Moffat Appreciation Day Countdown - November 17th - Favourite Theme
"History is a burden. Stories can make us fly."
Stories are probably the most prevalent theme of Moffat’s writing. I am going to focus mostly on stories in his era of Doctor Who, with references to his other work as well. His lead characters are frequently writers (Steve from Coupling, eventually Amy in Doctor Who). Meta fictionality rules his stories, with characters quoting their show’s titles, or describing their life as a story that can be written and rewritten. (An early example of this is Press Gang episode “Day Dreams”, where Lynda is given a second chance to make her relationship with Spike work at the episode’s close - she rewrites her own story).
Also interesting is the way characters are often drawn from a storybook tradition, such as Robin Hood in “Robot of Sherwood”: the Moffat era is more genre savvy than any other era of Doctor Who. And that’s saying something, as Doctor Who’s modus operandi has been to take bits of other fiction since near the beginning of the show. Heck, the premise of the show is rooted in HG Wells’s “The Time Traveller”. However, the Moffat Era is particularly aware of the potential of playing with the show’s fictional nature. instead of just crashing Doctor Who into another genre. Stories like “Robot of Sherwood” show the Doctor reflecting on his shared place in the history of British Legend with Robin Hood, hence the episode’s heightened storybook feel.
However, the Moffat Era goes further than this. Most Eras of Doctor Who have stories that are a variation on “The Doctor steps into another genre”, or “The Doctor takes part in a well known story” or “Doctor Who story crashes into another well known story type”. It also pushes the Direction further than ever before, so that the camera becomes more of a part of the meta fiction than in any previous era. This may not seem relevant to Moffat praise, as he doesn’t direct episodes, but I think it is, as he hires the directors, and his scripts have a certain ambiguity that makes them perfect for this type of directorial interpretation. Take “Blink” and its less popular, but equally fascinating, follow up “The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone”. “Blink” clearly establishes the Angels as constructs of the camera, as they don’t move as long as the camera (and by extension the viewer) is watching them. The audience are made a part of the story by the ambiguous nature of the Angels as Moffat created them. This is taken further in the sequel as Moffat’s script manipulates the way the angels are constructs of the camera, as they climb out of the screen, hide in Amy’s (and the viewer’s) eye, and break the unspoken rule of “Blink”: they move while the camera’s rolling and the audience is watching. A large part of the shock and thrill of Moffat’s Doctor Who comes from watching the show establish the rules of the story, acknowledge them, and then joyously break them because there’s a better and more interesting story to be told. This approach can be frustrating when it fails, but when it succeeds (and for me it succeeds most of the time), it’s a joy to watch.
Ultimately, however, this meta fictional storytelling would be useless if it left the viewer cold. The flashy writing and clever tricks would all be exposed as meaningless and self satisfied. But they’re not, because the themes of stories always relate back to the characters at the heart of Moffat’s writing. A Nanny and an English Teacher gets to have a life where she lives out the stories she reads and teaches. A young man makes peace with his status as a Nurse by becoming a living legend and realising he preferred the way he used to be. A Scottish girl in an English village with a name like a fairytale reclaims her agency and reconciles her divide between the real and the fictional by becoming a children’s author. An interspacial time travelling badass takes control of her world with the TARDIS blue story of her life and sheer force of will. Finally, a madman with a box saves himself by rewriting his past to turn his worst defeat into his greatest victory.
Many of these things are impossible. We can’t rewrite our past, or redo our mistakes. But our stories and heroes show us what we aspire to be (and Moffat’s characters are definitely all heroes). If their stories show them taking control of their lives to change for the better, the I think that means we want to do the same. We can’t rewrite our pasts, but we can write our own stories. And the world would be a poorer place without the stories Steven Moffat has given us.
