fajrdrako | Doctor Who 6x01, "The Impossible Astronaut"

Watched the latest Doctor Who episode, the one from the weekend, "The Impossible Astronaut".

It had both all the things I like about Steven Moffat's writing, and all the things I don't like. Seems that every time he discovers a good idea (like the Angels from "Blink", or the scary voices in space suits in "Silence in the Library") he reuses it, in increments, until it isn't so interesting any more.

The best thing about the episode: Amy and Rory were terrific. At their best.

The second best thing: Mark Sheppard. Continuing his quest to be on every fantasy, SF and genre show on television.

So for the first part of the story, I was loving it. But I was loving it in the way that I found myself think, "I'd really be loving it if it was Nine or Ten rather that Eleven - think how great it would be, then." For which I feel guilty, as if I'm a faithless fan, or ungrateful for Matt Smith, but ... there you have it. I'm sort of impervious to his charm. I can't help it. No emotional rapport there for me at all. Makes me realize how much I truly loved David Tennant. And Christopher Eccleston, of course, was the best of the best.

So: good writing, I thought, clever and creepy and scary, though the aliens were a little hokey, but hey, I could overlook that, until the woman exploded, and then the story just lost me. Like a bubble bursting. I wanted to say, come on, Moffat, this makes no sense. Why should the shape of time travel be different in River Song's case than with everyone else in all of time and space? It isn't as if Moffat can't change the rules when ever he wants: he's done it before, he'll do it again... but every time he does, it seems a little less real to me, and a little less interesting. And I'm no fan of rubber-headed aliens.

Okay, I loved "Blink". And of course I adored "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances", partly for the terrific story and mostly for Captain Jack. But beside those... I'm just not really a Steven Moffat fan. His storytelling values aren't the same of mine. And maybe I'd still be into it if it were David Tennant, and maybe not. I miss Russell T Davies ... even while I don't trust him with Torchwood. And I miss Sarah Jane, but don't we all?

Yeah, I'm looking forward to next week's episode. But I'm not really expecting a coherent story any more. Tricky-twisty time-paradoxes are no substitute for narrative progression.