As we round the halfway point for Steven Moffat’s first year as the show runner for “Doctor Who,” fans across the world are enjoying the new blood and vision that Moffat has brought to the show.
And while Moffat may be bringing a new storytelling sensibility to the current season, he insists that what he’s doing isn’t anything that hasn’t been done since we first met William Hartnell in the TARDIS in 1963.
“The Doctor’s the hero, the guy with the best lines and grandstanding moments, but it’s really the story of the people who come on board,” he tells io9. “Never mind looking at “Rose,” look at [original pilot] “An Unearthly Child.” ‘Doctor Who’ does not start with the Doctor running away from [his home planet] Gallifrey because he’s bored. It starts with people finding the blue box.
“Actually, episode one in 1963 is just the same kind of episode one as “Rose” is and “The Eleventh Hour” is, it’s where the story naturally begins is with a new person discovering the Doctor and how it’s going to change that person. How their life is going to alter as a result of their encounter with the Doctor. And that is a thrilling, amazing story, and one that you can imagine yourself in. Imagine one day that the blue box landed in your garden, that would be exciting. What would you do? Where would you go? How would you react?” he says.
And while the Doctor can travel anywhere in time and space, Moffat says that the tapestry for the show is really the scary things that are under your bed. He also says that the series is a modern fairy tale for audiences.
“It’s not that it’s like the old fairy tales, or that it resembles them, it’s the modern equivalent. It’s the way we teach our children that there are things in the world that might want to eat them. It just feels like a fairy tale: A man who fights monsters but never becomes one,” Moffat says.
“It’s not that it’s a bit like Red Riding Hood. It isn’t. But it occupies the space that fairy tales occupy. Children have nightmares and monsters all the time, so we take that fact and spin yarns out of it, the way fairy tales always have. And just the way that fairy tales of old would use the real world around them of forests and villages, and make them dark and mysterious and reveal dangers in the shadows, so ‘Doctor Who’ does that at its best. Because a lot of ‘Doctor Who’ takes the real-life world around you and twists it a bit,” he continues.
And Moffat says that while people of all ages can watch “Doctor Who,” he still structures the stories to appeal to the younger viewers in the audience. One way he does that is by placing puzzles in the stories for the Doctor to solve.
“I think kids love that sort of thing. I watch ‘Doctor Who’ with my children, and they’re always trying to figure it out. That’s a thing they enjoy,” he says. “They’re not cynical, like adults who’ll just sit there and say, “Oh, it’ll all be explained in the last scene.” They’ll sit there and theorize out loud about what’s going on. So I think it’s an important thing. But also, if you make it a puzzle or a mystery, that’s a great way of making sure the Doctor’s at the heart of the action. He’s not a warrior. He’s not that kind of hero. If there’s a great big fight scene, he probably won’t be at the heart of it, because that’s not his style or his skill. But if you make it a mystery to solve, if you make the clinching thing for him to put all the pieces together and figure out what’s going on, then he’s at the heart of the action.”
You can read the full interview with Moffat at io9.
Bronzethumb says
YES! OMG, yes! It’s so nice to hear someone agree with me in thinking that mysteries are at the heart of Doctor Who stories.
Tia Bowman says
Okay, I can see it now. Reading this really helped me to understand the direction he’s going, and where he’s coming from. I thought that Victory of the Daleks seemed like a bit of a convoluted plot, but looking at it from the standpoint of, hey, each week is a puzzle that only the Doctor can solve… Okay. I think I like it much more now that I understand his choices… For the most part.
Bronzethumb says
I’m totally down with Moffat’s idea of what Doctor Who is. RTD thought it was a superhero saga, which can make for some interesting stories, but I don’t think it’s quite right.
TallGrrl says
Having quoted Moffat about 3 weeks ago when people were arguin–I mean “discussing” whether the show was sci-fi or not, I rest my case. LOL!
Moffat did say that the show was more Fairy Tale than Sci-fi.
And I wholeheartedly agree.
I highly recommend that people watch the Confidentials that follow the episodes.
You get some really keen insight from the creative team, which definitely includes the writers and showrunner, about the episodes.
: )
Bobmarley says
Hmmm, lots of references to a fairytale from Moffat and the actual doctor who episodes. None the less, i’m loving the new doctor who and completely baffled by how fantastic Matt Smith and Karen Gillan actually are. I also have to say matt smith is showing more talent than the incredibly talented David Tennant.
One major thing which i love is this ‘being able to work out what’s happening’, it does make it far more exciting and watchable. I was beginning to get more and more angry at the RTD, flip the switch and everything is better because the doctor is practically God. *sigh* thank you so so much to Steven Moffat for bringing doctor who back to what i personally think it should be.