Ah, the brain-bending twists and turns of a modern Doctor Who plot. Be it episode or series, we’ve come to expect some pretty convoluted machinations. And you know what? I like to be made to think about what I’m watching. I enjoy a challenge.

Just not where it pertains to major plot points.

A theme unfortunately common to Series Seven could be summarized as “WTF just happened here?” Perhaps the most obvious case in point was The Angels Take Manhattan. At the end of the episode, Amy and Rory are zapped back in time by the Weeping Angels, forever lost to the Doctor. Because New York City in 1938 was a temporal mess. Or something.

Before the theme music over the final credits had even faded, though, fans everywhere were looking at each other in puzzlement. Why couldn’t the Doctor ever see them again? If NYC was the problem, why couldn’t they meet him in Vegas or London instead? If it was 1938, then why not wait until 1952? Or maybe 1952 London?

It took a lengthy explanation during a later interview for Moffat to get across to the fans (or at least those who were interested in tracking down such an after-the-fact resolution) why the stated strictures applied. That kind of post-broadcast interpretive commentary throws up all sorts of red flags that a script has failed. If you have to tell your audience specifically why your story doesn’t fall apart at the end, you’ve gone wrong somewhere along the way. A story should stand on its own, without any external context. Simple as that.

Now I’ve also read that Moffat prides himself in the way he doesn’t dumb down his stories (whether Doctor Who or Sherlock) for his audience. He expects viewers “to put two and two together for themselves.” That’s all well and good—as I say, I do enjoy an intellectual challenge—and once or even twice I might forgive a lack of clarity, but it’s a pattern now. When large swathes of your target market (those pesky “fans” who over-analyze everything) come away feeling confused, then it’s time to re-evaluate your delivery.

And therein lies the key difference between the pre-Hiatus and post-Hiatus eras of the show. When I’ve felt stretched by “Classic” episodes, it’s almost always been a matter of ramifications rather than one of story. Sure things are more complex now, and a modern audience expects a different energy out of a program. But if you don’t want to bring your stories down to the level of the lowest common consumer, then challenge us to think about the implications of characters’ experiences rather than how the mechanics of the plot fit within the rules of the universe you’ve helped define.

Leave us stroking our chins, not scratching our heads.