Wednesday 24 August 2016

Steven Moffat names The Bells Of Saint John his "most reliably average episode"

Steven Moffat has called The Bells Of Saint John "resolutely sort of middle", the median average of his Doctor Who tenure...

Since announcing that Doctor Who series 10 would be his last as showrunner, Steven Moffat has fielded lots of looking-back-themed questions from fans. Resultantly, over the last few months, The Moff has called Doctor Who season 7 "miserable" and claimed that he "fumbled" series 9's opener.

The latest question to be put to Moffat, in the new issue of Doctor Who Magazine, is this: if he had to line up all his Who instalments in order of quality, which would he say is "the most reliably average episode"? What's the median of the Moffat tenure?

Here's what he wrote in response...

“Well, I’ll have to choose one that I wrote, otherwise I’m going to upset somebody … I went back and watched it again, and I thought ‘no, actually, it is quite good,’ but it is resolutely sort of middle, I think, and that’s [the Matt Smith-starring series 7 part 2 opener] The Bells Of Saint John.”

“It’s got a fairly inventive monster. It’s got some great action scenes, like the bit on the plane. There’s the pretty good scene where the Doctor is underneath Clara’s window. Some good gags. Lovely music. But I don’t think that episode will change anybody’s life.”

“It’s a very well-carpentered bit of telly, and it’s – that underrated thing – a very good first episode. Sort of. First episodes are rarely winners, but they are very difficult to do.”
'Doctor Who' Showrunner Steven Moffat to Exit

Personally, this writer rather enjoyed The Bells Of Saint John. It was something of a romp, resulting in that huge action sequence on the side of The Shard. A fun 45-minutes of telly. "Most reliably average" seems a bit harsh, to me at least.

What do you make of Moffat's claim? Which of his episodes would you deign the most average? Let us know your thoughts in the comments...

Doctor Who Magazine issue 502 is on shelves now.

Via Den of Geek by Rob Leane

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