Doctor Who: 10 Overused Tropes Of The Steven Moffat Era
6. Timey-Wimey Plots
Moffat’s ability to weave complex plots across space and time can be really impressive, with a combination of highly imaginative ideas and the satisfaction of all a story’s elements clicking into place. Blink is a sterling example of that, as is Listen. But when he applied this to an entire series arc...
Well, we’re not going to try to explain River Song’s timeline to you. Around the end of Series 5, we had a working theory about how it could all fit together, but the omnishambles that was Series 6 blew that all apart. The sheer complexity of it alienated a lot of viewers, and saw Doctor Who take a dive in popularity. The next series’ ‘Impossible Girl’ arc was just as flummoxing.
It’s toned down since then, with more linear and ultimately more enjoyable storylines. But Moffat still can’t resist throwing in confusing curveballs here and there – last week’s Extremis had a secondary storyline set in a different time (and universe!) to everything else, which felt like a separate episode entirely and a distraction from the main plot.
Sometimes, simpler is better.