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Steven Moffat: Difference between revisions
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{{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 (
Writer of ''[[Coupling]]'' and writer and executive producer of ''[[Jekyll]]'' and ''[[
In 1996, he wrote the short story "[[
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
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:
Born in 1961 in Paisley, Scotland (hometown of ''Doctor Who'' star [[David Tennant]]) and a former teacher.
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=== '''Selected filmography:''' ===
* ''[[Tintin (
* ''[[
* ''[[Jekyll]]'' (all episodes, 2007)
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' (34 episodes <ref>six episodes written, 13 episodes written/produced, 15 episodes produced only</ref>, writer 2005-present; producer 2010-present)
** The Comic Relief two-parter "[[Doctor Who/Recap/2011 Red Nose Day Special Space and Time
** The Children in Need special "[[Doctor Who/Recap/2007 Ci NS Time Crash
** Also the very [[Affectionate Parody]] for [[Comic Relief]] "[[Doctor Who:
* ''[[Coupling]]'' (all episodes, 2000-2004)
* ''Chalk'' (all episodes, 1997-1998)
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* [[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/Recap/2007 Ci NS Time Crash
* [[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-Love Future]]: Casually stated that River Song was probably involved with her ''entire'' archeology crew, and that, like any other 51sh century person, she's "happily bi". Explicitly said that he writes the Doctor as someone who really can't be bothered to think in terms of "gay" and "straight".
* [[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.
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** And lots of [[Buffy-Speak]]. ''Lots''.
** Moffat's stories tend to be ''about'' time travel in some way rather than just using time travel as a plot device.
** As mentioned above, he doesn't like Technobabble, and tends to try and subvert it when possible.
*** In "A Christmas Carol" when he's trying to explain why the flying fish like Abigail's singing, he begins to talk about stimulating ice crystals, during which a fish bites him. ("Look, the fish like singing, now shut up!")
*** Also, in "The Doctor's Wife" (which was written by [[Neil Gaiman]] but had finishing touches by Moffat), when the Doctor tries to explain why he can't {{spoiler|put the TARDIS matrix in another human body}}, the TARDIS itself begins to spark almost spitefully (Rory's fault, but it was timed way too well), so the Doctor gives up and says "All right, yes, it's Spacey-Wacey."
** Since his current job involves Time Travel, and all the confusion that naturally occurs, he's developed a tendency to have characters change their names, often giving them a "Young Name" and an "Old Name." This happened with Amelia Pond/Amy Pond, and happened again with {{spoiler|Melody Pond/Mels/River Song}}. In fact, it harkens back to "The Girl in the Fireplace," with Reinette/Madame du Pompadour.
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* [[The Slow Path]]: One of his episodes, "The Girl in the Fireplace", is the [[Trope Namer]]. In it, the Doctor meets Reinette as a child and again as an adult. Though only a short time has passed for him, many years have passed for her. After becoming executive producer, Moffat does something similar with Amy Pond. He later explores similar themes in "The Big Bang" and "The Doctor's Wife."
** Arguably the entire Doctor's relationship with River Song is based on this and a love story set ''[[Timey-Wimey Ball|in reverse]]''.
* [[Word of Gay]]: Has stated that River is bi, and that the Doctor has no real concept of human sexual preference for one gender over another. Both things were hinted at in his stories, but only became explicit on his twitter.
=== '''His other writing provides examples of:''' ===
* [[Creator Couple]]: His wife, Sue Vertue, has co-produced several of his shows, including [[Coupling]] and [[
* [[Creator Thumbprint]]:
** Phones seem to be one of his things, they tend to be featured prominently and as integral plot devices, both Sherlock "A Study In Pink" and Doctor Who "The Eleventh Hour" feature mobile smart phones as plot devices.
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*** [[Coupling]] has several episodes based around misunderstandings with phones.
*** Likewise with [[Press Gang]]
* [[Eagle Land]]: Flavour 2 in ''[[Jekyll]]'' and ''[[
* [[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:
{{quote|
'''River:''' Don't worry, I'm [[The Immodest Orgasm|quite the screamer]]. Now ''there's'' a spoiler for you... }}
* [[Lying Creator]]: Rule one -- Moffat lies.
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** So, what does he like better, [http://twitter.com/#!/steven_moffat/status/87486063911763968 Doctor Who or Sherlock]?
** And again, the ''Doctor Who'' episode [http://twitter.com/#!/steven_moffat/status/108824874016976896 City of Death or Kinda]?
* [[Noodle Incident]]: Episodes often begin with these and casual lines are often tossed in. These are often used for humour and to effect a zanier mood.
* [[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 ''[[
** 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|Rory Williams]], [[Sherlock|Molly Hooper]], he seems to always like having one character to use as a punching bag.
* [[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.
* [[Trolling Creator]]: He seems to enjoy inflicting the [[Comedic Sociopathy]] version of this on his characters and his fans. In fact, in Twitter posts he even admitted he took sadistic pleasure in making Rory [[The Chew Toy]]. And then there's the massive [[Ship Tease]] [[Red Herring]] in series 6, involving the Doctor, Amy, Rory, River, the TARDIS, a baby, and one hell of a [[Timey-Wimey Ball]].
** 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
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Screenwriters]]
[[Category:Producers]]
[[Category:Steven Moffat]]▼
[[Category:Creator]]
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