Doctor Who [12]

I think there's a argument to be made Who has dissapeared up its own arse a bit, again as a fan that's not necessarily a problem for me, but for those who don't take a show about a mad alien fiying around in a phonebox yelling nonsense at rubber aliens quite as seriously I can certainly see why the more mythos heavy, introspective stories of Moffat's tenure in recent years haven't been quite as popular with elements of the general public.

Pettytyrant101 wrote:and that's because its all style over substance.-Figg

Yet the last episode was all about substance, all about character, so much so it was a one man character study. So even when you get the substance you still complain about it.

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Pettytyrant101 wrote:it captures everything I love about Doctor Who- Figg

What rubbish plot, waste of the cybermen, a ridiculous and clumsy Victorian era/child labour metaphor with the emphasis on laboured, even more ridiculouis Cyber-King thing stomping about Victorian London, oh and lest we not forget a female dominatrix baddie you would instantly slaughter Moffat for on sexism grounds had he created her (as well as having a go at him for setting it in Victorian times too!) Hypocrisy thy name is woman!!

For fun Who at xmas I'd take a Xmas Carol over it any day of the week, or the Widow and the Wardrobe for that matter (and I wasnt even a big fan of it).

Pettytyrant101 wrote:From an interview of Moffat in RT-

RT- Were you perturbed by the dip in the ratings towards the start of this series? Is it solely attributable to stiff competition from the Rugby World Cup and The X Factor?


SM - There’s loads of things. I don’t want to get on anyone’s case but that wasn’t our best-run launch. This year is not a new Doctor year, it’s not an anniversary, or a new companion year. We can just concentrate on making Doctor Who, which is quite nice in a way. But it’s dangerous when you don’t have that special extra bit to launch a show with. The way it always goes is our highest episode is the first one, but this is the first year we’ve gone up mid-season – after the rugby died down. Our ratings went up with episode five.

RT - Can we discuss some of the recurring themes in your Doctor Who and why you return to them? You often focus on a little boy or girl in danger.

SM - Limited imagination! I’m a parent. Nothing so haunts me as a child in danger. At an utterly primal level, that’s who Doctor Who connects with most. Children. It may be loved by everybody, but it belongs to them. To put a child in danger – it’s not ruthless. It’s automatic. An element of Doctor Who going right back to An Unearthly Child.

RT - And you’ve often introduced a strong woman with an enigma at her core.

SM - It’s hardly something only I’ve done. And I’m married to a very powerful woman.

RT -What are the other themes or key points of this latest series?


SM - I knew this time for real Clara was leaving and I was interested in shining a little light on what that means for the Doctor. It’s a huge event for him. He doesn’t recover quickly. Doctor Who does that form of bereavement rather well. We have an emotionally engaged hero and those women he knows are not like James Bond girls. They don’t just disappear between movies. When the Doctor ends a friendship, it tears him apart. I like that. That’s a good thing to recognise. Friendship is a huge thing. And he’s so familiar with that, he can sense it on the wind. It’s coming again.

RT - Where does this accusation of misogyny come from? I know I’m just another bloke but I think you give women great roles and material. Nearly all the key people in the Dalek and Zygon episodes this year were women.


SM - It’s a big and complicated issue and I never quite know how to respond to it. The general point being made by these people is correct. We need better female role models and representation on screen. We need all of that. Maybe this is my dimwittery but I do not understand why Doctor Who of all shows is singled out as a misogynist show. And I’m really not like that. I’m sure I’m to the left of a lot of my detractors, but I don’t want to argue with them because I think generally they’re right. We do need to do better.
It’s important to me that the little girls watching see Amy or Clara or Rose and want to be like them. People object and say you’re turning it into The Clara Show but that’s always been the case from the beginning. The Doctor’s always been a co-lead. He’s the hero figure but he’s not any more than a co-lead. Elisabeth Sladen was not less important than Tom Baker. Katy Manning was not less important than Jon Pertwee. Ian and Barbara frequently eclipsed the Doctor. Rose Tyler was the star of modern Doctor Who for the first two years. Every time any paper carried a photo of Doctor Who, it wasn’t Chris [Eccleston] or David [Tennant], it was Billie [Piper]. And that’s a strength.

RT - How did you work to develop Peter’s Doctor this year?


SM - My big note this year was, “You’re the raddled old rocker.” If you want to play your electric guitar on top of a tank, you damn well do it. If you want to look like an insane dad, do it.

RT - Where did the guitar idea come from?


SM - Initially, from Peter’s between-season email. Which was him saying things he’d like to explore with the Doctor. He was basically saying, “I want to be more playful, I don’t just want to be the 12th Doctor, I want to be all the Doctors. Every Doctor coming in a mix.” And he thought maybe in his lonely moments in the Tardis he could play the guitar.
Which clicked into what I was thinking, watching Peter on the [2014] World Tour with his shades on, waving to the crowds and being such a rocker. That’s what he once was, rocking round Glasgow in his younger days when the whole world wanted him. I wanted to see that in his Doctor. It’s also the last thing you’d think his Doctor would do after last season, pick up a guitar and think, ‘Do you know what, I’m a bit of a rocker.’ The last thing you think he’d do is just what he should do.

RT - Would the dynamic of male and female companions work with Peter’s Doctor?

SM - That’s still being discussed. We’re definitely looking for a different dynamic.

RT - You’ve been in the job for six years now. How hard will it be to give up? Is the end in sight?


SM - I take it a year at a time and that’s the only answer I’ll ever give on that one. How hard, I don’t know.

RT - You told me once you wouldn’t leave until the right person emerged to pass on the baton to.

SM - That is an issue and one I’m actively engaged in but I can’t say much about that. Everything is difficult in Doctor Who, including leaving, and I would never do anything to harm it. I would never leave it in the lurch because it means too much to me. Yes, it’s a problem. Let’s not pretend it’s not a big problem. But there will be a solution. In terms of the emotional difficulty of leaving, it’s hard.

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-12-02/steven-moffat-talks-ratings-misogyny-casting-missy-ashildrs-end-game-the-next-companion-and-leaving-doctor-who

Mrs Figg wrote:

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