What with the post earlier this week by well-known Who pundit Ian Levine about the disappointing (bordering on alarming) state of the show during this, its fiftieth anniversary year, it seems like the right time to post a few of my own thoughts on the subject.
I’ve known from the moment it was announced that I was probably not going to love the Anniversary Special unconditionally. As the details unfold, I’ve continued to be cautiously optimistic – after all, Tennant is “my” Doctor (the one who really pulled me irrevocably into the show) – but am generally disappointed. Where are McGann, McCoy, Baker, Davison, and Baker (no one should ever have had any illusions that Eccleston would be in on it)? Are we not even going to see them in cameo roles as non-Doctor characters? I’m with Levine on that count, for sure. You can’t celebrate fifty years of a show’s history by highlighting only the most recent eight or so.
The real question, though, is about the future of the show as a whole – those regular new episodes of which we are about to have such a dearth. When it was first announced that RTD was leaving and that Moffat would be his successor, I was super excited. “The guy who wrote some of the best shows of the first four post-Hiatus years (The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, The Girl in the Fireplace, Blink, Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead) is going to be showrunner? Excellent!” It all turned out a bit differently than I’d envisioned once he took the reins, though.
I was really surprised when I realized that Moffat is not what I’d call a Big Picture Guy. Or maybe he’s too big picture, I don’t know… The Crack of Series 5 (aka 31) never got completely resolved. The whole thing with the Silence last series is still hanging over our heads (and was that tricksy bugger already referencing them when we first met River?). The whole Who Is Clara theme is currently beating us about the head and shoulders, in a series that was all supposedly going to be one-off’s (or perhaps that was extremely unclearly meant to be “Series 7A” rather than “Series 7” that comprised independent episodes?). None of these storylines has yet been resolved, in what is probably the modern equivalent of the reputed Cartmel Masterplan.
Now I’ll admit I like some arc in my season – I’ve said it before. What I don’t like is when things are left unresolved for too long. I want to believe that Moffat has some great conclusion to it all that will tie everything up into a nice bow, but I – like Levine – am losing faith. I enjoy Moffat’s quick-witted writing; it’s engaging, fast paced, and eminently quotable. However, he’s kind of given us the same story over and over again (not to mention aforementioned issues I have with his presentation of certain characters). I know he loves this show and is doing his damnedest to do right by it – I’m really trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. But it feels to me like he’s hit a wall. I think it’s time for another handover.
And it’s not like he doesn’t, or couldn’t, have other projects – Sherlock has been a great success, for example. I’d love to see him do a Vastra & Jenny spinoff. Perhaps the weight of expectations of the fandom grows too heavy. Whatever the case, I suspect a change might do both Moffat and the show a world of good.
As for Levine’s comments on the show’s treatment by the BBC, obviously he’s vastly more knowledgeable than I. I can only hope that the Beeb will come to its senses and start supporting its flagship program a bit more directly, because this thing is a serious worldwide phenomenon. If a fanbase can keep a show alive for fifty years despite a sixteen-year Hiatus without any new televised episodes (with one notable exception), you can be damn sure they’ll be up in arms if the Powers That Be try to make it disappear quietly.
For we are Legion.
I have to say I agree with
I have to say I agree with you on the whole. Moffat has proven to still be an effective writer, but as a showrunner his reach clearly exceeds his grasp. Part of the problem is that the expectations he builds (often directly) are so high. Each new batch of episodes is supposed to blow us away, apparently. Perhaps if they ratchet down the hype, and scale back the spiderwebby long-term narrative arcs (which, as you point out, have yet to make much sense), then the results will be more satisfying.
I’d just like the next season to tone it down a bit, and just focus on telling some damn fine stories, rather than some over-elaborate masterplan.
Expectations
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. Moffat – even more than RTD – is a master of hype. He’s always talking about how such-and-such a story is going to make you cry, and whatnot. Just tell us a damned story! Stop trying to hard to manipulate our emotions and focus on good plotting, for pity’s sake!
To summarize: I agree with your assessment. 🙂
Series 8?
When I read Ian Levine’s comments, another thing struck me, what he was clearly pointing out: we are getting less episodes. Nobody expects the amount of epsidoes as in the day of Classic Who. Although why did telelvision shows have so much more output then? Actors seemed to work at one job, like most people. Old sitcoms would have a run of 30 episodes or more a year, now they have 20 if they are lucky. Doctor Who had even more, I believe.
With all the clamouring about the 50th, though, has anyone mentioned Series 8, which would normally be due out in September, or is that just not going to occur now?
Agree with all of your comments! I just want some episodes that tell a good story and don’t have to be the end-all of everything!
Next series
One of the things that alarmed me about Levine’s note – and it alarmed him, as I read it – is that there’s been no actual word about Series 8. As in, has it even been commissioned by the BBC? At the earliest, Series 8 apparently wouldn’t run until some time in 2014. :
Hyping it up?
I would agree with what you have written. SM has, for me, too often guilty of the most disingenuous hyperbolic BS, promising game changing cliffhangers, or the Death of the Doctor, really. Yawn yawn
However on Den of Geek when talking about S7b finale he seems to have toned the hype down. See http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/doctor-who/25460/doctor-who-steven-moffat-on-the-name-of-the-doctor for details
I did wonder sometimes if there was an element of The Emperor’s New Clothes when people commented on The Moff’s tenure but the rumbles of discontent seem to be getting louder now and whilst he has every right to ignore them, when someone as well followed as the husband of the Wife in Space refers to Rings of Akhaten (not one of Moff’s I know) as one of the worst episodes ever (a big claim IMO given the competition from Season 24) maybe he should pause for thought?
Achilles’ Heel?
Do you suppose Moffat’s been hoist by his own petard, so to speak, with his continual hype?
He’s definitely within his right to ignore the naysayers – probably needs to, to stay sane – but if indeed the Trenzalore thing is all about to get wrapped up, then wouldn’t that perhaps be a natural spot to hand over the baton?
There are certain things Moffat does that I don’t like, but overall I appreciate his work, and I think his heart’s in the right place. For this particular show to stay fresh, though, some turnover is not necessarily a bad thing…
A Grain of Salt
It is worth remembering that Ian Levine still thinks of himself as “the man who saved Doctor Who” during the 18-month hiatus (which Levine still insists was a cancellation in disguise that he prevented by creating a massive publicity campaign to save the series.) I think on some level, he wants there to be another “cancellation crisis” so that he can step into the breach once more and rally the troops to save Doctor Who again.
Plus, you know, they confirmed Season Eight about two days after Season Seven actually ended. 🙂
Levine
I’ll admit I found it a bit disturbing to be agreeing with anything Ian Levine said. 😉 And yes, since I first posted this, more about the upcoming series has been confirmed, so I’m less worried. I still think it would do the show some good for Moffat to step down after Series Eight, though.