Not what you think...
The Who Universe is divided between these two men. Some love RTD for bringing back Doctor Who, but dislike his handling of the show. Similarly, people love Moffat for carrying on Doctor Who, but abhor his management of the show. Neither is perfect. Both have made mistakes, some inconspicuous, some unforgivable. Let’s take a look at some of the most ‘What were they thinking’ moments these two have dreamed up while at the helm.
The Who Universe is divided between these two men. Some love RTD for bringing back Doctor Who, but dislike his handling of the show. Similarly, people love Moffat for carrying on Doctor Who, but abhor his management of the show. Neither is perfect. Both have made mistakes, some inconspicuous, some unforgivable. Let’s take a look at some of the most ‘What were they thinking’ moments these two have dreamed up while at the helm.
For Russell T. Davies
The
Slitheen
Readers
can probably save time and skip down to the next mistake or…if you don’t know
why these guys are on this list; then you need to keep reading. The Slitheen
might’ve been a great villain for Sarah Jane, but here on Doctor Who, they sort of ruined the Ninth Doctor’s
series for me. The moment their fake skin was peeled away, my liking for the
story went with it. The invasion angle was fresh and an interesting concept for a story which ‘officially’ introduced
mankind to the existence of aliens, but the Slitheen themselves were too
ridiculous to watch. I’m sure that if it had been any other alien (except the
Abzorbalof), then it would’ve worked, but alas, the Slitheen were shipped off
to the Sarah Jane Adventures, where their camp schemes could flourish.
Bringing Rose Tyler back
Bringing Rose Tyler back
Whether you’re a diehard Tyler fan or diehard
Tyler hater, don’t pretend you didn’t break when she was trapped on parallel
earth, even if it was just out of sympathy for the Doctor. That my friends; is
television magic. That is something that writers work hard and only get right
once in a blue moon. Other moments include the ‘something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue’
line from The Big Bang. Those flashes
don’t just appear out of thin air. They’re like miracles, except for television.
So RTD, why on earth would you want to ruin Rose’s exit and bring her back if
you were just going to ship her back to that same place and break the Doctor’s
hearts yet again? Does everyone except the Doctor get a happy ending on this
show…a show called ‘Doctor’ Who?
Breaking the Doctor’s heart
Breaking the Doctor’s heart
Briefly touched upon above, but this is why I
prefer Moffat’s reign…he likes to hand out happy endings every once in a while.
RTD on the other hand, liked to emotionally torture the Doctor, specifically
his Tenth incarnation by breaking his heart. But it’s okay; he has a spare. I
always felt like I was at someone’s funeral whenever I watch a Series 1-4
finale. I understand that departures are supposed to be emotional and strong and
hold a lasting impression, but would it have killed RTD to give the Doctor at
least one happy season finale? Just one?
Making Doctor Who into Casanova
I’ll admit that the 1996 movie opened the
door, but there is no need for everyone to barge in all at once. Maybe it was because he worked on Casanova, but if you’ll
look real closely, you’ll notice that David Tennant’s Doctor is essentially Casanova without the naughtiness or blue
contact lenses. Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Madame de Pompadour (I’ll admit this
one is Moffat’s fault), Jack Harkness, Astrid Peth, Christina de Souza,
Cassandra (in Rose’s body). I began to feel that if a female companion didn’t
kiss the Doctor; then they weren’t really companions.
Ignoring Continuity
I’m
pretty sure you have to pass some sort of Doctor Who Quiz before you can be
allowed to run the show, so why did RTD enjoy his discontinuity so much. The
Fourth Doctor regenerated from a fall off of a radio telescope that had to be five
stories high at least, yet the Tenth Doctor is allowed to jump out of a
spaceship hundreds of feet off the ground, break through a glass ceiling and
survive the hard floor instead of splattering all over it with not a single
bone in his body broken. What the hell happened to the earth’s gravity during
this scene? Did it decide to go on tea break or something? Does earth’s gravity
take tea breaks now? I knew Doctor Who was
an out there kind of show, I just didn’t think it was that out there. If you
want a neat drinking game (for those of you who are old enough), then watch Series
1 to 4 and take a shot every time RTD ignores previously established
continuity. Warning: Have a doctor on speed dial.
Turning
Doctor Who into My Family
Don’t
get me wrong, I LOVE My Family. I
have nothing against family drama either. Ace and Nyssa were two companions
whose families played a significant part in the Doctor’s life. For Nyssa, it
was the Master killing her father and leaving her an orphan in the Doctor’s
care. For Ace, it was accepting her past and her family heritage. So even
though I’m not a fan of Jackie or Mickey, I understood the angle. It was a
mother’s worry over her daughter’s safety – perfectly understandable, if a
little predictable. Enter the Jones family. What angles does RTD choose to play
with this family: Worried mother over her daughter’s safety? Noble family: Worried
mother over daughter’s safety. I sense a pattern (and another drinking game if
you survived the last one). The continuous earth settings were often ruined by
the companion’s family becoming too involved and turning the Science Fantasy
drama into Science Family drama if you know what I mean.
For Steven Moffat
For Steven Moffat
Rushing
River Song
Everyone
knows that I’m a huge River Song fan. She’s in my top five along with Peri,
Romana, the Brigadier and Jack Harkness. I also love Let’s Kill Hitler. Alex Kingston just steals the show. It might as
well have been called River Kills Hitler,
but I do feel that the regeneration into the Song form was rushed. I’ll admit
that you couldn’t have put another incarnation of her in this story without
killing it, so it’s a difficult decision really. Do we rush Song and give the
fans Let’s Kill Hitler or kill Let’s Kill Hitler and introduce another
incarnation of River Song that can guest star in future episodes and keep the
character alive for several more seasons? Win-win or Mortan’s Fork?
Series Split
Series Split
I’m
confident that even Moffat supporters will agree that this was a bad move that
initiated a chain of events that eventually lead to an enormous gap between
Series 6 and 7. The decision to split Series 6 resulted from a request by
Steven Moffat who wanted to pen a new Doctor Who story arc which involved a
“big plot” twist between episodes A Good
Man Goes to War and Let’s Kill Hitler.
The idea was to give fans two series finales instead of just one. Although it
partially succeeded, the backlash was unwelcomed. The idea to split a series
probably originated in America with their shows and it works for them since programs
like The Vampire Diaries, Castle and a bunch of others aren’t
bound to a 13-episode format. Splitting 13 episodes into 8 and 6 isn’t the same
as dividing 24 in half.
Keeping
the Ponds
Also
called The Rose Equivalent. As
grateful as I am for a Series 5 happy ending and as much as I understand the
need to involve them in Series 6, the idea to keep the Ponds around after The God Complex is lost on me.
Re-watching the episodes that came after it, I can’t help but wonder why the
stories couldn’t just have been adjusted to function without them…it sort of
felt like Moffat was keeping them around just to write a Weeping Angel exit for
them. And also, most of the Series 7 Part 1 stories could’ve worked without the
Ponds, instead relying on one-off characters that weren’t necessarily
companions, but served as the Doctor’s ‘assistants’. Even the UNIT story
could’ve worked if the Doctor was teaming up solely with Kate Stewart. The
downside would’ve been that there’d be no Brian Williams.
Too
much of a good thing
Personally,
I don’t mind this one, but I’ll admit that the more Moffat uses his favorite
monsters, the less scary they become and maybe it would have been better to
make them one-hit wonders with Blink
and left it at that. Most fans tend to follow this thought trail. Although, if
the Weeping Angels were utilized another way…say explore their home planet or
their origins, then maybe this one can get scratched off the list. Until then…
Disney
Death for Everyone
River
Song died in the library. She died a heroic death…and then lived happily ever
after. Amy and Rory saved New York from the unstoppable Weeping Angels. They
died…and lived happily ever after. As a writer myself, I have no trouble
killing off my characters, even my main ones. Steven Moffat on the other hand,
does. He even created Rory, a character who people, in-universe and out, mock
for constantly dying and coming back. Needless to say, the body count during
Steven Moffat’s reign is significantly lower than it was during the RTD era.
Moffat has defended this by claiming that he doesn’t like killing characters.
It’s probably because of this reason that Doctor
Who is sliding back into its whimsical nature, albeit darker and edgier. I
myself don’t like watching people die left, right and center. If I wanted to do
that, I’d just turn on the news. But sometimes, not always, ‘you need a good death at the end.’
Which Arc are we watching?
I’ll be happy to chew every one of these typed words
if it turns out every question Moffat has left unanswered is eventually
answered in some extraordinary timey-wimey episode, but for now…way to many
story arcs, even for me (and I relish in complicated storylines). How did the
TARDIS blow up? Who killed the Doctor? River Who, Doctor Who, Clara Who? These
are just a few I can remember off the top of my head. Having many arcs is
terrific for some viewers like myself, but the world doesn’t revolve around us
(or so I’ve been told) and…more importantly, it alienates new viewers who are
forced to travel back to the beginning of the library episode at least, in
order to understand what’s been going on so far. This is partly the reason why
arcs only run for one season at a time.
And there you have it: Proof that both show runners
have made their fair share of boo-boos in the past. Neither is perfect. Neither
is superior. We are all capable of messing up every once in a while. Do you
believe the aforementioned to be mistakes and can you think of any others that
really annoyed you?
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