Steven Moffat is made of awesome.
That is all.
No, that isn’t all. Wow. This episode was brilliant. The directing, the lighting, the writing, the acting, the music… I am amazed. That is the way you write a television show.
Moffat takes over Doctor Who as show runner next year. Awesome.
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Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He has written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic, and fights misuses of science as well as praising the wonder of real science.
Contact me: The Bad Astronomer "at" gmail "dot" com
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June 7th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Moffat officially wins at Doctor Who. This two-parter made up for all the weak episodes making up the rest of the season so far.
June 7th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
BSG still PWNS Doctor Who!
June 7th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
I love the Moff as much as you evidently do, but please bear in mind that the directing, the lighting, the acting and the music weren’t necessarily his doing.
Also, he takes over as showrunner the year after next.
June 7th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
After watching that episode, I literally sat in my chair and did nothing for 10 minutes, because I needed that amount of time to just decompress. I can’t put into words how spectacular that was.
June 7th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Not sure which show you’ve been watching, ellindsey, it’s been a very good season so far.
And BA, have you been using the TARDIS? I believe it will be another two weeks before the USA gets that episode…. tsk, tsk…
(Just don’t ask me if I’ve seen yet)
June 7th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
I thought I was reading John Hodgman’s blog for a moment there!
I agree – FotD was great!
June 7th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
Moffat is a genius.
my list of favourite doctor who episodes is comprised of everyone of his and the season 1 finale.
also if you haven’t already check out coupling and jekyll
both his and both incredibly brilliant
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coupling_%28UK_TV_series%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jekyll_%28TV_series%29
June 8th, 2008 at 1:18 am
Coupling and Jekyll, yeah baby. Can watch some of the Coupling shows more than once, for sure, like I could with the best of Seinfeld or Simpsons. Moffat seems to be brilliant in the short term (well, say a couple of years) and then wants/needs to move on… The end of the 4th season of Coupling –enough said.
June 8th, 2008 at 1:35 am
I agree this two part episode just blew me away. Fantastic writing, great story, My kids and I loved EVERY moment. Like sage I just sat and wallowed in it’s awesomeness for a long time after the credits rolled. Moffat rules the universe!
June 8th, 2008 at 1:58 am
I love the “everybody lives” episodes. I just LOVE “everybody lives” episodes!
June 8th, 2008 at 2:07 am
Although I’m a big fan of Moffat’s, I don’t think this one had anything like the fear-factor, or the complete originality of “Blink”.
For me, the shock moments were too predictable. Nor was the acting or dialogue anything like as sharp. Big name guests don’t automatically deliver that.
Nevertheless, in a game of 2 halves, episode 2 was a major turnaround, with some original touches.
Particularly the whole section dealing with Donna’s “virtual family”.
Coming up with thought provoking ideas is Moffat’s big strength, but sharper direction and less self-indulgent dialogue would help the series a lot.
June 8th, 2008 at 2:48 am
One thing that Moffat does is create Monsters that every kid can identify with because they live in the imagination; shadows that can eat you, statues that attack you when you’re not looking etc. In this episode it was a child in front of the TV with a remote control and a large cushion to hide behind that seemed to be driving the story forward; what a clever way to involve the audience in the development of the plot.
A superb story and by far the best of the series so far, and I can only hope the rest of series gets somewhere near as good as this. That said, I do agree with Alex in that I didn’t think it was quite as good as ‘Blink’, which was just perfect.
June 8th, 2008 at 3:00 am
I second Alex. I didn’t care for the first episode as much as I had hoped, but last night turned the ship around and rescued the two-parter without a doubt. The storyline with Donna had moments that were as creepy as (although different from) the best moments in Blink.
We also have to be careful using Blink as a benchmark for everything. Very rarely do we see something of that quality, even by Moffat. Saying that a particular episode is not as good as Blink is like saying that some person is a good scientist, but not as good as Newton. The information content in such sentences is low.
June 8th, 2008 at 7:39 am
I love Steven Moffat’s writing, but I think that Blink was helped by some truly amazing direction. That director has only directed that single episode of Doctor Who so far. I hope we see more of them.
Anyway, although I agree that the shock points of this episode were fairly predictable (as was the ending – I had the whole second episode worked out by the end of last week’s episode; after the setup of the first episode it was ‘narrative imperative’ that the story would progress much as it did), I still found this to be by far the most enjoyable story of the season so far.
June 8th, 2008 at 9:02 am
[...] last night’s Doctor Who, I’m just going to quote the Bad Astronomer: Steven Moffat is made of [...]
June 8th, 2008 at 9:36 am
I liked Coupling, but Jekyll seemed to fumble a wee bit, although I will say that Mark Gatiss was interesting, and the bit with the Special Forces fellow was priceless.
June 8th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Girl in the Fireplace is still my favorite Moffat piece, and I’d even go so far as to say that this two-parter is my least favorite Moffat Who…. bear in mind, however, that makes it five-hundred kabillion to the 500th better than anything else on TV
I can’t believe that they’re going to take most of 2009 off. They drop all this stuff on us: Jenny, the Medusa Cascade, River Song (I’m speculating she’s his wife), the bees (although I’m thinking the bees are a red herring), River’s words to Donna, Donna’s stammering companion; and then make us wait an ENTIRE year to see them through???? Are you kidding me???
Well… at least we’ll have Torchwood…
And Freema’s going to be on Survivors; which I’m hoping is going to be as great as the original.
(Although, TBH, I’m not entirely sure when Survivors starts. I know they’re currently shooting…. anybody know when the premier will be?)
June 8th, 2008 at 10:34 am
And, let’s not forget, Blake’s 7 is also coming back!
Awesome!
BTW, BA, do you also watch Doctor Who Confidential for the behind-the-scenes info?
June 8th, 2008 at 10:34 am
I actualy liked this story, I am not a huge fan of the ‘New’ Doc. This one, the ‘Satan Pit’ and the Queen Victoria/Weerewolf episode are my faves.
Moffat writes Dr Who stories, most of the other ‘New’ Dr episdodes have been all ‘Sound and FUry signifying nothing’ .
This story reminded me of the old Tom Baker ‘Gothic Horror’ days. Putting it over 2 episodes helped, plenty of time to develop atmosphere and story. 45 mins is too short for a Doc adventure, all you get is a lot of running around and shouting.
June 8th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Ah! Found it. It Apparently starts autumn, 2008
June 8th, 2008 at 11:59 am
I watched Jekyll, and didn’t care for it as much as everyone else did. It’s far better than most TV fare, of course! But I thought the reveal at the end wasn’t as satisfying as I had hoped. Still, it was pretty good.
Coupling, however, was one of the best shows on TV ever.
June 8th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
@andy: From what I’ve heard, Torchwood is not going to have a regular full season, either.
June 8th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
This week’s commentary podcast was hilarious with Russell, David and Steven just riffing for 45 minutes.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/doctorwho/
June 8th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
I can’t agree. Thought both episodes suffered from narrative slack, one note characterization and cheap, dime-store sentimentality.
I’ve only enjoyed two episodes this season: ‘Partners in Crime’ and ‘Fires of Pompeii; none of the others possess the sparkles of wit or conviction that elevated season 3 (apart from the unmitigated failure of its last two episodes, of course).
June 8th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
So true. The last line…joy.
(OK, I won’t repeat it. “Spoilers….”)
June 9th, 2008 at 1:52 am
BSG – Bi-sodium glutamate? Some kind of food additive perhaps?
June 9th, 2008 at 6:14 am
It was okay. Not better than okay. A lot of the recent episodes have been sub-okay. And it’s the direction that’s to blame, too often leaden footed and predictable. That and the idiotic ‘be all you can be, yes, you, even you, are special’ sentimentality.
June 9th, 2008 at 9:15 am
@ Martin:
May your Cylon Overlord give you an extra special Wedgie!
June 9th, 2008 at 11:56 am
I couldn’t agree with you more, Phil. I could see this episode being a great turning point for show. Steven is already starting to make suggestions on episodes he hasn’t even written. He told Russell that he’d wanted to keep the character of Jenny (doctor’s daughter) alive. And now the doctor’s new ability with the TARDIS. I’m sure, it’ll mostly be a sight gag, but there’s some possibility there. And now we know that the doctor will be around for a LONG time.
2009 is going to a long year.
June 9th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Hi Phil.
I’m glad that you had a posting on this because I was about to email you.
SPOILER if you haven’t seen the episode…
I had not hear of the term “doctor moon” before. Do you happen to know if this is the British term for “shepherd moon”? The way they described the doctor moon is the description that I have usually heard for a shepherd moon.
Thanks.
-Derek
June 9th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
*SQUEE*
Okay, finally got to sit down and watch it. For some reason while watching the flashbacks from the last episode before this one, I was able to figure out the plot, but there were still some creepy and some brilliant moments. Overall a major *win*. Oh I can’t wait to see what they have cooked up next!
June 10th, 2008 at 7:37 am
*SPOILER – MINOR*
Derek Bartholomaus, it’s not a british term; I think he made it up.
Why do you think it fits the definition of Shepherd Moon? From the definition I’ve seen of the that it only refers to moons connected to ring systems. The doctor moon is like an antivirus program.
June 10th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
Hi Ingrained.
I guess I was thinking of it in a more colloquial type of way where the shepherd moons help clear parts of the ring system and also help maintain the rings overall. When they said that the doctor moon was there to watch over and protect the CAL system I just took that a little too far.
Thanks.
June 11th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
SUCH a fantastic episode! I slept with the lights on after the first episode. Now THAT is Doctor Who! (Moffat is an evil genius!)
“Well… at least we’ll have Torchwood…”
Not quite, it’s only been approved for five episodes so far >.< Reduced Torchwood AND Doctor Who, great. 2009 is going to suck!
June 13th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
I’m glad to hear you all liked the show so much. It’s always refreshing to see that my favorite show has a strong following. And it wasn’t a bad episode, by any means, but I think it was pretty weak in quite a few spots. Certainly weaker than all this gushing praise would make it seem.
I admired the attempt to introduce some mystery and anticipation with the Dr. Riversong character. It was a pretty good effort, although not one I’m really looking forward to watching play out. (Don’t get me wrong, I liked Dr. Riversong and the actress who played her was awesome, it’s just… I don’t really care what the Doctor’s real name is. I was hoping we’d never find out.)
I agree that some of the horror bits were quite good. I liked the suit men running on shadow monsters and data ghosts. That was a nice creepy effect.
But, quite frankly, Moffat was writing a lot like M. Night Shyayan in this episode. The “surprise” about the computer isn’t much of a surprise (I suppose it isn’t supposed to be as the key tinglers of the episode seemed to be the introduction of the Riversong-Doctor dynamic and the hungry shadow monsters.)
I think that the Planet of the Ood was one of the better stories this season and this two-parter didn’t quite stack up to it. The pacing in both parts was very slow and a lot of the revelations came a scene or two after the average person could have put them together.
In fact, that’s really the problem with the episodes. Neither can make up their mind about what should be a twist and what shouldn’t be. It’s as if someone in authority thought it should be played a cheap spook show and someone creative knew better.
I thought the two daves were a waste of a great naming convention, for throw-away characters and the transformation of the pretty-but-dumb girl into an ugly-but-smart mentor was interesting, if a bit goofy.
(Frankly, it was more touching when she died, which is weird, because it’s the opposite effect of Jenny dying in the Doctor’s daughter. It felt more “real” when the pretty-but-dumb girl died than when Jenny died. There’s probably some sort of subtle line there that got crossed.)
Tripping over subtle lines seems to be a rough spot this season.
Well, anyway, this two-parter was sweet in parts and horrible in others and it very nearly went over the edge into sickening sentimentalism, but it pulled back just in time to be a decent episode. Good enough but not the best (which pretty much seems to define this whole season.)
I’ll chalk it up to a transition phase.
June 29th, 2008 at 8:35 am
I’m with Arpie — it really bothered me to have Dr. River Song knowing the Doctor’s name. I suppose, if she turns out to be his future wife the way many are suspecting, it makes _sense_ that she knew his name — but I still don’t like it. It’s too important a part of the Doctor’s mystique that no one knows his name, at this point, and this really bothered me.
I also hated the cheap handcuff joke — something that belongs on “Coupling,” not “Doctor Who.” Granted, Captain Jack, also of the fifty-first century, has been known to engage in more than his fair share of innuendos, and that has never got on my nerves — but there was something character-breaking about that joke because it involved the Doctor. I have never been a fan of Moffat’s Give The Doctor Another Romantic Interest plotlines, and that’s basically what this two-parter was, and it makes me apprehensive about him becoming the show runner next year.
What can I say — I’m going to miss RTD a _lot_ …
July 7th, 2008 at 3:34 am
does anyone remember the last bit of the forest odf the dead when the doctor asks River how she knows his name? and he says “there is only one reason i would ever tell someone my name… there is only one time i ever could tell someone my name…” what is this all about!!? what is the reason? when can he tell his name? and why is he so amazed she knows?? does anyone know? watch the last part of the forest of the dead just before River dies and u will see what i mean.