5 Ways Steven Moffat's Doctor Who Is BETTER Than Russell T Davies' (And 3 It's Worse)

7. Worse: Worldbuilding

In RTD1, RTD painstakingly built a picture of the universe in which the show exists. In RTD2... not so much. But the point stands for that original run.

His version of planet Earth was always central to the plot. Across his Whoniverse we spent a lot of time with other factions like Torchwood, UNIT, and the Bannerman Road Gang, and the writing went to great lengths to show us the ways in which their approaches to defending Earth differed.

RTD's world had political drama, media reactions, and consequences that carried between episodes. Stories like Love & Monsters and Turn Left both do a fantastic job showing us what living through various alien invasions is like for your average Joe.

We also have a sprawling secondary cast with characters like Mickey, Jackie, Francine, Wilf, and even Harriet Jones getting enough focus to really explore their characters. RTD reaps his reward when all his groundwork culminates in his finales, particularly The Stolen Earth – four years of carefully building connective tissue leading to an Avengers-level crossover that felt more than earned. Something like this could never have happened in Moffat's era.

In contrast, Moffat's world was far smaller. We never really spent time with companions' families, and any time spent on present-day Earth was usually part of a UNIT story, where the experiences of everyday people were swept under the rug.

Entire Cyberman invasions felt like they vanished from public memory, and it really hurt that sense that this was a living, breathing world with a firm continuity. This of course complimented Moffat's 'fairytale' style, but cohesion was certainly lost in comparison to the worldbuilding masterclass of RTD.