Review: Doctor Who, The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon

[ed_rex]

Doctor Who or Doctor Doom?

The real problem with Steven Moffat

I fear I'm becoming One of Them, one of those strange and hideous trolls, shuffling about in the dark passageways of fandom, who seem to exist only to tear down that which they claim to love. You know the one: I've watched every episode of New Who and I've hated every bloody one of them!

Well, I'm now one-sixth of the way through Steven Moffat's second series at the helm of this venerable franchise, and I'm coming more and more to resemble that monstrous beast, The Fan Who Hates His (or Her) Fandom.

The accusation's been tossed at me before, but not, I think, with even a smidgeon of truth. So far.

Though it's no secret I haven't been any too pleased with Steven Moffat's reign as Who's show-runner so far, the fact that his was the mind behind episodes like "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances" and "Blink" gave me good reason to hope for better things to come.

But now, having viewed the opening story of his second series, and coming after the morally idiotic Christmas special, my hope is dwindling fast.

Like a bungling time-traveller, Moffat seems to be working backwards. Starting as a writer of the morally complex, spiritually uplifting and yet also frightening (and even very funny!) tour de force that was "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances", his decline sees him shedding even the facade of a moral stance in favour of a puzzle. A puzzle whose solution is, er, genocide.

Read more? Spoilers and a hell of a lot of negativity at Edifice Rex Online.

Comments

[evilawyer]

Not seen it yet (I love spoilers), but it sounds like Moffat's Eleven quite possibly is closer to becoming The Valeyard, whose motivation wasn't exactly lust for power and personal gain. That was in there, but that wasn't all of it. Not a pleasant thought, but the Valeyard was also the Doctor, just "the Doctor x the Doctor's alien arrogance to the nth power".

I need to catch up

[ed_rex]

I keep hearing about The Valeyard, but that's part of my personal "missing Who" files. Must catch up when I get the chance, even though I grit my teeth just thinking about watching either 5 or 6.

Re: I need to catch up

[evilawyer]

You can always skip straight to the Trial of a Time Lord season and spare yourself excessive Six and Five all together. Not a bad way to go. Plus, if you've seen Seven's final season, you've seen a bit of the Valeyard in action, I think. (Hope that's not a spoiler --- don't think it is as it gives away zero plot points for any serial.)