Drop the hero and get with a zero

I had a real love-hate relationship with the two-part opener of "Doctor Who" Season 6, "The Impossible Astronaut"/"Day Of The Moon". For every striking image or charming line of dialogue (River Song is the Great Scene Robber), there was a plot element like Amy's quantum pregnancy or whatever the fug it is - exactly the kind of nonsense that ruined "The X-Files". To be honest, one of my favourite moments was when they used Depeche Mode's "Enjoy The Silence" in the second "Confidential".

The problem as I see it is Steven Moffat. His "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances" was among the best stories of Season 1. Ditto S2's "The Girl In The Fireplace". His "Blink" was the undisputed highlight of S3 (if not the modern era), while "Silence In The Library"/"Forest Of The Dead" was right up there in S4. But part of what made those so special was that they stood out amid more conventional "Who" tales. You wouldn't want every ep to be as brain-bending, spooky or odd.

Except that Mr M. is now in charge of the show. Admittedly, his Season 5 opener "The Eleventh Hour" was wonderful, but "The Beast Below" wasn't. Then the convoluted "The Time Of Angels"/"Flesh And Stone", while it featured drama, amusing character developments and some temporal trickery, failed to live up to the legacy of "Blink". (Ask yourself which you'd rather rewatch.) As for "The Pandorica Opens"/"The Big Bang"...that was a mess narrowly salvaged by its emotional conclusion.

In my opinion, the star story of Season 5 was Richard Curtis' "Vincent And The Doctor". For S6, I'm pinning my hopes on Neil Gaiman's "The Doctor's Wife". Back when Russell T. Davies was at the helm, I would have confidently predicted the standout to be "whatever Steven Moffat does". That's no longer the case and it's a shame. The dude's an expert on "Who", an expert on TV generally and an immensely talented writer, but he appears to be getting caught up in his own web of continuity.