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Steven Moffat: Difference between revisions
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[[File:stevenmoffat_5067.jpg|frame|''[[Doctor Who
{{quote|''"As we all know, it is the proper duty of every British subject to come to the aid of the TARDIS."''|'''Moffat explaining why he turned down the second ''[[Tintin (Film)|Tintin]]'' movie for ''[[
Writer of ''[[Coupling]]'' and writer and executive producer of ''[[Jekyll]]'' and ''[[Sherlock (TV)|Sherlock]]''. But perhaps best known for writing very, ''very'' scary, yet heartwarming and generally hilarious stories for the new ''[[
In 1996, he wrote the short story "[[Continuity Errors (Literature)|Continuity Errors]]", his first work on ''Doctor Who''. His next ''Doctor Who'' story was the ''very'' non-canon parody ''[[Doctor Who the Curse of Fatal Death]]''. Nowadays, he occasionally references both stories in his canon episodes.
He won a [[Hugo Award]] for "[[Doctor Who
He is now the head writer and executive producer of ''Doctor Who'' from series 5. <ref>His effective takeover was with [[Matt Smith]]'s first scene at the very end of the 2008-10 specials — [[Russell T Davies]] and [[David Tennant]] left the set for that, despite having yet to complete filming the episode.</ref> He is starting to acquire "The Moff" or "The [[Star Wars|Grand Moff]]" as a nickname (and occasionally "King of Nightmares"). He personally ensured that the Doctor's daughter (well, [[Truly Single Parent|offspring]]), Jenny, did not die permanently in "[[Doctor Who
He appears to be fonder than [[Russell T Davies]] of making continuity references to classic ''Doctor Who'', sometimes reaching the level of [[Continuity Porn]], and might at some point bring back old enemies that RTD vetoed (as he thought they could not be done convincingly) such as the Ice Warriors.
All too aware of the British press and its love for spoilers, he will [[Lying Creator|frequently throw out red herrings]], calling it [http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2011/aug/16/doctor-who-lets-kill-hitler "by far the best way of communicating."] He openly [[Lying Creator|lies]], [[Teasing Creator|teases]], and [[Trolling Creator|generally whips his fanbase up into a frenzy]] just as often as he possibly can, and seems to enjoy it a little too much. Most notably, although ''[[Sherlock]]'' [https://twitter.com/#!/steven_moffat/status/158680970130751488 was commissioned for a second and third series at the same time], he went back and forth on whether or not series 2 would be the show's last until the night "[[Sherlock (TV)/Recap/S02 E03 The Reichenbach Fall|The Reichenbach Fall]]" aired; this announcement may have been the only thing that kept fans from abandoning the fandom en masse after [[Wham! Episode|that particular series conclusion]]. Fans have come to expect this sort of behaviour from him, but that doesn't mean they have to ''like'' it.
Also wrote all 42 episodes of revolutionary children's comedy ''[[Press Gang]]'', which he also created.
He's known to have no love for ''[[Star Trek the Next Generation]]'' and ''[[Star Trek Voyager|Voyager]]''-style [[Techno Babble]] and is much more likely to give you the [[Timey-Wimey Ball]] (to the extent that the ''[[
Born in 1961 in Paisley, Scotland (hometown of ''Doctor Who'' star [[David Tennant]]) and a former teacher.
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* ''[[Sherlock (TV)|Sherlock]]'' (a [[Setting Update|contemporary adaptation]] of the [[Sherlock Holmes]] stories, six 90-minute episodes <ref>two episodes written/produced, four episodes produced only</ref>, 2010-present, co-created with [[Mark Gatiss]])
* ''[[Jekyll]]'' (all episodes, 2007)
* ''[[
** The Comic Relief two-parter "[[Doctor Who
** The Children in Need special "[[Doctor Who
** Also the very [[Affectionate Parody]] for [[Comic Relief]] "[[Doctor Who the Curse of Fatal Death]]" (1999)
* ''[[Coupling]]'' (all episodes, 2000-2004)
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* [[Timey-Wimey Ball]]
=== '''His work on ''[[
* [[Badass Boast]]: Some episodes have the Doctor resolve conflicts with enemies by simply informing them who he is and telling them to back off. This usually works because well, he's the Doctor. Oncoming Storm and all that. The Tenth Doctor does this in ''Forest of the Dead'' ("We're in the biggest library in the universe. Look me up!") and the Eleventh does this in ''The Eleventh Hour'' ("I'm The Doctor. Basically...run.") and ''The Pandorica Opens'' (the "let someone else try first" speech).
** How soon we forget, "I'm River Song... Check your records again."
* [[Call Back]]: In his first season ''Doctor Who'' show runner, he's taken to making references to the Doctor's past incarnations/actors much more than his predecessor ever did in five years and arguably the show's ''entire history''...well, aside from the [[The Nth Doctor|Multi-Doctor]] stories, of course. [[Doctor Who
* [[Creator Thumbprint]]: Only "The Empty Child", "The Doctor Dances" and "The Beast Below" ''don't'' involve the [[Timey-Wimey Ball]] in some way, and of those, only "The Beast Below" doesn't have time travel integral to the plot (as opposed to just landing the TARDIS there).
** He seems to like using [[Clarke's Third Law]] as a plot device: apparently supernatural and bizarre (and terrifying) events are eventually explained as the result of malfunctioning advanced technology in a more primitive setting. This is used in "The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances", "The Girl in the Fireplace" and "Day of the Moon".
* [[Everybody Lives]]: [[Trope Namer]] by way of "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances", and a hallmark of his more psychological approach to terrifying small (and not-so-small) children.
* [[Everyone Is Bi]]: Though not to the extent that [[Russell T Davies]] used the trope in ''[[Torchwood]]''. He ''loves'' the idea of bisexuality and incorporates it wherever it's believable.
* [[Free
* [[Jigsaw Puzzle Plot]]: The mysterious and confusing nature of early portions of many episodes (''"The Girl In The Fireplace"'' being a good example), likening the progression of said episodes to putting together a puzzle.
* [[Just Following Orders]]: A common thread of the villains of his stories, usually some type of machine who [[Literal Genie|takes its orders literally]]. The nanogenes in "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances" were simply doing what they were made to do: repair the injured; it was just some bad intel that caused them to turn humans into dead eyed abominations with gas masks for faces. Similarly, the Clockwork Robots in "The Girl in the Fireplace," where the robots were given orders to repair the spaceship. {{spoiler|Unfortunately, no one informed them that farming the crew for spare parts was off limits.}}
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*** [[Coupling]] has several episodes based around misunderstandings with phones.
*** Likewise with [[Press Gang]]
* [[Eagle Land]]: Flavour 2 in ''[[Jekyll]]'' and ''[[Sherlock (TV)|Sherlock]]''; mixed flavour in ''[[
* [[Fan Community Nicknames]]: His fans have taken to calling themselves "Moffat Masochists" with good reason.
* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: Seemingly one of his favorite pastimes, with spit-take inducing results:
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* [[Signature Style]]: Most things he's written will have a "Jeff" and a "Sally" appear at some point.
** Continuing the theme of "Florida", in the ''[[Sherlock (TV)|Sherlock]]'' episode "A Study in Pink", Mrs. Hudson's husband was arrested in Florida.
** He seems to really love the [[Butt Monkey]] and [[The Chew Toy]], and always makes sure one character has almost everything seemingly possible go wrong in their lives. [[Coupling|Jeff Murdock]], [[Doctor Who
* [[Teasing Creator]]: He routinely and openly admits to lying about his shows, encourages preview guests to give out fake spoilers, and is generally good at gleefully trolling the fandoms.
** He also encourages fans to speculate on their own because if they have a good idea it makes his job much easier.
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** Realising that River Song is a polarising to some fans, he and [[Neil Gaiman]] gleefully announced an episode titled "The Doctor's Wife". The section of the fandom that didn't like River went berserk ... and River did not appear in the episode.
* [[Timey-Wimey Ball]]: As the trope namer, he loves using time travel to create many a [[Brick Joke]] in his wake.
* [[Whole-Plot Reference]]: Absolutely loves the novel ''[[The Time Travelers Wife]]'', and works it into ''[[
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