About midway through series 7 (particularly centered on the “Hollywood” episodes) the writing seemed to really nose-dive, and series 8 was just awful (particularly “Kill the Moon”, “Robot of Sherwood”, and “In the Forest of the Night”), so I stopped watching. I was planning to wait until Moffat was replaced and come back to it, but the show seems to be humming along merrily, so I’m not sure if Moffat returned to form later (until 7, I did like his stuff much more than I ever cared for Davies) or if the core Who audience just doesn’t care so long as it’s Who.
I’m happy to go back in mid-season, if there’s a good jump-in point. But I’m also happy to wait if it’s still wallowing in Stupidville.
I heard it described like this. Moffat doesn’t have stories, he has moments. There are some very good moments under his time but the stories, overall, have been lacking.
I think it’s too bad that Peter Capaldi, last I knew, is going to leave with Moffat as I think he deserves a different production/writing staff to show off what he could do.
I thought Series 9 was better than 8, but then, I really enjoyed 8, so what do I know. Admittedly, “Forest of the Night” is pretty dire, and “Robot of Sherwood” is far from great, but overall I don’t see a major drop in quality. Series 9 has a few weak episodes too, every season does (skip “Sleep No More”, it’s absolutely terrible), but I’d recommend giving the show another chance. The final two-parter is a genuine classic.
Season Nine had some bright spots. The Zygon two-parter was good (and includes a blistering speech about war that’s probably Capaldi’s finest moment on the series so far), and I also enjoyed the two-parter “The Girl Who Died/The Woman Who Lived” with Maisie Williams. The latter in particular worked because Clara was pretty much kept offstage for a good part of the proceedings.
On the whole though, I was one of many who cheered at news of the Moff’s resignation. I do hope Capaldi stays for at least one more year, but the show’s ratings have been slipping and I have a feeling he’s getting the blame.
Heaven Sent was objectively terrific, but the second half of the two-parter was meh at best, and ultimately detracted from the first.
And really, if you stop to think about it,
The Doctor was willing to spend two billing years punching through a wall in order to save that silly bint Clara from her own stupidity, but couldn’t be arsed to take a bus to New York to save Amy and Rory?
[del]A wizard did it [/del] I mean, an aspect of the time/space continuum that only Time Lords can perceive, forbade bus-travel under those circumstances.