“The Negative Space” (w/ Dave Ward) – issue #7: How Stephen Moffat Ruined Doctor Who

Greetings Nerds! I’m back to spread some curmudgeon all around for everyone to sneer at! This month, I chose something that will be particularly heartbreaking to all the Whovians out there in the world, and I’m going to tell you just how much Steven Moffat has ruined Doctor Who..

So when Russel T. Davies took the helm of Who, he wrote similarly to how the previous incarnations were written. There would be an overall story arc that would last for that series run, but also there would be episode blocks focusing on certain aspects of the arc. Eccleston and Tennant both were under this type of story writing, and both delivering excellent performances as The Doctor.

Enter Stephen Moffat and new Doctor, Matt Smith. Smith did as well of a job as anyone could have hoped for, but the sad fact was that Moffat had turned The Doctor into an egotistical monster that likes waving his sonic screwdriver around like a proud part of his anatomy; add to it that the episodes no longer focused on parts of the wide story arc, it turned into, here is the season arc (maybe) and we’re going to make each episode action packed, each one will have hardly anything to do with the others other than one little tidbit of the whole arc! The Doctor will have to constantly save his companion from some sort of shenanigans she has gotten herself into, because I won’t tell her everything! Oh yes I’m egotistical and clumsy at the same time with no humility, and I hit the cheat button whenever I can! The Doctor, while having many personalities, has always been tempered with some humility about him, and he also tells his companion a LOT more than Mr. Moffat has let this one tell his. Of course, a character is only as good as its writer, regardless of how talented the actor portraying the character might be (and Smith IS a very good actor) and Moffat’s Doctor – much like Moffat’s Sherlock – is just a “Mary Sue” type of vanity vessel for Moffat to project his own apparent Napoleon Complex onto anyway… oh come on, you know it’s true.

Second season under Moffat got even worse.. It turned into the “Amy pond pregnancy test/let’s turn the human race into killers and see what happens” season.. I mean really? You’re going to keep testing her, and not tell them what’s going on? After the whole turning everyone into killers, you make everyone unwittingly watch your own faked death.. I’m really shaking my head at this logic..

BUT, it gets even more head scratching when Clara comes along, who has to be the most brainless companion I have ever seen (and Rose was pretty bad) then she ends up sacrificing herself to save him… What’s wrong with this?? I’ll tell you folks, EVERYTHING.. Because now we find out he just hid all the other Time Lords in his little pocket, and not actually the last of the Time Lords at all.. I threw my hands up and gave out after that, and honestly have not watched anything since, because A: it’s DOCTOR Who, not Clara Who and it’s just WAY too much about her/her stupid romance stuff and not enough about… oh, I don’t know, the MAIN CHARACTER of the series… and B: my BRAIN HURTS!! Anyway, long story short: Moffat, you are unequivocally the worst thing to ever happen to Doctor Who.

So here you have it, folks. Agree? Disagree? Don’t care either way? Leave some feedback in the comments below and let me know what you like, what you don’t like, or whatever you’d like.

This is Dave Ward, and you have just warped through The Negative Space.

-Dave Ward
First Ambassador/Resident Grouch
Federation Starship: Nerd Nation

Please Note: The views and opinions expressed by Mr. Ward in “The Negative Space” are his and his alone. They do not necessarily reflect those of Nerd Nation Magazine, or anyone else… so please, don’t be a d-bag and try to sue anyone over the stuff he writes. It’s called an opinion… don’t like it? The internet is a big place. Just read something else… preferably on here! =)