The funny thing about the criticisms of the multi-episode NuWho stories is that they're the closest thing we'll come to a "serial". Unfortunately, since we're in newer times with more refined and sophisticated tastes, it's not really possible to get away with them because most to the young audience would get bored stiff, and the writing is more complex. So it's in that regard that I mention that if this "serial" is the first multi-part NuWho story that feels like an older story. Back then, the show left a lot to the imagination, and this relies on that, a lot.
I mention this because right in the very beginning we're smacked across the face with The Doctor being killed. And I don't mean, killed as in "can regenerate", but he is dead for good. And right there, we're thinking, "Alright, Moffat, you've won. What now??". Then it's revealed later that he's still alive, and he sent a future version of himself into the fray. And for most of the story, we're thrust head-first into a mish-mash of multiple story lines including aliens that you forget upon looking at them, some space stuff, etc. Oh, and an astronaut, some creepy kid, in other words, formula upon formula. And by this point, all the stuff that Moffat has lumped upon us has worn thin.
But that's not to say it doesn't work. In fact, despite how formula the story is, it is satisfying, at least. There's a satisfying payoff at the end of Day of the Moon and there is a conclusion. Some scenes are just downright scary. There's classic Who scares that include an encounter with the Silence in the washroom of The Whitehouse. Oh, and the classic scene of The Doctor at the desk in the Oval Office. What's not to love? I mean really, sometimes formula isn't a bad thing, and here it's not always a bad thing. But it sometimes is nice to get some new ideas, every now and then... you hear that, Moff? I hope that's your 2014 New Years Resolution, especially now since we have a new Doctor.
I mention this because right in the very beginning we're smacked across the face with The Doctor being killed. And I don't mean, killed as in "can regenerate", but he is dead for good. And right there, we're thinking, "Alright, Moffat, you've won. What now??". Then it's revealed later that he's still alive, and he sent a future version of himself into the fray. And for most of the story, we're thrust head-first into a mish-mash of multiple story lines including aliens that you forget upon looking at them, some space stuff, etc. Oh, and an astronaut, some creepy kid, in other words, formula upon formula. And by this point, all the stuff that Moffat has lumped upon us has worn thin.
But that's not to say it doesn't work. In fact, despite how formula the story is, it is satisfying, at least. There's a satisfying payoff at the end of Day of the Moon and there is a conclusion. Some scenes are just downright scary. There's classic Who scares that include an encounter with the Silence in the washroom of The Whitehouse. Oh, and the classic scene of The Doctor at the desk in the Oval Office. What's not to love? I mean really, sometimes formula isn't a bad thing, and here it's not always a bad thing. But it sometimes is nice to get some new ideas, every now and then... you hear that, Moff? I hope that's your 2014 New Years Resolution, especially now since we have a new Doctor.