5 Ways Steven Moffat's Doctor Who Is BETTER Than Russell T Davies' (And 3 It's Worse)
4. Worse: RTD’s More Grounded Characters
Amy, River and Clara are brilliantly-written characters, but they don't act or behave like normal humans.
They feel like Steven Moffat characters – hyper-competent and smart, constantly witty, and flirtatious to a fault. Moffat has a type, and he does not go to great lengths to hide it. Sure, you've got Rory and Bill who are a little more grounded, but when you hear them talk, it's still Moffat's signature voice coming through.
RTD's companions feel more like believable people. Rose, Martha, and Donna all feel like you could actually meet them on the street. They've got real concerns like difficult families, relationships and jobs. They react to alien things in the way most of us would, at least at first – not with wide-eyed wonder but often with an acknowledgement that the universe is hella weird.
When they're the instigating force in resolving an episode's problems, it's not because they're as smart as the Doctor, or as verbose and confident. More often than not, it's because of their humanity, or their ability to recognise the mundane details the Doctor overlooks. RTD's era gives the impression that anyone can be a hero. Moffat's era suggests that sure, you can be a hero, so long as you're also the wittiest and most confident person on Earth.
Donna is the ultimate example of why this approach to companion writing absolutely works. She's a triumph, precisely because we watch her grow from everyday office temp into someone truly remarkable.
Some people bemoan the soap opera stylings of RTD's 2005 run, but it understood the brief perfectly. The show had a reputation to shed – it was considered silly, unrealistic, and in some cases, rather reductive of its female characters. Creating these grounded, realistic companions with proper story arcs fixed one of Classic Who's more notable failings.
Rose may have her detractors but she's right up there as one of the single biggest reasons the 2005 revival succeeded.