the Eight Doctor ;)). He referenced ever series before the Reboot. And you know what? It's awesome.
This is basically downright Call Back Trope
This is apparent from the very first episode with the sudden revelation that all the past doctors are connected and every fan was sitting there trying to name them all :D From there it's been "Spot the Old Stuff", although not in every episode and therefore not drenching the new stuff with nostalgia but a sweet peppering of the old yore that makes you smile when you realise. Fanservice of the sweetest kind.
The Doctor Gets Dressed
Like the Third and Eight Doctor, our Eleventh carnation decides to knick some clothes in a hospital a little ironically. I like to think this a call back to these instances and as we all know the Doctor's attire is an important aspect of his personality (almost as important as the actor playing him) and so in epic fashion Moffat made the fans squee at the flesh and the reminiscence.
Just another Love Triangle
Moffat has created two this series from what I can tell so far but the big one is the Rory/Doctor/Amy triangle which is confused right now due to the death of a point. Basically Amy really fancied the Doctor who is the man of her dreams since she was 7 years old, Rory is engaged to Amy and loves her more than life itself, Amy loves Rory too but finds him a little boring in comparison to the wild Doctor, and the Doctor seems to have quite a little bit of deep seeded affection for Amy (hence the episode Amy's Choice; see his heart break when he realises Amy has chosen Rory). Now that Rory is kind of, well definitely dead, that one is gone out the window and is going to be replaced in future episodes with the new Amy/Doctor/River triangle (I HOPE!!!) which is also very interesting. River clearly loves the Doctor, and could possibly be his wife (they had romantic evenings together(!!!)) and Amy demonstrates a little bit of jealousy through Time of Angels because of their obvious compatibility. So yeah. TWO love triangles. And fans of all generations and creeds do LOVE a good love triangle. One which Russell tried to exploit (to little and no effect because Mickey was portrayed so poorly at the beginning it was blindly obvious Rose would end up with the Doctor (sorta)).
So there are all my opinions on the matter.
Please dont steal the images
- The Curse of the Fatal Death were all capped by me
- The rest were found at the Medusa Cascade
Hope you enjoyed the spammage :)
Moffat has been a Doctor Who fan since he was a young lad and therefore he's always known what he's wanted from the episodes he has written; he's working from a fanboy perspective and this could be (ok definitely is) why his episodes are a lot more intricate than others, they include the time aspect beautifully (he never forgets the Doctor is a time traveller, Russell nearly always did which infuriated me) and the scariest monsters that have ever been endured. Yes. The Angels are freakier than the Daleks. Admit it.
He started out his Doctor Who writing with frankly the hilarious
Doctor Who and the Curse of the Fatal Death
Made for Comic Relief in 1999
But what is really fanboyish about this?
The Doctor and the Companion are engaged
(and being adorable... well Emma is.)
At one point the Doctor even points out that Emma is the only companion he's ever had. To which she replies, "you've had many companions". His eyes darken as he leans in and repeats "The only Companion I've ever had". "Oh!"
WOOO TIME TRAVEL
So the Doctor saves the day by always being one step ahead of the Master with the uber power of Time Travel. And being able to communicate to the locals of Terserous
Daleks
Every fanboy NEEDS to bring the Daleks up at least once. Steven doesn't disappoint
And finally.
The Constant Regeneration
The fact that this hasn't been made a joke of before this skit is beyond me, but I love that the Doctor cycles through personalities. And I adore them all. Starting with the impossibly sex driven Richard E. Grant. Followed by Jim Broadbent who is scared of women (infuriating Emma) and suddenly changing into the charming. The dashing. The GORGEOUS. Hugh Grant. To which Emma replies "Result!" and thus fanservice was created.
As a final insult to injury. The Doctor regenerates once more and this time in the best way possible. And turning this (lets face it) episode into crack fiction. Joanna Lumley, turning every Doctor Who fan into a quivering mess of laughter (and thoroughly depressing Emma).
He then followed up his crazy skit writing with a few books here and there. Finally he was presented with his dream, he was asked by one Russell T Davis to write an episode of the reboot series. From there he got one episode ever series and aside from Russell he's the only writer to achieve that, also these episodes that he wrote were considered the most successful by fans (even one which featured minimal Doctor and instead had the simply gorgeous Carey Mulligan running around (who has since won a BAFTA)). So yeah, he's a bit of a genius is our Steven.
Doctor Who (2005)
Ring Ring
The Empty Child
So in the 40 years that Doctor Who has been around has there ever been a moment where the telephone on the phone box actually rang? I dont know but I do think that THIS is an awesome moment. Moffat completely disarms everyone with the Doctor being all incredulous, then there's the mysterious girl who appears and then the immortal words of "Are you my Mummy?" ring through and suddenly, you're pretty damn scared. Fan service in Moffat-land tends to mean freaking you out.
Jack Harkness
Introduced in The Empty Child
So Steven introduced a fantastic new character near the end of S1. Not only was he dashing, handsome, flirtatious and a little bit foxy but he was so popular he garnered his own spin off series (ever heard ofTorchwood?). Now I'm not saying that Jack is Steven's own personal creation, but he introduced him beautifully, making him a compelling, flawed and rather damn exciting new character. Not only that but the whole situation created a brand new love triangle (well square if you include Mickey). Which has compelled fanfiction writers to just spout off as many fics as humanely possible. If this isn't fanservice I can't imagine what else is? Because come on, we all know 90% of fanfiction is flirtin', lovin', hot and steamy fic. And this just fuels our desires with the greatest Sex God ever to enter the Whoniverse making Jack an unofficial member of the Estrogen Brigade much like Mr Ten.
The Doctor Dances
The Doctor Dance
I kinda think that Steven is as in love with the Doctor as the rest of us. Because in a single scene he portrays the Doctor as loveable, intriguing and down right amazing. Also solidifying the jealousy of Rose's affections to Jack and just proving he's better. FAN SERVICE YAY!
A lot of people attribute this particular scene to a trope called Getting Crap Past The Radar since people have since assumed that Dancing is a mild euphemism for sex.
Romance
The Girl in the Fireplace
Again, Steven loves the Doctor just as much as everyone else because he wants the Doctor to have him have a good time with a historical mistress of amazing womanliness. Of course we already keep hearing about Elizabeth I and then there's Cleo. But Madam De Pompadour is enough to keep the legions of girls salivating over the (frankly) gorgeous Mr Tennant; angry that it is not they who the Doctor basically swoops in, saves and upon meeting him again to become overwhelmed with the need to have a little make out sesh with the man of their literal dreams. And as I have already pointed out, fanfiction is mainly of the lovin' kind and Steven is keeping up his end of the deal with a steamy and romantic story going on here. This episode IS fanfiction of the most perfect kind. We can watch it :D
Blink
Blink
This is one of the episodes which if you ask any Who-fan whats your favourite of the Revival this episode will appear, even in passing, it's an episode that once seen is kinda never forgotten and it's to Steven's credit. Not only are the immortal words of a big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey... stuff uttered but also many MANY other quotable lines. This is classic Who. Not in that the Doctor is dominating the episode, in a way he is but not physically, but in the way that this is TV on at about 7 o'clock on a Saturday night, it's still bright outside and you're scared out of your skin by the end. Like I said. A lot of Moffat fanservice is simply freaking you out. This is the stuff of Nightmares.
River Song
Introduced in Silence in the Library
Already in this season we had the Doctor's daughter introduced (which made a lot of fans squee joyfully and others howl in anger) so Steven introduced us to another character of amazing beauty and possibilities. And potentially the Doctor's future wife. Now I think River gets a bad wrap personally. She's a wonderful creation, with a wonderful actress who is able to portray the years of joy with the Doctor and the heartbreaking moment when she realises he has no idea who she is. And to die declaring that he still has the future with her. This is another romantic story of epic proportions with endless possibilities. But I find this isn't a nod to the fanboys but a big longing look to the fangirls. Making them suddenly begin to wonder what the Doctor would be like as a husband.
River is also a Canon Sue by many tropers in that she's in prime position for many fangirls dreams and also is awesome in that Alex Kingston outacts... well everyone.
AND THEN! Suddenly, as if the Gods of Doctor Who had opened their heavens and simply smiled almost evilly, Steven Moffat was declared to be the head writer of Season 5. And many a fan rejoiced knowing their fan-ish-ness would be sated every week with the glory of the biggest Who Fan in the history of Who-fans.
Doctor Who (2010)
The Moffat has done something Davis didn't want to (well not often, one episode to take note of is Family of Blood; you can see the sketch of the Eight Doctor ;)). He referenced ever series before the Reboot. And you know what? It's awesome.
This is basically downright Call Back Trope
This is apparent from the very first episode with the sudden revelation that all the past doctors are connected and every fan was sitting there trying to name them all :D From there it's been "Spot the Old Stuff", although not in every episode and therefore not drenching the new stuff with nostalgia but a sweet peppering of the old yore that makes you smile when you realise. Fanservice of the sweetest kind.
The Doctor Gets Dressed
Like the Third and Eight Doctor, our Eleventh carnation decides to knick some clothes in a hospital a little ironically. I like to think this a call back to these instances and as we all know the Doctor's attire is an important aspect of his personality (almost as important as the actor playing him) and so in epic fashion Moffat made the fans squee at the flesh and the reminiscence.
Just another Love Triangle
Moffat has created two this series from what I can tell so far but the big one is the Rory/Doctor/Amy triangle which is confused right now due to the death of a point. Basically Amy really fancied the Doctor who is the man of her dreams since she was 7 years old, Rory is engaged to Amy and loves her more than life itself, Amy loves Rory too but finds him a little boring in comparison to the wild Doctor, and the Doctor seems to have quite a little bit of deep seeded affection for Amy (hence the episode Amy's Choice; see his heart break when he realises Amy has chosen Rory). Now that Rory is kind of, well definitely dead, that one is gone out the window and is going to be replaced in future episodes with the new Amy/Doctor/River triangle (I HOPE!!!) which is also very interesting. River clearly loves the Doctor, and could possibly be his wife (they had romantic evenings together(!!!)) and Amy demonstrates a little bit of jealousy through Time of Angels because of their obvious compatibility. So yeah. TWO love triangles. And fans of all generations and creeds do LOVE a good love triangle. One which Russell tried to exploit (to little and no effect because Mickey was portrayed so poorly at the beginning it was blindly obvious Rose would end up with the Doctor (sorta)).
So there are all my opinions on the matter.
Please dont steal the images
- The Curse of the Fatal Death were all capped by me
- The rest were found at the Medusa Cascade
Hope you enjoyed the spammage :)