I know many people don't like him and since most of us who post to internet forums can't just "not like" but rather totally despise, hate with all their blood - whatever, It's ok, we're all entitled to an opinion and can all post to this thread.

Anyway, my opinion is I'm sad to see him go. I've loved Classic and New Who, but very recently in watching some of Moffatt's best work and then looking back at earlier non-Moffatt episodes and think - wow, these are worlds apart, Moffatt has totally moved the show onwards. Moffatt has certainly not always been perfect, I'll agree he can make the act of winding a clock seem more complicated than nuclear physics, I despise that the era of he silence alienated my wife from watching the show and required double watching to truly get what was going on (that being said once I got it, hmm that was pretty good).

But ... he has also created some intellectual, engrossing and really enjoyable episodes. I feel happy to have had the chance to see them first-hand, when they happened and as they were broadcast. Last year I thought I'd watched one of the best episodes of Doctor Who ever, and then I watch another one this which puts last years to shame ...!

Anyway, some of my favourites (I'm sure I've missed some great ones) and in no particular order:

Blink (very Doctor lite)
Heaven Sent (very Doctor Heavy)
Listen (Setting new histories)
Silence in the library/Forest of the dead
The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances
The Zygon Inversion

I wonder if he'd been around in the classic era, which Doctor he would have written best for, something makes me think either William or Patrick.

To paraphrase Longfellow "When he was good he was very, very good, but when he was bad he was horrid"!

Without trying to start an "RTD vs Moffat" war, for me Moffat saved modern Doctor Who and brought back some of the quality writing and spirit of Doctor Who that RTD failed to capture (RTD just didn't do it for me personally and I just didn't feel it was the grand return Who deserved). He has such a deep understanding of the character of the Doctor and a complex but fascinating vision of what makes him tick and that's a good part of what has made the show so compelling these last six years, and he's always had the ambition to try bold new things instead of sticking too much to a formula. His take on Doctor Who feels very much like the same show as the classics while still breathing its own life into it. As I said in another thread, his ratio of excellent episodes compared to mediocre or poor ones is very impressive, and I see him as the Robert Holmes of modern Who.

Had he written for the classics, personally I couldn't see him writing for Hartnell or Troughton but I think McCoy would have been perfect for his scripts, and he could have done some great stuff with Colin Baker too. I think he could also have explored new areas with Pertwee and Tom Baker had he written for them.

Much appreciation

Season 9 was his best IMO

Heaven sent was fantastic.

SM has been a brilliant writer for the show. In his time as showrunner he has made the show more popular and has done a lot more good than bad for the show.

But for the people about to attack this, he has made his mistakes as well, and his biggest weakness imo was his character development and me personally i felt his for lack of a better word, passion/intensity of the show definitely has slipped past couple or so years as evident him wanting to leave earlier. So that isn't his fault though, just unable to find an appropriate replacement soon enough. Which shows what a good job he has done.

Anyway hopefully he can end with a bang, but it definitely was time for this change to be made. Hopefully he can still write an episode a season, because without the showrunner pressure he might be able to write some knockout scripts.

I find myself unable to encapsulate my thoughts on Moffat at this moment in time but suffice to say that his work brought me back into Doctor Who and it remains to be seen if my interest in the show will survive his departure. I truly love Doctor Who and have since a very young age but I would not define myself as a fan: someone who will watch through thick and thin regardless of enjoyment. I have to be interested in the show and if I'm not I won't turn to invective I will simply engage myself with other things.

The thing I appreciate most about Moffat is the ambition he brings to the show. Even when it has occasionally proved to be too ambitious I love that he tried. A show that will not try things, that is comfortably ploughing itself into a rut is not a show that engages me and not one I will watch. Some, maybe even the majority, want the same thing forever but that is not for me.

Even after so many episodes I still find Moffat amazing me. He blows my mind more regularly than I would have ever expected from a mainstream TV show.

My favourite episodes of his would be:

(no particular order)
Heaven Sent
Deep Breath
Name of the Doctor
Empty Child
Blink
Silence in the Library
Eleventh Hour
Time of Angels
Let's Kill Hitler
A Christmas Carol
The Husbands of River Song
Time of the Doctor
Dark Water

But as I said elsewhere I honestly don't think he's ever written a bad episode. Even his worst rate favourably against the typical episode.



I think his writing on the show has actually undergone a renaissance since 'Name of the Doctor'.

A look at my list of favourite episodes above will show that lot of the episodes come from this period, as well as his earlier work up to Season 5.

If anything I felt his ambition wane in Season 7. His episodes, whilst all good, did not feel inspired to me and felt a little bit like just 'more Doctor Who', albeit his usual excellent Doctor Who.

The last two seasons have seen him really pushing the envelope again: episodes like 'Heaven Sent', 'Listen' and 'Dark Water' really covering new ground for the show, feeling new and exciting. Deep Breath, the Davros two-parter, the Husbands of River Song are all more orthodox examples of Moffat at his best. The Danny Pink storyline too was one Moffat clearly put a lot of consideration into,

If I was to surmise he was jaded, just from the writing, it would be those middle seasons of his, not the last two.

I think he's done a great job. i really do.
Theres been a lot of good episodes and ideas over the years.

However.....
I do also feel that the time is right for him to step aside. I dont think anyone, however talented, is capable of keeping a constant churn of new ideas indefinitely.

Some of his ideas are great. Some, rather less so - the example of Ashilda living billions of years with a piece of tech from an alien race - lasting right to the end of the universe. Just the idea of someone living alone and isolated without even any other planets or races left alive (as would be the case for the last few millions of years!) does stretch the imagination just a tad.

Dr Who can only benefit with someone new at the helm from time to time.

I've had a love-hate opinion of Moffat over the years - surrounded by people with strong views about him too (mostly against him) it was a deafening wait to figure out where I stood in regards to him once and for all.

As of now, I think he's brought far more good to the show than bad. Some of his episodes are utterly superb, and his contribution over a decade is astounding. The Empty Child, A Christmas Carol, Asylum of the Daleks, Dark Water, The Witch's Familiar and Heaven Sent are all vastly different to each other - in fact there's few ways in which some of them even feel like quite the same show. But all of them are among my favourite episodes, and they never feel stale or tired - even when applying some of the same timey-wimey antics, or when they contribute to a story arc that never pays off.

Not everything he's done has been to my liking. The biggest offence was unfortunately the 50th anniversary episode which served to not only collapse under its own weight and expectation - and to be honest I cannot blame Moffat for the hype around such an occasion - but it also jarred because it retooled a signficant source of emotional resonance across the past seven series. It was, for me, his one big error. In some ways he's recovered from it with some of his best writing being in Series 8 and Series 9 but it'll always be the one thing that fuels my arguments against him more than any other.

Other issues have included writing his female characters to a rigid template, which he eventually broke away from with Clara. A controversial issue, but some of the comments he has made in interviews - and not the fleeting interpretative kind - have been somewhat sexist, and there are moments where he seems to have to contend with those views that come across in his writing - the regenerating general in Hell Bent questioning how men can cope with their egos, or the fact that women can so happily slap the Doctor without consequence repeatedly feels like a very unnatural counter to some of the views he's put across that makes me think he doesn't quite 'get it'.

Some of his story arcs also leave a lot to be desired, his sense of pacing is also very off at times, and Series 6 and Series 7 became frustratingly style over substance and the bulk of his poorest episodes can be found there. Fortunately he's stuck around long enough for the majority of his work to counter this style.

In spite of this being an appreciation thread, I point out these criticisms. But only because they're considered in spite of his otherwise good contribution to the show. Those aformentioned episodes that rank amongst my favourites of his are also among some of my favourites ever. He's written two Doctor's I've preferred over the Tenth Doctor including one who may yet be my all-time favourite, and I've liked Clara more than most other companions (she's up there with Donna). He's explored so many brilliant ideas, sometimes not as much as perhaps they ought to have been explored, but his sense of imagination and ability to always deliver something rather new has been a real asset in these past few years.

Those who demanded his departure perhaps didn't consider the idea that his successor might do things even less to their liking. It's fair to say that Chris Chibnall has a tough job in convincing people he's up to the task, even if the majority of people are definitely willing to give him the chance. But Steven Moffat has been a real asset, all in all, and it can only be hoped he'll write some more in the years to come as well... free of the shackles of leadership. After so long he deserves a break, the show does need to look forward, and it may yet benefit from some more of his standalone ideas once again.

Unless things go completely t*ts up with Series 10 his work on Who since 2005 holds Mr Moffat in an elevated place for me. He's up there with Lambert, Letts, Hinchciffe/Holmes, early/late JNT (was less keen on the middle!) RTD and a few others I could list as having an overall hugely beneficial influence of this marvellous programme. Certainly think his 'hit rate' as a writer has been very impressive. And he's also cast Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi in the role, for which I am extremely grateful.

Series 5, 6, 7a and 9 are right up there for me. 7b and 8 I found a bit more variable, but hell, I've found that with every era/series to a greater or lesser extent, thinking about it.

Here's hoping for a great swansong. No pressure, Chibbers! (obviously wish him well too.)

Wow, that's a pleasant surprise - I expected to see a lot of abuse on this thread but I started it anyway. Actually what I have read so far has been some great observations and comment.

Quite happy I came back to this forum if we're still capable of these responses, big thumbs up

Curse of the Fatal Death is a legitimately amusing, playful parody of the show.

The Empty Child was the story that cemented my love of the show.
Blink was pretty interesting.
Time Crash was nifty as hell.

Eleventh Hour was an expertly crafted a non-stop romp, and Matt Smith was inspired casting.
Day of the Moon and the Impossible Astronaut were bold intro episodes.
A Good Man Goes to War was pretty great.
Night of the Doctor was slick, melancholic, and got me into Big Finish.
Day of the Doctor was quite good, and John Hurt makes a great Doctor.

The speech from Zygon Inversion was gripping stuff, and Capaldi, whom Moffat cast, was electric in his delivery.
Heaven Sent was one of the best episodes of the whole show.
The Husbands of River Song was the most fun Christmas episode since The Runaway Bride.