“Soft In The Middle”: Doctor Who Ex-Showrunner Highlights 1 Problem With His Era’s Ending

Since its first airing in 1963, Doctor Who has been one of the BBC’s most iconic sci-fi television shows. For years, audiences have witnessed the exciting adventures of the Doctor and their companions. Whether it’s action-packed battles with Cybermen and Daleks, or the emotional highs and lows of the Doctor’s relationships with his human friends, there’s always something to enjoy about the series. Likewise, every storyline comes from Doctor Who‘s fantastic showrunners, including the very talented Steven Moffat.

Moffat’s Doctor Who tenure featured the Eleventh (Matt Smith) and Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi). Eleven and Twelve are often thought of as audience favorites, and Moffat’s work included some of the greatest Doctor Who stories of all time. Unfortunately, not all the Eleventh or Twelfth Doctor’s storylines are part of the best Doctor Who episodes by Steven Moffat. Since completing his final episode with the Twelfth Doctor, “Twice Upon A Time,” Moffat has been critical of his work.

Why Steven Moffat Doesn’t Like Doctor Who’s “Twice Upon A Time”

Moffat has other favorites episodes

In TV Choice’s The BIG Interview: Doctor Who’s Steven Moffat, the previous showrunner explained why he is not proud of “Twice Upon A Time.” Speaking with Tom Spilsbury, Moffat claimed, “I think it’s soft in the middle.” Given that “Twice Upon A Time” is a Christmas episode, this is not a surprising sentiment. Doctor Who’s Christmas specialswould not be as well-loved as they are if they contained darker plots, which can all be left for other types of episodes. Despite this, there have also been more wholesome and emotional regenerations around Christmastime.

Moffat did elaborate on his statement, saying that he thinks the ending of “Twice Upon A Time” is stronger than the middle. There certainly are worse Doctor Who episodes, but there also could have been better ways to pay tribute to the Twelfth Doctor in his finale. With so much pressure to do the character justice, it would be easy to mess it up. There is significantly less pressure for regular episodes as they are not required to include such grand endings as regenerations do. Nevertheless, Moffat’s general dislike of “Twice Upon A Time” has some truth to it.

Steven Moffat Is Right About Doctor Who’s “Twice Upon A Time Problems”

There are significantly better episodes of Doctor Who

Compared to previous final episodes, there is significantly less action in “Twice Upon A Time.” There is not a lot of activity that can be accomplished in an Arctic snowscape, but it is not impossible. Even something like a snowball fight between the First (David Bradley) and the Twelfth Doctor would have been hilarious and added significantly more excitement to the episode, which shows how little action there actually is. The lack of thrills calls for a better farewell in Doctor Who regarding regenerations.

Along with the lack of action, “Twice Upon A Time” is a bit overly emotional. The episode’s emotional aspects do have some good qualities. For example, the First Doctor returning to team up with the Twelfth Doctor is a crucial nostalgic moment. However, because of the lack of action, the episode’s plot feels a bit too melodramatic. Heavy emotion is needed for any Doctor’s departure, but in “Twice Upon A Time,” poignant scenes are unnecessarily drawn out without anything to balance them.

Of course, the overwhelming softness of the episode does not reflect the whole of the Twelfth Doctor or Moffat’s work as showrunner. Their legacy does not end there, nor does the show’s. Doctor Who season 14’s finale recently premiered on Disney+, and the series continues to create exciting stories. If Capaldi ever returns to the show, it would be interesting to see a continuation of his story, but until then, there is the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa), to take Doctor Who viewers on adventures through space and time.