Doctor Who: The Rear View Mirror

For the longest time, there was nothing. No clips, no stills, no anything.

After the BBC put Chris Chibnall in charge of Doctor Who, did Chris forget to actually make the show?

But now, as this post goes live, we are about a day away from the debut of Doctor Who Series 11. We are a day away from the grand entrance as Jodie Whittaker as…  The Doctor.

We went from nothing to now being achingly close to something. Something new, something different. 

Today, before we move forward, I want to use this post to look back, to reflect back on the Doctor Who we’re leaving behind, to cast one more gaze on the era of Steven Moffat. 

Let me get ahead of my bias here: I liked Steven Moffat’s time as head writer and showrunner for Doctor Who. I enjoyed his writing with its fast paced banter and wicked one liners. I loved his writing when he would make a full on rush in to big bad-ass moments. I appreciated his writing of scenes of drama and bittersweet humanity. Moffat has a natural gift for channeling any mood for any scene as needed. Moffat as a writer wasn’t just a joke machine or an action sequence generator or creator of drama. He’s adaptable to the full scale of whatever Doctor Who needed and Doctor Who needs it all.  

Was Moffat perfect? No but no one is. Still, there were times when Moffat was maybe trying too hard to be clever. For example, companions. Series 5, what is Amy Pond’s mysterious connections to the tears in reality following the Doctor around? In Series 6, the Doctor is puzzled by new contradictions in Amy Pond. In Series 7, who is Clara Oswald  and why does she keep popping up various places only to die?

There was no mystery arc around Bill Potts in Series 10 but she’s part of the Doctor’s life because he has taken an interest in her.


In all three scenarios, the companions enter the Doctor’s life because they reacting to the Doctor’s interest in them.  

It’s an interesting concept, once in a while for the Doctor to take in a companion because he has an interest in the person. But Moffatt went to that well three times. Occasionally, the Doctor gets a companion because they wander into the TARDIS. 





There were too many stories that looked inward at the Doctor’s history and his mysteries.  A lot of fan boy continuity plot developments that may have looked good to me but left out the more casual viewer.  



My daughter Randie noticed this one: twice, people of color get killed then turned into Cybermen.  Happened to Danny Pink and it happened to Bill Potts. I really don’t think Steven Moffat is racist. I think Bill would’ve still been shot through the chest and turned into a Cyberman if Bill were white or Latina or Asian or whatever. But once you see the pattern, it’s hard to unsee it.  



Moffat wasn’t above ripping himself off. The Doctor prattles on for a few minutes while elsewhere and elsewhen, a woman waits as the years pass by so very slowly. Yeah, that’s what happens to Bill in World Enough and Time. And its also what happened to Renette in The Girl In the Fireplace. 

OK, I feel like I’m being picky here. Just trying to be fair and acknowledge some shortcomings that  Steven Moffat had on Doctor Who.

But you know what, the bad things don’t take away the good things and the good things outnumbered the bad.

The Eleventh Hour is still the best first Doctor story ever.

The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang is perhaps the best season finale ever.

A Christmas Carol is the best Doctor Who Christmas special ever.

The Impossible Astronaut has the best “you will not believe who gets killed” twist ever.

Asylum of the Daleks has the most heart wrenching twist ever when we learn Oswin’s secret and her fate. 

The Day of the Doctor is the best stick the landing for a Doctor Who anniversary special ever. 

Time of the Doctor made us cry over the death of…a Cyberman’s head.

Listen made us scared of… nothing?

Dark Water was the biggest turn of events for a long running Doctor Who character when the Master makes a most unexpected return. 

Heaven Sent is a masterpiece, the Doctor alone in his own personal hell for 2 billion years?!?!

The Husbands of River Song is the best madcap romantic comedy we may ever get on Doctor Who.,

The Pilot made everything new again.

The Doctor Falls gives us the best speech from the Doctor that sums up what he does… and why.

Twice Upon a Time gives arguably the best exit line of a Doctor.

Your mileage may vary but I hold that these episodes are shining examples of Steven Moffats’ talent and skill.


I will say, as much as I will miss his work on Doctor Who, it was time to go. But yes, I will miss him. 




Take care, Steven. You  may not believe it but you did good and you should be proud.  

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