Let’s be frank – Series Eight of Doctor Who was not exactly the best. While the season had its moments, it may be fair to say that it was the weakest of all the seasons since the show was rebooted.
A lot of the blame was placed on the season essentially being the Clara Oswald Show. Yes, she was the focal point, but that was not the only reason why Series Eight struggled. The way that the Twelfth Doctor was handled, where he was finding himself while having a script and a storyline that seemed better suited for the Eleventh Doctor, just did not work well.
Even though we are only two episodes in to Series Nine, and everything feels different. Suddenly, Peter Capaldi’s Doctor seems as though it truly belongs to him. The scripts, and the general feel of the stories, seem more suited to his abilities and talents, as opposed to being designed around what Matt Smith was like as the Doctor. Now, there is a gravitas to the Doctor that had been missing for quite some time.
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Over the past couple of years, it has been a common thread amongst Whovians to state that Steven Moffat has lost his touch, and it is time for him to step away from Doctor Who. His tenure was starting to become stale, with the same general plots and stories, and the same creatures returning. Oh look, more Cybermen and Daleks. Yay! Or, even worse, a meandering episode with the same substance of a Seinfeld rerun. Look, it’s an episode about nothing at all. The Moon is an egg? Get me another beer.
This time, there is a different feel to the episodes. Yes, the beginning two parter involved the Daleks, but they were handled in a much different fashion. Instead of attempting to exterminate everything, they were protecting their creator. We learned a lot about Davros and the Doctor, seeing their interactions and watching how both characters continued to develop. It feels like classic Doctor Who once again.
Perhaps this is what Moffat needed. For all of his flaws, we know he is, deep down, a fan of Doctor Who. Likewise, we know that Capaldi is a fan of the show, doing little homages to previous Doctors with his wardrobe or with different mannerisms. Now, with the two long time fans of Doctor Who working together, this classic vibe has returned once again.
Now, it seems that Moffat has found his Doctor. In the Twelfth Doctor, he can have more of a darker feel to the show, while instituting more character development than had been there in previous seasons. What we may have is a season of Doctor Who unlike any other in the new incarnation, one where character development and a true story are integral to the overall plot of the series.
Series Nine on Doctor Who is shaping up to be truly memorable. Maybe this type of a season was there all along for Steven Moffat, and all that was missing was for him to find a Doctor to fit his vision. Well, he seems to have that now.