When the occasion calls for it, the Doctor will rack his brains and come up with a plan well in advance of going anywhere dangerous or doing something with serious consequences. But the rest of the time hes happy to just wing it and see what happens. Along with the Sonic Screwdriver, his main weapon is what author Terry Pratchett disparagingly called makeitupasyougoalongeum. Even if it can sometimes lead to rushed storytelling, its an excellent way of showing just how intelligent and quick-witted the Doctor really is. And, particularly now that the serial format has been left behind, is a vital part of telling a story in such a short space of time. Plus its more exciting to see the Doctor spring into action mentally and come up with a plan on the fly than having him spend two or three twenty-five minute episodes gradually building up a plan and executing it perfectly thanks to extensive planning So because of the very cavalier way the Doctor does things, the stories are very rarely straightforward trips from A to B and often have a very anarchic feel to them. Which can feed very well into storylines like the events of 2010s The Girl Who Waited happening mainly because of the Doctors reckless tendencies and lack of forethought.