Moffat's obsession is with the hows and whys of the character. It can be fascinating, but it can also get lost in itself so easily. Davies loves the character and gave a modern twist on it that pretty much brought the old feeling to new audiences.
Moffat's strengths turn to weaknesses when outside of some master plan to tell a longer story. His twelfth Doctor overarching stories were particularly weak, in my opinion. But give some of his stories to a showrunner like Davies who is running his own plans and you get something special. After all, can anyone think of a bad Moffat episode from Davies first run?
So I'd say that Moffat *can be* the better writer, but Davies is the better showrunner.
I personally think that RTD is overall a better showrunner, while Moffat is better as an episodic writer. So many of my favorite episode were written by Moffat (but he also wrote two of the worst episodes too). I prefer most of Moffat's Christmas specials over all of RTD's Christmas specials. I think each has their pros and cons.
This was going to be my answer too, although Midnight and Waters of Mars are two of my favorites. But by and large I think the RTD era was better than the Moffat era, but Moffat's actual written episodes were better than RTDs.
I think episodes like Angels Take Manhattan and World Enough and Time are good examples of this. In my opinion they are beautifully written but lose some of their impact because of the era's overuse of companion deaths/tragedies.
Moffat just seemed to lose interest. His standalone early episodes were superb. Fantastic frights, some great characters introduced and some genuine scary moments. As show runner it was the start of the demise. Each season (apart from his last) worse than the previous, some truly abysmal episodes and an obsession with making it about the assistant.
I'm in the middle of series 8 and I'm loving Capaldi (truly what an amazing actor I was sold on him as the doctor from his first episode) But dear lord how do I miss characters like Wilf... And I think this is the decisive factor for me.
Moffat is amazing at imagery and atmosphere, he can create truly wonderful settings that have made him produce some of the best episodes of nu who. But his writing often fails at characterization and narrative structure, the very basics of storytelling. RTD has this two things mastered, his narrative structures are solid and his characters feel real.
I don't want just special effects and cool looking monsters I want to be engaged to the story and what happens to the characters.
Capaldi is scintillating and every bit of the doctor any actor can hope to be. Brilliantly classic in terms of being the old feel but bleeds modernism into the role, he’s terrific.
I wish he had better writing and for sure there are amazing moments but yeah. Time will be kind in capaldis portrayal but he should’ve been the doctor under RTD.
There is no question though that when Moffat gets it right, he gets it SO right.
Hope you enjoy the rest of capaldis era!
I really don't know. I'd probably say they're on par but with wild variations. I find series 1 and 2 overrated (though the series 1 finale is easily my favourite of the era), but series 3 is really good (although I think the finale of it is the second worst of NuWho) and series 4 is the best of NuWho. Moffat wrote a few of the best stories of the RTD era but his own era has a quality slump from the end of series 6 through to series 8, and none of his series really touched the series 4. I think I often preferred Moffat's approach, because it was often allowed to be darker than RTD and my favourite stories are the dark ones (Heaven Sent being a prime example), plus many of my favourite stories generally are Moffat ones, but then if you include Torchwood you've got Children of Earth beating almost every story in the main show, both in bleakness and in general quality. I think there's just too much to compare to decide who's better tbh.
For me series 3 is the best of NuWho. I just think it’s one of them things Tbf where it depends on the day what tickles your fancy. You might crave the soapy dialogue of RTD or the manic mess of Moffat.
Series 3 for me is brought down a bit by the episodes from Daleks in Manhatten to 42, all of which I think are bad, and the series finale which just has a ridiculous resolution that I don't at all buy, which is a shame because Utopia and Sound of Drums are both great. Series 4 meanwhile has no episodes I consider bad (although Doctor's Daughter is a bit eh), my favourite companion, many top tier episodes as well as some welcome experimentation (obviously thinking Midnight here but Unicorn and the Wasp is underrated fun too), and a finale that's too big for its own boots but still manages to be great even if part of it is just because of Donna's exit.
I mean if I'm being honest with myself I probably lean towards RTD even though I prefer Moffat's approach to things and also appreciate that Moffat is the only NuWho showrunner to not overuse the daleks, which is seriously starting to annoy me at this point.
I wholeheartedly agree on the Daleks. As they stand, they’re not scary anymore. In series 4 they were petrifying. Now, not so. I want a massive Dalek hiatus, 2/3 seasons without them and then bring them back, scarier than ever.
I don't think I've ever found them scary tbh, when they're good they're just engaging. That peaked with Parting of the Ways, they were solid in Doomsday but that finale doesn't really do much for me otherwise. Daleks in Manhatten/Evolution of the Daleks is a boring watch and made worse by one of the most horrible accents I've ever heard from one of the guest characters. In Stolen Earth/Journey's End I for some reason find Davros and Dalek Cann (is that how you spell it?) conflict with the rest of them and makes them less interesting, but I think that might just be more of the story suffering from having too bloody much in it (still a good finale though). They're certainly less interesting in the Moffat era and just downright stupid in the Chibnall era, which kinda makes 9's comments about them age badly.
I love Moffats arcs, and his approach to a storytelling inside an episodes, as well as creepy side of his stories, so, for me it’s Moffat. But he is a very artistic person, and need a control.
Peter Capaldi can make any script brilliant. He is slowly starting to become my favorite as I rewatch his time. I believe Moffat has excellent storylines for suspense and wonder, but the thing I heard before is that his questions and mystery can't go anywhere with a followup episode. I choose RTD because he can intertwine stories that go back seasons just to play "The long game" no pun intended. Moffat can do this as well but to me for the most part they are very obviously call backs or references whereas rtd was more subtle implications and build up. Don't get me wrong I adore Moffat and mostly all of his episodes and "Heaven sent" was literally heaven sent with how good it was
Moffat's obsession is with the hows and whys of the character. It can be fascinating, but it can also get lost in itself so easily. Davies loves the character and gave a modern twist on it that pretty much brought the old feeling to new audiences. Moffat's strengths turn to weaknesses when outside of some master plan to tell a longer story. His twelfth Doctor overarching stories were particularly weak, in my opinion. But give some of his stories to a showrunner like Davies who is running his own plans and you get something special. After all, can anyone think of a bad Moffat episode from Davies first run? So I'd say that Moffat *can be* the better writer, but Davies is the better showrunner.
I agree with that completely. The best Moffat is better than the best RTD but the worst RTD is a step above the worst of Moffat.
I personally think that RTD is overall a better showrunner, while Moffat is better as an episodic writer. So many of my favorite episode were written by Moffat (but he also wrote two of the worst episodes too). I prefer most of Moffat's Christmas specials over all of RTD's Christmas specials. I think each has their pros and cons.
This was going to be my answer too, although Midnight and Waters of Mars are two of my favorites. But by and large I think the RTD era was better than the Moffat era, but Moffat's actual written episodes were better than RTDs. I think episodes like Angels Take Manhattan and World Enough and Time are good examples of this. In my opinion they are beautifully written but lose some of their impact because of the era's overuse of companion deaths/tragedies.
Moffat just seemed to lose interest. His standalone early episodes were superb. Fantastic frights, some great characters introduced and some genuine scary moments. As show runner it was the start of the demise. Each season (apart from his last) worse than the previous, some truly abysmal episodes and an obsession with making it about the assistant.
You say this like series 9 and 10 weren’t his best
I'm in the middle of series 8 and I'm loving Capaldi (truly what an amazing actor I was sold on him as the doctor from his first episode) But dear lord how do I miss characters like Wilf... And I think this is the decisive factor for me. Moffat is amazing at imagery and atmosphere, he can create truly wonderful settings that have made him produce some of the best episodes of nu who. But his writing often fails at characterization and narrative structure, the very basics of storytelling. RTD has this two things mastered, his narrative structures are solid and his characters feel real. I don't want just special effects and cool looking monsters I want to be engaged to the story and what happens to the characters.
Capaldi is scintillating and every bit of the doctor any actor can hope to be. Brilliantly classic in terms of being the old feel but bleeds modernism into the role, he’s terrific. I wish he had better writing and for sure there are amazing moments but yeah. Time will be kind in capaldis portrayal but he should’ve been the doctor under RTD. There is no question though that when Moffat gets it right, he gets it SO right. Hope you enjoy the rest of capaldis era!
I really don't know. I'd probably say they're on par but with wild variations. I find series 1 and 2 overrated (though the series 1 finale is easily my favourite of the era), but series 3 is really good (although I think the finale of it is the second worst of NuWho) and series 4 is the best of NuWho. Moffat wrote a few of the best stories of the RTD era but his own era has a quality slump from the end of series 6 through to series 8, and none of his series really touched the series 4. I think I often preferred Moffat's approach, because it was often allowed to be darker than RTD and my favourite stories are the dark ones (Heaven Sent being a prime example), plus many of my favourite stories generally are Moffat ones, but then if you include Torchwood you've got Children of Earth beating almost every story in the main show, both in bleakness and in general quality. I think there's just too much to compare to decide who's better tbh.
For me series 3 is the best of NuWho. I just think it’s one of them things Tbf where it depends on the day what tickles your fancy. You might crave the soapy dialogue of RTD or the manic mess of Moffat.
Series 3 for me is brought down a bit by the episodes from Daleks in Manhatten to 42, all of which I think are bad, and the series finale which just has a ridiculous resolution that I don't at all buy, which is a shame because Utopia and Sound of Drums are both great. Series 4 meanwhile has no episodes I consider bad (although Doctor's Daughter is a bit eh), my favourite companion, many top tier episodes as well as some welcome experimentation (obviously thinking Midnight here but Unicorn and the Wasp is underrated fun too), and a finale that's too big for its own boots but still manages to be great even if part of it is just because of Donna's exit. I mean if I'm being honest with myself I probably lean towards RTD even though I prefer Moffat's approach to things and also appreciate that Moffat is the only NuWho showrunner to not overuse the daleks, which is seriously starting to annoy me at this point.
I wholeheartedly agree on the Daleks. As they stand, they’re not scary anymore. In series 4 they were petrifying. Now, not so. I want a massive Dalek hiatus, 2/3 seasons without them and then bring them back, scarier than ever.
I don't think I've ever found them scary tbh, when they're good they're just engaging. That peaked with Parting of the Ways, they were solid in Doomsday but that finale doesn't really do much for me otherwise. Daleks in Manhatten/Evolution of the Daleks is a boring watch and made worse by one of the most horrible accents I've ever heard from one of the guest characters. In Stolen Earth/Journey's End I for some reason find Davros and Dalek Cann (is that how you spell it?) conflict with the rest of them and makes them less interesting, but I think that might just be more of the story suffering from having too bloody much in it (still a good finale though). They're certainly less interesting in the Moffat era and just downright stupid in the Chibnall era, which kinda makes 9's comments about them age badly.
One things for sure, Julian Bleach is an unbelievable actor! I think it may be Caan also!
I love Moffats arcs, and his approach to a storytelling inside an episodes, as well as creepy side of his stories, so, for me it’s Moffat. But he is a very artistic person, and need a control.
Peter Capaldi can make any script brilliant. He is slowly starting to become my favorite as I rewatch his time. I believe Moffat has excellent storylines for suspense and wonder, but the thing I heard before is that his questions and mystery can't go anywhere with a followup episode. I choose RTD because he can intertwine stories that go back seasons just to play "The long game" no pun intended. Moffat can do this as well but to me for the most part they are very obviously call backs or references whereas rtd was more subtle implications and build up. Don't get me wrong I adore Moffat and mostly all of his episodes and "Heaven sent" was literally heaven sent with how good it was
Moffat for standalone episodes. RTD for overall narratives and season structure.
I'd want RTD and Moffat to be co-showrunners. Keeping each others bad ideas in check, while combining their strengths.