Russell T. Davies is back on the TARDIS, showrunning Doctor Who 60th Anniversary special and beyond

[Radiophonic]

There are people who are actually still beating that worn out old drum?

There are plenty of valid criticisms to be made of the RTD era, bringing LGBTQ visibility to the forefront in such a natural way, on prime time BBC One, is not one of them. In fact, its one of his qualities that I firmly list among his strengths.

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I made the mistake of listening to a recent Who podcast about the departures of Chibnall and Whitaker, and one of the guests said that the BBC's current desire for the show's audience was for them to be "mothers who read the Guardian and make their sons wear dresses so they can tell them they're brave," so yeah, I'm sure we get all the greatest hits of the RTD era from the usual suspects if we haven't already.

 

[SigmasonicX]

I could see the 60th Anniversary story being one where the 14th Doctor doesn't have clear memories, but through meeting past Doctors, realizes, "Oh, so this is what it means to be The Doctor." Then there's a hype moment when they save the day at the end, now wearing their new outfit.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

I could see the 60th Anniversary story being one where the 14th Doctor doesn't have clear memories, but through meeting past Doctors, realizes, "Oh, so this is what it means to be The Doctor." Then there's a hype moment when they save the day at the end, now wearing their new outfit.

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Yeah, that's certainly a concept for the episode. It's going to be tough, though - I honestly think if they're going to do that, the past Doctor they meet has to be someone who isn't Tennant. I like David a lot but if they bring him in he's just gonna steamroll whoever the new Doctor is. If Tennant is going to be in it, make his role minor at best, rather than a co-star role like the 50th.

If it were me, I'd bring in Paul McGann and have the two of them interact. Give Paul a full episode to play around in the role.

 

[SigmasonicX]

There's also the issue that not including the 13th Doctor in a story like that will be a bad look no matter what they do.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

There's also the issue that not including the 13th Doctor in a story like that will be a bad look no matter what they do.

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Basically, yeah. Like I can easily see Jodie saying a respectful "no thanks" having JUST left the role, but in an ideal world Thirteen should be in it for at least a moment.

I honestly almost wonder if the smart thing to do would be to have Thirteen formally regenerate at the beginning of the 60th so she's in it for a moment without having to be pulled back in to do a cameo with her immediate successor the episode after she left the show.

 

[gblues]

As long as we're fan-casting 14: Angel Coulby

She's worked with RTD before ("The Girl in the Fireplace"), and she was fantastic in Merlin.

 

[Kschreck]

Davies hinting at his Doctor Who plans?

https://screenrant.com/doctor-who-rtd-new-vision-hints-shared-universe-spinoffs/

My hype keeps growing...

 

[Geode]

Davies hinting at his Doctor Who plans?

https://screenrant.com/doctor-who-rtd-new-vision-hints-shared-universe-spinoffs/

My hype keeps growing...

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Sounds interesting. Hopefully BBC pumps more money into DW.

 

[Kschreck]

Sounds interesting. Hopefully BBC pumps more money into DW.

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If we get several Who related shows again with quality rivaling the earlier Davies seasons then I'll be in heaven. :D

 

[infiniteloop]

Omg give me limited series with Matt smith and tennant.

 

[Quinton]

J. Michael Straczynski was jockeying for this, I guess? But now a B5 reboot/reimagining has been announced with him at the helm, so... I guess I'm... glad...? He didn't get it...?

 

[PlanetSmasher]

J. Michael Straczynski was jockeying for this, I guess? But now a B5 reboot/reimagining has been announced with him at the helm, so... I guess I'm... glad...? He didn't get it...?

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Yeah, it sounds like he wanted to throw his hat into the ring. Who knows if he was serious or if the BBC even considered it.

 

[Quinton]

Yeah, it sounds like he wanted to throw his hat into the ring. Who knows if he was serious or if the BBC even considered it.

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I'm honestly not 100% sure either, lol. If there's something more definitive deeper in his twitter feed history, I haven't seen it.

I tend to shy away from reading the comments sections on his posts because there are just so many... syco-fans, if you will, but all the inevitable "OH I KNOW ONE PERSON WHO WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER... YOU!" comments are written in such a way that it seems likely he really did throw that hat.

 

[Grue]

Davies hinting at his Doctor Who plans?

https://screenrant.com/doctor-who-rtd-new-vision-hints-shared-universe-spinoffs/

My hype keeps growing...

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Super-interesting comments, both from Chibnall and Davies.

I mean yeah, one way to secure the long-term survival of the show is to go big, or go home. One inherent danger of the show is that if the current Doctor, writer-showrunner, or both don't go down well - it's all over for a while. That's happened before, and came close several times more.

I don't think the franchise could survive on a Torchwood or SJA alone for any great time; but I can totally see those multiverse rumours playing out here, to give the Beeb more eggs and more baskets. Maybe set the stage in the 60th?

That really would be a radical change to the show. It's always been so heavily dependent on one Doctor and one ongoing story for nearly six decades, with only regeneration as the ultimate 'okay let's try this' button.

 

[zooj]

J. Michael Straczynski was jockeying for this, I guess? But now a B5 reboot/reimagining has been announced with him at the helm, so... I guess I'm... glad...? He didn't get it...?

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I feel like he mentioned this somewhat recently, probably as the BBC were wrapping up negotiations with RTD

 

[Nateo]

I stopped watching after Capaldi I tried to keep going but it was such shit. Which is impressive since DW doesnt set a high bar to begin with.

 

[Toxi]

Man, I really can't wait. RTD was the show runner back when I became a fan, and I still love his schmaltzy approach that everyone hated back in the day.

I'm much happier about this than I would be if Moffat returned. His entire show run was incredibly weak IMO, constantly wanting to subvert the audience with a big "bad wolf" style twist that never actually felt like it paid it's dues.

He gets a lot of undue praise imo, while he did write some good episodes I feel that Blink is put on too high a pedestal.

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Blink is put on such a high pedestal because it's a fantastic self-contained story to a degree that arguably no other Doctor Who episode has ever matched.

Like, there's a reason everyone recommends Blink to new viewers. Only other episode that might be better as an introduction is Smith and Jones.

 

[GrahamGoring]

Considering the long lead time RTD has and that it's being made by a different production company and presumably with an all new cast, could it be that we'll see a new series arrive surprisingly hot on the heels of Jodie's swansong?

 

[plagiarize]

RTD was fantastic as show runner, and It's a Sin proves he's still very much on top of his game as a writer, so this news has been a really happy thing to think about over the last few days.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

Considering the long lead time RTD has and that it's being made by a different production company and presumably with an all new cast, could it be that we'll see a new series arrive surprisingly hot on the heels of Jodie's swansong?

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It's possible. But I would never expect faster production turnarounds until COVID is more under control. I guess we are talking almost 3 years out though so who knows.

 

[Aprikurt]

Man, I really can't wait. RTD was the show runner back when I became a fan, and I still love his schmaltzy approach that everyone hated back in the day.

Blink is put on such a high pedestal because it's a fantastic self-contained story to a degree that arguably no other Doctor Who episode has ever matched.

Like, there's a reason everyone recommends Blink to new viewers. Only other episode that might be better as an introduction is Smith and Jones.

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Blink is diminished somewhat by Moffat bringing them back so many times "What if ____ was an angel!?"

 

[TheGummyBear]

Blink is diminished somewhat by Moffat bringing them back so many times "What if ____ was an angel!?"

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Moffat used them twice during his era, three times counting the cameo in The Time of the Doctor.

They were going to be the big villain of Class too, but that went nowhere for obvious reasons. He didn't overuse them at all though.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

Moffat used them twice during his era, three times counting the cameo in The Time of the Doctor.

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He did use them only two (more) times in a major capacity but both times he widened their lore and cheapened them as antagonists. I have to wonder if Moffat regrets things like Winter Quay and the moving/talking Angels.

 

[TheGummyBear]

He did use them only two (more) times in a major capacity but both times he widened their lore and cheapened them as antagonists. I have to wonder if Moffat regrets things like Winter Quay and the moving/talking Angels.

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Massive disagree. If Blink was Alien, the season 5 two parter was Aliens, with seeing the angels move being the pay off. And it's eerie and creepy to see it happen.

The only weak link in my opinion was Angels Take Manhattan, but that was Moffat trying to put a definite end on the Ponds' story arc while only having so much time to do it, because both Arthur and Karen quit the show. (With it later becoming clear Karen left for a much bigger commitment.)

 

[PlanetSmasher]

Massive disagree. If Blink was Alien, the season 5 two parter was Aliens, with seeing the angels move being the pay off. And it's eerie and creepy to see it happen.

The only weak link in my opinion was Angels Take Manhattan, but that was Moffat trying to put a definite end on the Ponds' story arc while only having so much time to do it, because both Arthur and Karen quit the show. (With it later becoming clear Karen left for a much bigger commitment.)

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I still feel like they shouldn't have done the split season 7 at all. The end of S6 already felt like a sendoff for Amy and Rory but they brought them back for a really weird set of episodes that just kinda STOPPED, which thus led to Clara's introduction feeling stunted and awkward as a result. A timeline where they just had Clara as the new companion from the beginning of S7 (and kept the original concept of Victorian Clara being the companion instead of Modern) probably would've felt more organic.

 

[Blader]

I liked The Angels Take Manhattan but the antagonists didn't really need to be the angels at all.

I still feel like they shouldn't have done the split season 7 at all. The end of S6 already felt like a sendoff for Amy and Rory but they brought them back for a really weird set of episodes that just kinda STOPPED, which thus led to Clara's introduction feeling stunted and awkward as a result. A timeline where they just had Clara as the new companion from the beginning of S7 (and kept the original concept of Victorian Clara being the companion instead of Modern) probably would've felt more organic.

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Yeah The God Complex was already a perfect off-ramp for Amy and Rory, but then their appearances in the next three episodes made their story feel less closed. Ironically, Chibnall's Power of Three also ended up being a good exit for Amy and Rory, but Moff didn't take it and went one more episode lol. Though apparently Karen Gillian was insistent on killing Amy.

 

[TheGummyBear]

I still feel like they shouldn't have done the split season 7 at all. The end of S6 already felt like a sendoff for Amy and Rory but they brought them back for a really weird set of episodes that just kinda STOPPED, which thus led to Clara's introduction feeling stunted and awkward as a result. A timeline where they just had Clara as the new companion from the beginning of S7 (and kept the original concept of Victorian Clara being the companion instead of Modern) probably would've felt more organic.

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As someone who went to the BFI premiere of season 7; I agree with you. It felt like Karen and Arthur quitting put Moffat in a difficult spot though. And it's clear he didn't know how to handle it.

Whatever happened to cause it, sitting in the BFI theater watching Amy and Rory suddenly at each other's throats and demanding divorce was dissonant as hell.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

As someone who went to the BFI premiere of season 7; I agree with you. It felt like Karen and Arthur quitting put Moffat in a difficult spot though. And it's clear he didn't know how to handle it.

Whatever happened to cause it, sitting in the BFI theater watching Amy and Rory suddenly at each other's throats and demanding divorce was dissonant as hell.

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Yeah. The whole character arc reset in Asylum was so confusing and really tonally discordant, especially after the last few episodes clearly pushed them closer together and further from the Doctor.

Yeah The God Complex was already a perfect off-ramp for Amy and Rory, but then their appearances in the next three episodes made their story feel less closed. Ironically, Chibnall's Power of Three also ended up being a good exit for Amy and Rory, but Moff didn't take it and went one more episode lol. Though apparently Karen Gillian was insistent on killing Amy.

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I kinda feel like Karen and Jenna both did that on purpose to make sure they got to have clean breaks from the show.

 

[Blader]

Yeah. The whole character arc reset in Asylum was so confusing and really tonally discordant, especially after the last few episodes clearly pushed them closer together and further from the Doctor.



I kinda feel like Karen and Jenna both did that on purpose to make sure they got to have clean breaks from the show.

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Did Jenna make that request too? Because Moffat was already planning to kill her off when she changed her mind and decided to do another year!

The Amy/Rory stuff in Asylum of the Daleks sucks. Totally out of nowhere and contrived as hell. "We have to get a divorce, and I'm not going to tell you really why, ok it's actually about how we can't have kids" something that was apparently never discussed all this time? lol.

I generally like Moffat as a writer more than most here but with Amy and Rory it felt like the only thing he knew to do with them was constantly pair them together, pull them apart, then get them back together again. Rory dies so he can come back to Amy, Amy is kidnapped so Rory can rescue her, in the Wedding of River Song universe they forget each other until they meet again, they get divorced in Asylum until they don't and reconcile. It got annoying.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

Did Jenna make that request too? Because Moffat was already planning to kill her off when she changed her mind and decided to do another year!

The Amy/Rory stuff in Asylum of the Daleks sucks. Totally out of nowhere and contrived as hell. "We have to get a divorce, and I'm not going to tell you really why, ok it's actually about how we can't have kids" something that was apparently never discussed all this time? lol.

I generally like Moffat as a writer more than most here but with Amy and Rory it felt like the only thing he knew to do with them was constantly pair them together, pull them apart, then get them back together again. Rory dies so he can come back to Amy, Amy is kidnapped so Rory can rescue her, in the Wedding of River Song universe they forget each other until they meet again, they get divorced in Asylum until they don't and reconcile. It got annoying.

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I honestly can't tell how Jenna felt about the role because yeah, she was literally leaving the show until she decided not to. So maybe in her case it WAS all Moffat.

Amy and Rory, yeah...they're just casualties of Amy not being much of a CHARACTER on her own. Moffat really didn't know how to write her consistently so her only character traits were "scottish" and "loves Rory" and "sometimes maybe loves the Doctor too?"

 

[TheGummyBear]

I honestly can't tell how Jenna felt about the role because yeah, she was literally leaving the show until she decided not to. So maybe in her case it WAS all Moffat.

Amy and Rory, yeah...they're just casualties of Amy not being much of a CHARACTER on her own. Moffat really didn't know how to write her consistently so her only character traits were "scottish" and "loves Rory" and "sometimes maybe loves the Doctor too?"

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Didn't Jenna stay at the request of Capaldi, because he was upset to lose his co-star so soon and he thought they were a fun pairing?

I know i read somewhere that she was supposed to leave in Last Christmas (Which was why it was called that.) But they refilmed the ending after Capaldi asked her to do one more season.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

Didn't Jenna stay at the request of Capaldi, because he was upset to lose his co-star so soon and he thought they were a fun pairing?

I know i read somewhere that she was supposed to leave in Last Christmas (Which was why it was called that.) But they refilmed the ending after Capaldi asked her to do one more season.

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I wouldn't be surprised if Capaldi had a hand in convincing her to stay, yeah. We know she was fully prepared to leave the show during Last Christmas (hence why the entire story is ABOUT that) and then changed her mind in the middle of filming and they had to redo the ending, like you said.

 

[Blader]

Didn't Jenna stay at the request of Capaldi, because he was upset to lose his co-star so soon and he thought they were a fun pairing?

I know i read somewhere that she was supposed to leave in Last Christmas (Which was why it was called that.) But they refilmed the ending after Capaldi asked her to do one more season.

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What I had heard was that she planned to leave at the end of S8, but changed her mind after she and Capaldi got on so well together during the S8 press tour.

 

[TheGummyBear]

What I had heard was that she planned to leave at the end of S8, but changed her mind after she and Capaldi got on so well together during the S8 press tour.

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I think what we have both heard may be one and the same, as she would have left during Last Christmas.

Looking back, that episode shows how much it was drastically chopped and changed, especially after Season 8 kind of built towards her leaving the show.

 

[SPRidley]

My favouritte series ever is Doctor Who so as fan of Russel T and Moffat, and hated Chibnall, this is nothing but good news.
Just hope he retains at least the more cinematic moffat look, because his run and most of stories were great, but damn if everything looked like a soap opera and Moffat changed that as soon as he got the show.

Also hope Russel brings Murray Gold back. And erase the fucking travesty that was last season from canon. And maybe he can bring back Moffat to write some great episodes. Cant wait!

What is a pity is that Jodie will not be able to have a shot with a real showrunner like Russel.

 

[TheGummyBear]

As a fan of Russel T and Moffat, and hated Chibnall, this is nothing but good news.
Just hope he retains at least the more cinematic moffat look, because his run and most of stories were great, but damn if everything looked like a soap opera and Moffat changed that as soon as he got the show.

Also hope Russel brings Murray Gold back. And erase the fucking travesty that was last season from canon

What is a pity is that Jodie will not be able to have a shot with a real showrunner like Russel.

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The "soap opera" look was more down to the fact that Doctor Who didn't start filming in HD until season 5. (I think Tennant's final specials were too, but point remains.)

And as much as I like Murray Gold, i hope the composer is a new fresh pick. Gold would often get too bombastic, and I'm pretty sure he said himself he was done. Guy spent over a decade doing Doctor Who, I'd like to try a new sound.

 

[Jakenbakin]

ROSE MATAFEO, she's my new number one choice. Her or Nikesh Patel, or Aisling Bea.

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There's a big kiwi shaped problem with that one I think, though I'm right there with you haha.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

The "soap opera" look was more down to the fact that Doctor Who didn't start filming in HD until season 5. (I think Tennant's final specials were too, but point remains.)

And as much as I like Murray Gold, i hope the composer is a new fresh pick. Gold would often get too bombastic, and I'm pretty sure he said himself he was done. Guy spent over a decade doing Doctor Who, I'd like to try a new sound.

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This is correct, yeah. City of the Dead was the first episode of Who filmed and broadcast in HD.

 

[plagiarize]

Throw all the money at Ludwig.

 

[Teiresias]

The "soap opera" look was more down to the fact that Doctor Who didn't start filming in HD until season 5. (I think Tennant's final specials were too, but point remains.)

And as much as I like Murray Gold, i hope the composer is a new fresh pick. Gold would often get too bombastic, and I'm pretty sure he said himself he was done. Guy spent over a decade doing Doctor Who, I'd like to try a new sound.

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The change to HD and the change in lighting design helped the show move into a more cinematic look. RTD DW is lit very much like 90s Star Trek much of the time, which didn't age well either.

 

[bremen]

Time for DW to recast older Doctors and make some prequel seasons.

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Big Finish beat them to it.

 

[Naijaboy]

Twitch did BBC a solid with the marathon. If there ever was a time to revisit stuff there, now would be great.

 

[Dary]

I still feel like they shouldn't have done the split season 7 at all. The end of S6 already felt like a sendoff for Amy and Rory but they brought them back for a really weird set of episodes that just kinda STOPPED, which thus led to Clara's introduction feeling stunted and awkward as a result. A timeline where they just had Clara as the new companion from the beginning of S7 (and kept the original concept of Victorian Clara being the companion instead of Modern) probably would've felt more organic.

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I think Moffat's run did a good job of demonstrating just how chaotic an industry television is, and how that makes it difficult to draw up long term storytelling plans.

 

[butalala]

I still feel like they shouldn't have done the split season 7 at all. The end of S6 already felt like a sendoff for Amy and Rory but they brought them back for a really weird set of episodes that just kinda STOPPED, which thus led to Clara's introduction feeling stunted and awkward as a result. A timeline where they just had Clara as the new companion from the beginning of S7 (and kept the original concept of Victorian Clara being the companion instead of Modern) probably would've felt more organic.

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It's my understanding that these split seasons were to save money for the 50th special. That could be BS.

 

[Magister Xehanort]

Jenna initially wanted to leave at Christmas special but later changed her mind, but her planned ending by Moffat was always the of season 9.

 

[Naijaboy]

Jenna initially wanted to leave at Christmas special but later changed her mind, but her planned ending by Moffat was always the of season 9.

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That Christmas special ending was amazing if that was how her story would end.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

It's my understanding that these split seasons were to save money for the 50th special. That could be BS.

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From what Moffat has said, actually doing the 50th PERIOD almost killed him. It kinda seems like Davies was better at the production side of running the show than Moff was.

 

[Kschreck]

I wanted to ask Doctor Who fans a question and see if you guys could answer this for me;

I greatly enjoyed series 1-4 a lot but personally found Moffatt series 5-6 to be my favorite episodes of all of Who. I loved the whimsical feel, all the grand mysteries with stuff like the crack in the wall, Riversong, etc. The twists were great, the music was godly and the Doctor's speeches were amazing.

However series 7 and onward always felt like a massive setback to me. Gone were the big mysteries, etc. I still enjoyed series 7-10 but the writing always felt less epic. It certainly had great moments never reached the highd on series 5-6 for me. I want to state this is just my opinion.

What I am asking is if anyone here knows why the sudden shift in tone? Did the BBC interfere with the creative process in any way like instructing Moffatt to have less mysteries and twists and gear the show toward a younger audience? Was Moffatt just stretched really thin doing other shows like Sherlock? Was he running out of ideas? Something else altogether?

I just want to know why the quality really dipped after series 6. The whole tone of the show really changed after that point. I thought I even read that Matt Smith decided to leave after series 7 due to the quality drop but I may be remembering wrong so don't quote me here.

Does anyone here have decent knowledge as to what changed with the show after series 6 leading to what I perceive as a lower quality product?

Edit:[/] I found this article where Moffat states he was incredibly stretched thin during series 7 working on series 7, the 50th anniversary and Sherlock at the same time. Also states that Matt Smith leaving really complicated his plans...

The Worst Season Of Doctor Who, According To Steven Moffat

As with every TV show, not all the Doctor Who seasons have been flawless, and for current showrunner Steven Moffat, one stretch during the show's run was especially difficult for him.

www.cinemablend.com

Since series 8, 9 and 10 continued with a similar quality to 7, I'm going assume he remained stretched thin through until he eventually stepped down.

 

[Magister Xehanort]

I wanted to ask Doctor Who fans a question and see if you guys could answer this for me;

I greatly enjoyed series 1-4 a lot but personally found Moffatt series 5-6 to be my favorite episodes of all of Who. I loved the whimsical feel, all the grand mysteries with stuff like the crack in the wall, Riversong, etc. The twists were great, the music was godly and the Doctor's speeches were amazing.

However series 7 and onward always felt like a massive setback to me. Gone were the big mysteries, etc. I still enjoyed series 7-10 but the writing always felt less epic. It certainly had great moments never reached the highd on series 5-6 for me. I want to state this is just my opinion.

What I am asking is if anyone here knows why the sudden shift in tone? Did the BBC interfere with the creative process in any way like instructing Moffatt to have less mysteries and twists and gear the show toward a younger audience? Was Moffatt just stretched really thin doing other shows like Sherlock? Was he running out of ideas? Something else altogether?

I just want to know why the quality really dipped after series 6. The whole tone of the show really changed after that point. I thought I even read that Matt Smith decided to leave after series 7 due to the quality drop but I may be remembering wrong so don't quote me here.

Does anyone here have decent knowledge as to what changed with the show after series 6 leading to what I perceive as a lower quality product?

Click to shrink...

I can't answer as I consider it a fact that the best time for Doctor Who was the Capaldi period. And although there were problems in the production of season 7 the next seasons were objectively some of the best written by Doctor Who.

That Christmas special ending was amazing if that was how her story would end.

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Although it could be a good ending, it would be against Clara's message and character development.

About Clara's character, I love your relationship with the doctor, its complexity, its flaws, is the most complex and developed character of the new series (Clara, we knows that she loves stories, she sees the life of her parents as a fairy tale, loves and wants to take care of children she has an authoritarian personality and tries to take control of the situation (I'm not just talking about their several episodes of the eighth season about this, but also looks to the end of The Bells of Saint John different from the other companions that when the Doctor are invited them to Tardis instead of jumping inside the Tardis she sends him come back the next day, she takes control of the situation and it shows that it will do the thing of traveling with him on her terms, she takes control of the situation instead of the Doctor who let her travel with him is the Doctor waiting to know if she will travel with him). I hate it when they say that Clara is too perfect, when she is the companion with more defects being quoted and who are important for the stories and their development, this does not make sense. Clara is my favorite companion of the new series and the most of the people completely lose the arc point of the Impossible girl: The whole point of her season 7 arc was The doctor realizes that he was wrong and she is only a normal person who later did something incredible, like Rose and Donna. Initially she tried to balance her normal life with the life With life with the doctor, And as Danny died it was as if there was nothing else that bound her to Earth, she saw herself as a protagonist of a book, she and Doctor were the heroes who could always save the day and escape the danger, of course it ended Being so equal to the Doctor who ended up dead, plus she and the Doctor forged such a deep bond and he this season (the ninth) was already tired of letting people die (Ashildr's bow, the girl's death in the bow of the underwater base ) and did not want to lose anybody else and with desire of revenge against the Time Lords he ended up going too far and breaking the laws of time and he brought her to life, plus what could end up breaking the universe, but he with his selfish did not want Give up saving Clara, so he had to erase his memories of her, and you can notice he learned the lesson that everything has to end an hour, that nothing is forever, in the at the The Husbands of River Song. Clara of course would return to Gallifrey, her final arc was a critique of the trope of killing of female character and that any person can be the Doctor, that he is not just a being, but an ideal that anyone can try to be, Idea that has several Moffat scripts, like Extremis, The Zygon Inversion, The Witch's Familiar and several others.

Here is the best Clara analysis and its passage in the series from start to finish with its development:

Clara Oswald: A Study of the Impossible Girl

Guest contributor Ruth Long begins a tribute series looking back over Jenna Coleman's companion.

www.doctorwhotv.co.uk

Clara Oswald: A Study of the Impossible Mirror

Guest contributor Ruth Long continues her tribute series looking back over Jenna Coleman's companion.

www.doctorwhotv.co.uk

Clara Oswald: A Study of the Impossible Storyteller (Part 1)

Guest contributor Ruth Long continues her tribute series looking back over Jenna Coleman's companion.

www.doctorwhotv.co.uk

Clara Oswald: A Study of the Impossible Storyteller (Part 2)

Guest contributor Ruth Long continues her tribute series looking back over Jenna Coleman's companion.

www.doctorwhotv.co.uk

Clara Oswald: A Study of the Impossible Storyteller (Part 3)

Guest contributor Ruth Long concludes her tribute series looking back over Jenna Coleman's companion.

www.doctorwhotv.co.uk

 

[Deleted member 17184]

I wanted to ask Doctor Who fans a question and see if you guys could answer this for me;

I greatly enjoyed series 1-4 a lot but personally found Moffatt series 5-6 to be my favorite episodes of all of Who. I loved the whimsical feel, all the grand mysteries with stuff like the crack in the wall, Riversong, etc. The twists were great, the music was godly and the Doctor's speeches were amazing.

However series 7 and onward always felt like a massive setback to me. Gone were the big mysteries, etc. I still enjoyed series 7-10 but the writing always felt less epic. It certainly had great moments never reached the highd on series 5-6 for me. I want to state this is just my opinion.

What I am asking is if anyone here knows why the sudden shift in tone? Did the BBC interfere with the creative process in any way like instructing Moffatt to have less mysteries and twists and gear the show toward a younger audience? Was Moffatt just stretched really thin doing other shows like Sherlock? Was he running out of ideas? Something else altogether?

I just want to know why the quality really dipped after series 6. The whole tone of the show really changed after that point. I thought I even read that Matt Smith decided to leave after series 7 due to the quality drop but I may be remembering wrong so don't quote me here.

Does anyone here have decent knowledge as to what changed with the show after series 6 leading to what I perceive as a lower quality product?

Edit:[/] I found this article where Moffat states he was incredibly stretched thin during series 7 working on series 7, the 50th anniversary and Sherlock at the same time. Also states that Matt Smith leaving really complicated his plans...

The Worst Season Of Doctor Who, According To Steven Moffat

As with every TV show, not all the Doctor Who seasons have been flawless, and for current showrunner Steven Moffat, one stretch during the show's run was especially difficult for him.

www.cinemablend.com

Since series 8, 9 and 10 continued with a similar quality to 7, I'm going assume he remained stretched thin through until he eventually stepped down.

Click to shrink...

I think season 8 was such a sudden shift of tone that caught a lot of fans off-guard. Season 9 got better, but especially 10. I think they were trying to find the best voice for Capaldi's Doctor while they instantaneously got that with Matt Smith.