Progressive Who: Why Moffat Deserves All the Praise
Guest contributor Sophie Jones looks at some of Moffat’s most progressive contributions to Doctor Who.
Despite the recent news, I am not dreading Moffat stepping down showrunner. He has had an excellent run and by the time he finishes Series 10, he will have been doing the job for seven years. Doctor Who is a show that thrives on change. However, it has been clear from over the last six years that Moffat’s worst critics are generally those who do not understand that fundamental principle of the show. Even if Moffat has have some writing problems on the odd episode, he is one of the consistently best writers the show has had. So I write this to celebrate the man, the devil, the one and only Steven Moffat and his most progressive contributions to Doctor Who.
Women
I can engage with Amy especially, as someone who loves history and lived in a childhood fantasy world that I never wanted to leave, but had to understand that growing up is normal. Her story is beautiful, with her love for Rory undying, yet struggling in fear he would leave her as well. Her ending is extremely satisfying to watch after two and a half series of development and build up to that moment.
River’s story of regaining agency for herself is a brilliant concept that had a decent execution, and she is the only companion who understands the reality of being in love with the Doctor, which is rare in Nu-Who. Also she’s a woman that is over forty who is allowed to be sexual without it being a joke, which is rare in television let alone Doctor Who.
Clara is our longest running companion of Moffat’s era and her story has been wonderful. The Impossible Girl arc was my favourite because it brought about a load of theories and a new way to tell a story, and ultimately it is revealed that Clara is perfectly ordinary woman who made an extraordinary decision. Clara’s story did not end there. Over the next two series, Clara deals with her control. When Series 8 results in her losing Danny because she had too much control, Series 9 had her become reckless and controlling to the point where is killed her. Through Clara we got the most feminist Doctor Who episode to date in ‘Hell Bent’ where Clara declares that the Doctor has no right to take her memories without her consent.
As well as the companions, we also have an array of vibrant supporting female characters. Series 6 introduced Vastra and Jenny, the Victorian lesbian couple who solve crimes and were the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes apparently, who are badass, funny and providers of the first lesbian kiss on Doctor Who. Kate Stewart, daughter of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, is the head of UNIT’s science department, cool under pressure and determined to save her country by any means. Osgood, initially a comic relief character who was meant to be a fan stand-in, turned into the most enjoyable supporting characters. Then there is Missy, who is just queen of evil and a lot of fun to watch.
Progression and the Prospect of a Different Kind of Doctor
Series 5 was a bit white and straight, and Moffat has acknowledged this issue as time as gone on. Series 6 introduced three LGBT characters, two of which are still regular supporting characters, as well as an inter-race regeneration. Series 7 had an episode where the supporting cast were all black men. Series 8 had the first appearance of an intersex regeneration when the Master became Missy. Series 9 had the first deaf actress, first transgender actress, first intersex and inter-race regeneration and the majority of episodes had a supporting cast of people of colour. That is outstanding progression from where Moffat’s era began. As well, two of the female companions have been established as being bisexual, with River openly flirting with women and Clara often joyously talking about Jane Austen.
With this progression, Moffat’s era has been the first to really establish the idea that The Doctor could become a person of colour and/or a woman eventually. In Neil Gaiman’s episode ‘The Doctor’s Wife’ we get a reference to a Time Lord who could change between genders. In the same series, we have Melody Pond, under the guise of Mels regenerates into River Song, showing inter-race regeneration. In Series 8, the Master is reintroduced as Missy, a female regeneration. Finally, Series 9 had the General, a Time Lord who had regenerated into a man, and then into a black woman. As someone who before Series 8 was unsure if I would want a female Doctor, this development and handling has put a lot more faith in me that it would be a good thing for the show.
Bringing back Gallifrey
When the show was brought back in 2005, it was revealed that the Doctor’s home planet had been destroyed by him at the end of the Time War. At first, this did bring a good opportunity for some character development for the Doctor. While the Ninth Doctor had great development, the Tenth had very shoddy handling and it was brought up scarcely in the Eleventh Doctor era. This culminated in ‘The Day of the Doctor’ where it’s revealed Eleven had been forcing himself to forget what he did and he makes the decision to save Gallifrey rather than burn it.
This move has been criticised because it apparently wrecks Nine and Ten’s characterisation, even though Ten and the War Doctor said they would not remember saving Gallifrey. It does not affect Nine or Ten. They still have to deal with their actions. They still have to think this through.
Whether it was ultimately going to be a bad decision or a good decision, the return of Gallifrey brings new opportunities for The Doctor’s character other than moping.
He brought new life to the show
Towards the end of Russell T Davies era, I was getting rather bored with the Earth-based stories that were set in modern day London. It is not really fate if the Doctor does not go anywhere out of the Southeast of England. Also, the Daleks being used as the series main villain was getting tired. It is not a slam against Davies. His era was fine for introducing new audiences into the show after a hiatus, but after four series, it was starting to feel like it was the same song on repeat.
So when Moffat took over, he decided to take the show back to its roots and made it about all of time of space. In his first series, we were on a space station, wartime Britain, late 19th century France, and an alien ruins. He also made the Daleks scary again. Not with the Power Ranger Daleks, though they did look cool, but with ‘Asylum of the Daleks’. It was a terrifying environment to be in, as well as the idea of love being removed so humans can become Daleks. In addition, Moffat came up with unique ideas with the Daleks, other than them just invading Earth. In Series 8, we have the main cast going into an Dalek, and most recently, a psychoanalysis of Davros. Variety did no harm.
Conclusion
Whether or not you can engage with Moffat’s writing style, no one can deny all the contributions that he had made to Doctor Who in just six years. He has given us some of the best characters, the most progressive series, and took the show back to its roots as well as coming up with new ideas with the villains.
I hope Chris Chibnall continues this good work, and I wish Moffat the best luck for the future.
