Oh I am so glad to have read this! I've been tearing my hair out trying to figure out what was so wrong with this season. And I have lots of reasons, but this one kind of draws the others together.
However, the entire fault cannot be placed on Moffet. I majored in theatre. Total packaged DOES count. I've read some of Series 5 scripts on their own (Not the Christmas one yet... hopefully I'll find a copy soon). And on their own... they're not bad. They're not fantastic, but they're on par with most of RTD'S stuff. RTD: Difference between Nine and Ten? Wasn't the Script, it was in the actors!
Karen Gillian is sub-par at best. She has her "pouty face"... that she uses for everything and nothing else. And Moff HAS given her some amazing lines to work with. I would blame it on age... but then I think of Kate Winslet in Sense & Sensibility and that notion goes out the door. She's just not that talented and when you give her a not great script, it's obvious she doesn't know what to do with it.
Matt Smith: Has potential. He's not there YET... and as Vincent & the Doctor suggests, he needs an exceptional script for him to be exceptional at this point. With him, I'm saying it's age/lack of experience. There's a lot of "Matt as the Doctor" right now (In that if you watch Matt's interviews, there's not a lot that's different between HIM and his Doctor.) He'll grow into it. He already felt better in the Christmas special than he had in all of Series 5. But he's not there YET.... And the preview for Series 6 has me greatly worried...
Authur Darvill, is the only one hitting his lines/emotions consistently as Rory. And, he's hitting them slightly differently NOW (Post "Universe reset") than he did all of last season. That's important. It shows that the 'reset' had some kind of impact on Rory's upbringing. It's not much, but it is there. And it's not in script (the script doesn't cover those things - it's all actor!)
I haven't even touched on the technical differences. Darks are darker, Brights are Brighter - more 'fairy-tale' like, which Moff, likes... that's fine, but its not my cup of tea. It lacks the "realism" that I was used to with Classic and that RTD maintained in his era. Well, that's fine. But it was a crap-load of change to deal with all at once. And Moff's notion that "everything was always new with every Doctor/producer"... is hogwash. I've watched this show for 30 years and NO turnover has had the overall - complete change - that this one has.
So yes, as head-writer Moff has to take a majority of the blame... but it's not completely his fault... everyone who touches the series has some kind of impact on it. Though I will say, I've always wanted to be involved in DW - silly American that I am! - but for THIS series, I'm kinda glad I'm not... kinda like most of Six's era. Though I DID love TRIAL OF A TIME LORD.
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However, the entire fault cannot be placed on Moffet. I majored in theatre. Total packaged DOES count. I've read some of Series 5 scripts on their own (Not the Christmas one yet... hopefully I'll find a copy soon). And on their own... they're not bad. They're not fantastic, but they're on par with most of RTD'S stuff. RTD: Difference between Nine and Ten? Wasn't the Script, it was in the actors!
Karen Gillian is sub-par at best. She has her "pouty face"... that she uses for everything and nothing else. And Moff HAS given her some amazing lines to work with. I would blame it on age... but then I think of Kate Winslet in Sense & Sensibility and that notion goes out the door. She's just not that talented and when you give her a not great script, it's obvious she doesn't know what to do with it.
Matt Smith: Has potential. He's not there YET... and as Vincent & the Doctor suggests, he needs an exceptional script for him to be exceptional at this point. With him, I'm saying it's age/lack of experience. There's a lot of "Matt as the Doctor" right now (In that if you watch Matt's interviews, there's not a lot that's different between HIM and his Doctor.) He'll grow into it. He already felt better in the Christmas special than he had in all of Series 5. But he's not there YET.... And the preview for Series 6 has me greatly worried...
Authur Darvill, is the only one hitting his lines/emotions consistently as Rory. And, he's hitting them slightly differently NOW (Post "Universe reset") than he did all of last season. That's important. It shows that the 'reset' had some kind of impact on Rory's upbringing. It's not much, but it is there. And it's not in script (the script doesn't cover those things - it's all actor!)
I haven't even touched on the technical differences. Darks are darker, Brights are Brighter - more 'fairy-tale' like, which Moff, likes... that's fine, but its not my cup of tea. It lacks the "realism" that I was used to with Classic and that RTD maintained in his era. Well, that's fine. But it was a crap-load of change to deal with all at once. And Moff's notion that "everything was always new with every Doctor/producer"... is hogwash. I've watched this show for 30 years and NO turnover has had the overall - complete change - that this one has.
So yes, as head-writer Moff has to take a majority of the blame... but it's not completely his fault... everyone who touches the series has some kind of impact on it. Though I will say, I've always wanted to be involved in DW - silly American that I am! - but for THIS series, I'm kinda glad I'm not... kinda like most of Six's era. Though I DID love TRIAL OF A TIME LORD.