Why I Don't Like Moffat's Era of Doctor Who

Why I Don't Like Moffat's Era of Doctor Who-

Steven Moffat

Steven Moffat is one interesting person. I really liked his work under RTD's era so I was really excited when he was announced as the new showrunner. But after watching the show under him, I was really disappointed.

Here are my problems with Moffat Era-

1. Lack of proper character development-

One of my main problem with his era is the companions. Bill was such a dull character who had nothing to her. Both Amy and Clara are essentially the same character prototype, strong, sassy woman who bosses the Doctor around. Rory had the best character development out of all them. Amy was more likable because of the trio relation as a family. She was essentially a prop for a character, where most of the episodes would be them going to an unknown place, Amy sassing someone and getting captured and Doctor and Rory arguing and trying to save her. Clara, on the other hand, is just annoying. She is a weird mixture of everything and anything, she is what the situation wants her to be. She is sometimes sassy in the face of danger and sometimes scared when facing danger. She is what Moffat wants her to be. Like if your character trait is that you hide your fear with sass then keep it consistent, don't change it. Also, her death and resurrection just spoiled her character further. By the end of her run, the show focused too much on her and her problems, rather than the Doctor.

And about River Song, I think they spent too much too much on her in later episodes. She was essentially deus ex machina. But they later spoil her mystery while trying to add more shit. Instead, they could've had her character like Jack Harkness, a sassy, badass person, who helps the Doctor from time to time. They could've given her a mini-series rather than shoehorning her in.

2. Too much build up not enough pay off-

Moffat has this same problem with Sherlock too. He sets up all these crazy new ideas but doesn't properly deliver. He will set up various references, teasers, and plot points but won't properly connect them. I don't know whether this is just bad writing or something else but Moffat isn't consistent. He makes up and changes things according to the episode which doesn't add up in the long run. Most of the time the episodes have plot-holes or very convoluted. Most of the conflicts in his work are solved by a sacrifice by an under-developed side character or the sonic screwdriver, which gets boring after a few times. 

3. Too many cope outs-

Resurrections completely destroy the impact of a character's death. Same for too many deaths. This is one of my biggest issues with Rory. I know that this is one of the running jokes about Rory being kind of like the Winchester. But his frequent deaths desensitized me to his actual death. Same for Clara, even though I am not her biggest fan, I actually felt bad when she 'died', but then they brought her back, even more annoying. For me, Clara should've died saving the 11th Doctor. Her story as the impossible girl was over, no point in trying to continue with that.

4. Overuse of certain villains-

I haven't watched Classic Who yet(trying to), so my first introduction to Dalek was the episode 'Dalek' in S1. I felt a whole whirl of emotions. At first, I was interested, then I was terrified and finally, I felt bad for it. The writing along with Eccleston's brilliant acting cemented it as one of the best episodes of the revival. But then there more Daleks and even more Daleks, and soon they started popping out every episode or two. Not only that but the Daleks were nerfed, where earlier a single one took out a whole facility of human or even easily destroyed cyberman, now they serve tea and fall down like cans. The same problem with Cybermen, they were supposed to vicious soldiers, not Missy's toys. But I admit I was really interested in the idea of the dead being turned into Cybermen, but then they fucked it over.

5. Fucking over Capaldi-

After having two younger, 'lighter' doctor, I was actually very excited for a more mature and grimmer Doctor, kind off like John Hurt's War Doctor. Capaldi was fantastic as the Doctor, you could see how earnestly he tried. But Moffat's writing fucked him over. They should've left the sitcom vibes to 11TH Doctor and family, rather than dragging it over here. Instead of continuing the amazing idea of the Doctor searching for Gallifrey, the show focuses more on Clara and her love life.  After all the optimist vibes in the previous series, they should've gone for a more cynical one. The Doctor is always angry, but rather than slowly building up to a bursting point, he has small bursts over the episodes, mixed with more fun and happiness. He doesn't have to be family friendly. Both Smith and Capaldi portray very different Doctors, the writers should've written accordingly.

Honestly, I know I am coming across as extremely cynical, but I don' hate his works. I think Moffat works better with some restrictions, rather than going off freely in all directions. There were good episodes and there were bad episodes, but there weren't any particular 'great' ones. The series were riddled with plot holes and in general were very confusing. There was inconsistency in both the plot and the behaviour of the characters. The tone was all over the place. And overall I think the quality kept dropping. 

I won't say that his Era was completely horrible but I would definitely say that it's overrated.

Thank you for reading. If you agree or disagree, do comment.