How do we get down there? Jump?
Don’t be silly. We fall.
– Clara and the Doctor set things straight
Like The Wedding of the River Song, The Name of the Doctor suggests that Moffat might be better served by reverting to the Davies-era model of two-part season finalés. The strongest season ender of the Moffat era (and probably the best season finalé of the revived show) was The Big Bang, because it felt like Moffat had enough space to allow his ideas to breathe. The Name of the Doctor is a lot sharper and a lot more deftly constructed than any of the closing episodes from Russell T. Davies’ seasons, but it feels a little too compact, a little too tight for its own good.
To be fair, Moffat is has very cleverly structured his season. The mystery of Clara was seeded as early as Asylum of the Daleks and hints have been scattered throughout the past year of Doctor Who. Even the build-up to the final line of the episode feels like an idea that Moffat has been toying with since The Beast Below. Despite all this, it still feels like The Name of the Doctor could do with a little more room to elaborate and develop the concepts at the core of the story.
Filed under: Television | Tagged: bbc, Big Bang, Clara, Clara Oswald, doctor, DoctorWho, London, Mark Gatiss, matt smith, Moffat, River Song, russell t. davies, Snowmen, steven moffat, Storm, tardis, Time Lord, Valeyard, Vastra, Web of Fear, Yeti, Yeti (Doctor Who) | 5 Comments »