By David J. Howe

Available via Amazon now

A look at the Steven Moffat era of Doctor Who, comparing series historian Howe’s reviews from the time with his rewatch now.

I think it would be fair to say that David Howe isn’t that keen on a lot of the plotting of Doctor Who through the period covered by this book – descriptions such as “paper-thin”, “simplistic”, “there isn’t a plot that stands up to much inspection”, “no plot to speak of”, “there’s no plot here … it makes no sense”, “tedious nonsensical plot”, “wreckage of a plot” abound – but that doesn’t mean that he’s completely tearing the era apart. (He’s far more forgiving of the most recent season – even if there are a number of instances of things “not being a Doctorly way to behave”.) As Howe notes in his summary at the end of the book, Steven Moffat has a clear love for the show, and there are moments of genius throughout the era (Bill being seen as human after being Cyberised being a case in point) – and some of the stories that you might least expect him to love come out with glowing reviews.

None of this will come as too much of a surprise to anyone who’s seen Howe’s comments online regarding the Smith and Capaldi eras. However reading it in one large chunk does emphasise that for him, plot is a primary attraction of the series, and where it’s missing (and I think even the strongest of Moffat’s cheerleaders would admit that there have been times when it’s felt as if the show could use some more coherence), then Doctor Who doesn’t work as well as it should.

As Howe notes, real life got in the way for him during the early parts of the Smith incarnation which means that the book doesn’t have the same effect as its predecessor, where Howe could compare contemporary reviews with a rewatch some time later. He didn’t even watch some episodes of the show when they went out (giving up halfway through Capaldi’s first year) and has only watched some episodes purely to write the “now” parts of these reviews. Unfortunately this does take away some of the critical sharpness of the book – indeed, for series 9 and 10 there’s no attempt at comparisons between “then” and “now”: these are his thoughts from the time with a little sprinkling of editing. (For instance, there’s a comment on the Harmony Shoal infiltrating UNIT in The Return of Doctor Mysterio that suggests possibilities for series 10 – in the previous book, this would have been commented on in the “now” section.)

Howe has loved this series for decades (full disclosure – we’ve been friends for over 40 years!) and brings the weight of his knowledge of the show’s history to bear. There are plenty of comparisons with elements of the show’s past – with its failings held to account as much as portions of the modern day series are – and one of this book’s strengths is the way in which it places the most recent era in context.

Verdict: You may well not agree with some of the points raised – I certainly rate a number of stories much higher than he does – but you can’t fault Howe’s passion for Doctor Who that shines through. Just a shame that the comparison element isn’t as to the fore as in its predecessor. 7/10

Paul Simpson