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matt_zimmerSpoiler warning for Chris: I am about to spoil the major twist at the end of the 50th Anniversary Special, but considering it was a twist that shouldn't have been necessary to make in the first place, I don't think you'd be too surprised by it (although it IS huge and changed the show). Even if you skip this post, tell me how far along in the Whoniverse you are. I will post my rereviews when you've seen all seven seasons.
Just got through Doctor Who: Series 3 (I've already rewatched Series 1 and 2, and the first seasons of Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures). And I'm just going to come out and say it.
Steven Moffat is a better showrunner than Russell T Davies. There. I said it. It really isn't even a contest.
And Moffat is at times AWFUL. But he is an improvement from Davies in almost every single way. It is true that Moffat cannot plan a story arc to save his life, and the entire mythology of Eleven's tenure fell apart in the poorly planned and ill-conceived The Time Of The Doctor. But, honestly? Davies sucked at story arcs too.
At least Moffat's arcs progressed from episode to episode. True, they ultimately turned out meaningless, but there was a momentum to them that isn't there with Davies'. Davies would have a character randomly say one or two words (Bad Wolf, Torchwood, Vote Saxon), tell us what they meant in the finale, and considered that a proper arc. And sometimes (Bad Wolf) Davies couldn't even be bothered to tell us what the words meant.
Moffat's stories are usually more fun too (garbage like The Angels Take Manhattan notwithstanding) and the characters aren't always at each other's throats. I like spending time with Eleven and his Companions. And I can't always say that for Nine and Ten.
The only way Davies is superior is keeping slavish to continuity, which Moffat can't even get straight in his own episodes. But the fact of the matter is, what Davies DID with the continuity was pretty upsetting to me, and frankly appalling. The idea of the Doctor committing genocide is horrific and completely contrasts with how the previous 8 Doctors were portrayed. People upset with The Day Of The Doctor retconning the "Last of the Time Lords" thing, don't seem to recall that no other Time Lords is a VERY recent development, and the Doctor being the one who killed them even more recent than that. Moffat wasn't destroying decades of continuity (as STFU Moffat claims). He was just cleaning up Davies' mess. True, he didn't do that good of a job with it. But with all of the horrible things Davies added to the canon, it is probably the best anyone could have expected.
Oh, and Torchwood stills blows. Big time.
Just got through Doctor Who: Series 3 (I've already rewatched Series 1 and 2, and the first seasons of Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures). And I'm just going to come out and say it.
Steven Moffat is a better showrunner than Russell T Davies. There. I said it. It really isn't even a contest.
And Moffat is at times AWFUL. But he is an improvement from Davies in almost every single way. It is true that Moffat cannot plan a story arc to save his life, and the entire mythology of Eleven's tenure fell apart in the poorly planned and ill-conceived The Time Of The Doctor. But, honestly? Davies sucked at story arcs too.
At least Moffat's arcs progressed from episode to episode. True, they ultimately turned out meaningless, but there was a momentum to them that isn't there with Davies'. Davies would have a character randomly say one or two words (Bad Wolf, Torchwood, Vote Saxon), tell us what they meant in the finale, and considered that a proper arc. And sometimes (Bad Wolf) Davies couldn't even be bothered to tell us what the words meant.
Moffat's stories are usually more fun too (garbage like The Angels Take Manhattan notwithstanding) and the characters aren't always at each other's throats. I like spending time with Eleven and his Companions. And I can't always say that for Nine and Ten.
The only way Davies is superior is keeping slavish to continuity, which Moffat can't even get straight in his own episodes. But the fact of the matter is, what Davies DID with the continuity was pretty upsetting to me, and frankly appalling. The idea of the Doctor committing genocide is horrific and completely contrasts with how the previous 8 Doctors were portrayed. People upset with The Day Of The Doctor retconning the "Last of the Time Lords" thing, don't seem to recall that no other Time Lords is a VERY recent development, and the Doctor being the one who killed them even more recent than that. Moffat wasn't destroying decades of continuity (as STFU Moffat claims). He was just cleaning up Davies' mess. True, he didn't do that good of a job with it. But with all of the horrible things Davies added to the canon, it is probably the best anyone could have expected.
Oh, and Torchwood stills blows. Big time.
