Top 10 Steven Moffat moments in Doctor Who

As I'm sure you're aware, the new series of Doctor Who airs in just under two weeks time. While I am not oblivious to the fact that many will be mourning the departure of head honcho Russell T. Davies and, more probably, Doctor David Tennant, this new series has me all excited. A fresh-ish start, a new doctor in the form of Matt Smith, a new companion in Karen Gillan, playing Amy Pond. More importantly, this new series will be running under the stewardship of Steven Moffat, the man behind some of the best episodes of Doctor Who since it's relaunch: The Empty Child, The Doctor Dances, The Girl in The Fireplace, Blink, Silence in the Library, and The Forest of the Dead. Here are our favourite slices of Moffat-y goodness:


1. "Are you my mummy?"
The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances. The two-parter set in London during the Blitz, as very, very creepy child wearing a gasmask wanders the night looking for its mother. We don't find out what it is until the end of the second part, but we know that it's persistent and dangerous. Did we mention how creepy it is? Moffat also makes great use of Christopher Ecclestone's Doctor, who shows curiosity and bravery while most of us would be running for the door. As an aside, while this list is for Moffat, these episodes remind us what a shame it is that Ecclestone decided to only make one series.

2. The Tardis phone rings
"Don't answer it. It's not for you"
"And how do you know that?"
"Cos I do. And I'm telling you. Don't answer it."
"Well, if you know so much, tell me this. How can it be ringing? It's not even a real phone, it's not connected."
This is a simple little trick, but it works. We know that the Tardis phone can't ring. So how does it feel when it does? Scary.

3. Richard Wilson as Dr. Constantine
Ah, the time honoured tradition of getting a recognisable, respected elderly actor to deliver exposition. As the doctor discovers the abandoned hospital full of corpses wearing gasmasks, Victor Meldrew himself appears, on his last legs, to warn the Doctor. "Don't touch the flesh." The Doctor begins to realise that each patient has the same injuries. "Physical injuries as plague." We also get one of the biggest shocks of the series as the Doctor tries to guess the cause of death. "There wasn't one. They're not dead", Constantine tells him, and knocks over a bin, prompting all of the bodies to sit up. He also gets the first transformation that we see, as he succumbs to the virus.


4. What's ticking?
The Girl in the Fireplace sees the Doctor battling robots looking to steal the brain of the Mistress Pompadour. Near the start of the episode, the Doctor finds himself in a young girl's bedroom in 17th Century France. He approaches a clock on the mantlepiece.
"OK that's scary."
"You're scared of a broken clock?"
"Just a bit scared, just a little tiny bit, yeah. Because, you see, if this clock's broken, and it's the only clock in the room, then what's that....Because, you see that's not a clock. You can hear that in the resonance, too big. Six feet, I'd say. Size of a man..."
Also, there are few things more scary than being told by the man who's just founds something under your bed "Don't look round."

5. The Doctor and Madame du Pompadour
While a lot of the complaints about the flirtiness of the Doctor with his companions can be justified, the chemistry David Tennant has with Sophia Myles in this episode is undeniable. It came early enough in the show's run for the "sad, lonely Doctor" schtick to still be fresh, and the rapport between the two actors is great. Probably has something to do with the fact that they were a couple at the time.





6. Pretty much all of Blink
OK, how do I choose a favourite bit of Blink? Can't really. It's scary, it's funny, it's possibly the best thing that Moffat has ever written. Carey Mulligan is fantastic as the plucky Sally Sparrow, the lead in this mostly Doctor-free episode. It's got great, funny supporting characters in DI Billy Shipton ("Life is short and you are hot") and the nerdy Larry Nightingale. The Weeping Angels are brilliant villains. And the gimmick, don't blink or they'll get you, is brilliantly simple and terrifying. Just a great episode


7. Stay out of the shadows
Like Blink, Silence in the Library has a simple premise: There's something in the shadows that kills people.
"Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark, but they're wrong, because it's not irrational. It's Vashta Nerada"
"What's Vashta Nerada?"
"It's what's in the dark. It's what's always in the dark."
Moffat continues his run of things that scare children, as remind us that we used to be scared of them too: Losing our mother, realising that something's under the bed, and finally: There's something in the dark. It's also, like Blink and The Girl in the Fireplace, got a neat one-liner that sums up the threat. "Don't blink" for Blink, "What's that ticking?" for Fireplace, and "Count the shadows." for Library. Because, as the astronaut archeologists find out, if you get two shadows, you're done for. "Who turned out the lights?"

8. Miss Evangelista
The secretary to Steve Pemberton's pompous archeologist, Miss Evangelista is well-intentioned but very, very stupid. "My dad said I had the IQ of plankton, and I was pleased." All the crew laugh at her, and we do as well. Which makes it a bit of a shock when she dies first. The crew have to listen as she "ghosts" (her consciousness is briefly trapped in her intercom after her death), and tells them that she can't see. She asks for Donna ("The nice woman") and tells her "What I said before. About being stupid. Don't tell the others, they'll only laugh." Moffat's not just about scares, this scene is impressively touching. Of course, Miss Evangelista comes back in part 2, with her beauty and brains swapped.

9. A brief message from the head librarian
The creepy help points with, as Donna points out, a real face, helpfully sets up the episode for The Doctor and Donna in a wonderfully creepy monotone. "There follows a brief message from the head librarian for your urgent attention. It has been edited for tone and content by Thelman Lux automated decency filter. Message follows: Run. For God's sake, run. Nowhere is safe. The library has sealed itself. We can't. Oh. They're here. Arg. Slarg. Snick. Message ends. Please switch off your mobile comm units for the comfort of other readers."
It's a tried and tested trick, the old discovery of a warning that ends with the messenger's death, but there's a reason it's here. Because it's effective.

10. Doctor Moon spills the beans
For most of Silence in the Library, we're trying to understand the connection between the Doctor and Donna's adventures in the library, and the little girl who seems to be undergoing pyschiatric treatment, who is being told that the library is just in her mind. Near the end of part one, the little girl is told that her doctor would like a word. As she sits and her father leaves the room, Doctor Moon tells her:
"This is important. There's the real world, and the world of nightmares. That's right, isn't it, you understand that?"
"Yes I know, Doctor Moon."
"What I want you to remember is this, and I know it's hard. The real world is a lie. And your nightmares are real. The library is real. There are people trapped in there. People who need to be saved. The shadows are moving again. Those people are depending on you. Only you can save them. Only you."

I know I've missed out several things here, including Alex Kingston's fantastic River Song, and strangely it seems to be heavily weighted towards Silence in the Library, but hopefully this has been a nice reminder of why we should all be very excited about the new series of Doctor Who. Personally, I can't wait.