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Initially becoming involved with ''Doctor Who'' writing the 1996 Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse short story "Literature/ContinuityErrors" and later the 1999 parody episode ''Recap/DoctorWhoTheCurseOfFatalDeath'', he has gone on to be one of the most critically hailed writers involved in the franchise. In 1999, he was one of the writers asked to contribute for AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho, but dropped out because he was only interested in writing for Eighth Doctor Creator/PaulMcGann-- who, at that point, hadn't signed for Creator/BigFinish yet. Moffat has since written a short story for one of Creator/BigFinish's Franchise/BerniceSummerfield anthologies as well as a [[Creator/TheBBC BBC]]-produced short episode in 2013, "[[Recap/DoctorWho50thPrequelTheNightOfTheDoctor The Night of the Doctor]]", which starred [=McGann=] as the Eighth Doctor.

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Initially becoming involved with ''Doctor Who'' writing the 1996 Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse short story "Literature/ContinuityErrors" and later the 1999 parody episode ''Recap/DoctorWhoTheCurseOfFatalDeath'', he has gone on to be one of the most critically hailed writers involved in the franchise. In 1999, he was one of the writers asked to contribute for AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho, but dropped out because he was only interested in writing for Eighth Doctor Creator/PaulMcGann-- who, at that point, hadn't signed for Creator/BigFinish yet. Moffat has since written a short story for one of Creator/BigFinish's Franchise/BerniceSummerfield Literature/BerniceSummerfield anthologies as well as a [[Creator/TheBBC BBC]]-produced short episode in 2013, "[[Recap/DoctorWho50thPrequelTheNightOfTheDoctor The Night of the Doctor]]", which starred [=McGann=] as the Eighth Doctor.



* CanonWelding: Moffat was a big part of the push to erase the imaginary line between the new series and the old one. According to producers at Creator/BigFinish, Steven was in charge of the push to bring revival-era monsters and characters to the main BF series. Up until 2015, Big Finish were not allowed to use characters from the 2005 revival series, but thanks to Moffat (and Creator/RussellTDavies) Big Finish can now have modern monsters meet early Doctors, and the New Series novel line can use classic supporting and spin-off characters, so the Eighth Doctor can meet the Weeping Angels and the Twelfth team up with [[Franchise/BerniceSummerfield Benny Summerfield.]]

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* CanonWelding: Moffat was a big part of the push to erase the imaginary line between the new series and the old one. According to producers at Creator/BigFinish, Steven was in charge of the push to bring revival-era monsters and characters to the main BF series. Up until 2015, Big Finish were not allowed to use characters from the 2005 revival series, but thanks to Moffat (and Creator/RussellTDavies) Big Finish can now have modern monsters meet early Doctors, and the New Series novel line can use classic supporting and spin-off characters, so the Eighth Doctor can meet the Weeping Angels and the Twelfth team up with [[Franchise/BerniceSummerfield [[Literature/BerniceSummerfield Benny Summerfield.]]
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** While a lot of these aren't specifically written by Moffat, as producer he's had some say in them (approval, etc.) That being said, there have been a '''lot''' of Amy Pond doubles floating around. Let's count: Time-Shifted Amy/Amelia ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E13TheBigBang The Big Bang]]"), Time-Slipped Amy [[DoctorWho2011RNDSSpaceAndTime ("Space", "Time"]], "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E10TheGirlWhoWaited The Girl Who Waited]]"), Teselecta Amy ("Let's Kill Hitler"), and, of course, [[spoiler:Flesh Ganger Amy ("The Almost People")]]. Let's hope Creator/KarenGillan gets time and a half for all the ActingForTwo she did.

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** While a lot of these aren't specifically written by Moffat, as producer he's had some say in them (approval, etc.) That being said, there have been a '''lot''' of Amy Pond doubles floating around. Let's count: Time-Shifted Amy/Amelia ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E13TheBigBang The Big Bang]]"), Time-Slipped Amy [[DoctorWho2011RNDSSpaceAndTime [[Recap/DoctorWho2011RNDSSpaceAndTime ("Space", "Time"]], "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E10TheGirlWhoWaited The Girl Who Waited]]"), Teselecta Amy ("Let's Kill Hitler"), and, of course, [[spoiler:Flesh Ganger Amy ("The Almost People")]]. Let's hope Creator/KarenGillan gets time and a half for all the ActingForTwo she did.
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He's known to prefer [[HandWave Timey-Wimey]] explanations to TechnoBabble, gleefully uses StableTimeLoop and TemporalParadox plots, and plays the LongGame when it comes to dramatic tension: he intentionally planted seeds in ''Doctor Who'' back in '''2006''' that didn't ''begin'' to get resolved until the '''2013 series finale'''.[[note]]That is, the mystery surrounding the Doctor's real name.[[/note]] He's also fond of esoteric plotting and going beyond the traditional boundaries of the franchise and television as a whole.

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He's known to prefer [[HandWave Timey-Wimey]] explanations to TechnoBabble, {{Technobabble}}, gleefully uses StableTimeLoop and TemporalParadox plots, and plays the LongGame when it comes to dramatic tension: he intentionally planted seeds in ''Doctor Who'' back in '''2006''' that didn't ''begin'' to get resolved until the '''2013 series finale'''.[[note]]That finale.'''[[note]]That is, the mystery surrounding the Doctor's real name.[[/note]] He's also fond of esoteric plotting and going beyond the traditional boundaries of the franchise and television as a whole.
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In 2015, he was made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to drama just like Russell T. Davies before him.

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In 2015, he was made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to drama just like Russell T. Davies Creator/RussellTDavies before him.
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[[caption-width-right:350:''[[NightmareFuel/DoctorWho He feeds on fear]].'']]

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[[caption-width-right:350:''[[NightmareFuel/DoctorWho [[caption-width-right:350:''[[NightmareFuel/DoctorWhoNewSeries He feeds on fear]].'']]
fear.]]'']]
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He may be an EvilOverlord. We're not sure and, for his part, he's stayed numb on the matter. [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVtiq5SIOL0&t=0s We do know he has an evil lair in a volcano, at least]].

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He may be an EvilOverlord. We're not sure and, for his part, he's stayed numb kept mum on the matter. [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVtiq5SIOL0&t=0s We do know he has an evil lair in a volcano, at least]].
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-->-- '''Steven Moffat'''

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-->-- '''Steven Moffat'''
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** The Comic Relief two-parter "[[Recap/DoctorWho2011RedNoseDaySpecialSpaceAndTime Space]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWho2011RedNoseDaySpecialSpaceAndTime Time]]" (2011)

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** The Comic Relief two-parter "[[Recap/DoctorWho2011RedNoseDaySpecialSpaceAndTime "[[Recap/DoctorWho2011RNDSSpaceAndTime Space]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWho2011RedNoseDaySpecialSpaceAndTime "[[Recap/DoctorWho2011RNDSSpaceAndTime Time]]" (2011)
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** He wrote the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode, ''[[Recap.DoctorWhoNSS3E10Blink Blink]]'' based on his short story, '''What I Did on My Summer Holidays' by Sally Sparrow''.

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** He wrote the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode, ''[[Recap.DoctorWhoNSS3E10Blink ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E10Blink Blink]]'' based on his short story, '''What I Did on My Summer Holidays' by Sally Sparrow''.
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He may be an EvilOverlord. We're not sure and, for his part, he's stayed numb on the matter.

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He may be an EvilOverlord. We're not sure and, for his part, he's stayed numb on the matter.
matter. [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVtiq5SIOL0&t=0s We do know he has an evil lair in a volcano, at least]].
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Per wick cleanup.


%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.
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** He also had regrets over not being able to properly revise Series 10's [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E7ThePyramidAtTheEndOfTheWorld "The Pyramid at the End of the World"]], which was criticized for its IdiotPlot and extremely contrived {{Cliffhanger}}. (It also led into the least-popular episode of the season, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E8TheLieOfTheLand "The Lie of the Land"]], a Toby Whithouse script.) He was preoccupied with getting [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E6Extremis "Extremis"]] in shooting shape ''and'', sadly, the terminal illness of his mother, so he couldn't revise "Pyramid" with co-writer Peter Harness (who was initially {{Misblamed}} for its failings).

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** He also had regrets over not being able to properly revise Series 10's [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E7ThePyramidAtTheEndOfTheWorld "The Pyramid at the End of the World"]], which was criticized for its IdiotPlot plot and extremely contrived {{Cliffhanger}}. (It also led into the least-popular episode of the season, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E8TheLieOfTheLand "The Lie of the Land"]], a Toby Whithouse script.) He was preoccupied with getting [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E6Extremis "Extremis"]] in shooting shape ''and'', sadly, the terminal illness of his mother, so he couldn't revise "Pyramid" with co-writer Peter Harness (who was initially {{Misblamed}} for its failings).
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** Most of his episodes are more psychologically scary, leaving you cowering behind the couch despite a body count of zero. He tends to invoke the [[invoked]]UncannyValley quite often. His monsters involve masks (Clockwork Men, Empty Child) and statues/mannequins (Weeping Angels, Smilers).

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** Most of his episodes are more psychologically scary, leaving you cowering behind the couch despite a body count of zero. He tends to invoke the [[invoked]]UncannyValley UncannyValley quite often. His monsters involve masks (Clockwork Men, Empty Child) and statues/mannequins (Weeping Angels, Smilers).
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* ''Series/InsideMan'' (2022)
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* ''Series/TheTimeTravelersWife'' (2022)
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Up To Eleven is a defunct trope


** Also has a tendency to make the most innocuous things absolutely terrifying, like the voice of a child asking for his mother, clock ticks, statues, shadows, birdsong, mirrors, a crack in the wall...and now, after making almost everything else scary, he goes UpToEleven and makes ''silence itself'' terrifying. He wants to leave his audience with no place to hide.

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** Also has a tendency to make the most innocuous things absolutely terrifying, like the voice of a child asking for his mother, clock ticks, statues, shadows, birdsong, mirrors, a crack in the wall...and now, after making almost everything else scary, he goes UpToEleven and makes ''silence itself'' terrifying. He wants to leave his audience with no place to hide.
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* AuthorAppeal: There's a lot of Scottish floating around ''Who'' since he took over. Between the Scottish Amy Pond, the Scottish-sounding Twelfth Doctor, and subtle references about Scotland in various forms (Strax's favourite hobby is regular bar fights in Glasgow, Amy chalking up her temper in "Asylum of the Daleks" to being Scottish) he seems to be doing to Scotland what Russell T Davies did to Wales during his tenure.

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* AuthorAppeal: There's a lot of Scottish floating around ''Who'' since he took over. Between the Scottish Amy Pond, the Scottish-sounding Twelfth Doctor, and subtle references about Scotland in various forms (Strax's favourite hobby is regular bar fights in Glasgow, Amy chalking up her temper in "Asylum of the Daleks" to being Scottish) he seems seemed to be doing do to Scotland what Russell T Davies did to Wales during his tenure.



* DemBones: Skeletons and skulls show up in a few many stories by him. The Vashta Nerada strip their victims to the bone and then walk their skeletons around in their spacesuits. A couple different stories by him have revealed Cybermen to have human skeletons underneath their metallic casing. When the Doctor goes to visit the preserved head of Dorium Maldavar, the Seventh Transept is full of vicious, biting skulls. And in the web short ''The Last Day'', the Time Lord POV character has a brief vision of himself as nothing but a skull in his helmet (possibly a reference to the Vashta Nerada

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* DemBones: Skeletons and skulls show up in a few many stories by him. The Vashta Nerada strip their victims to the bone and then walk their skeletons around in their spacesuits. A couple different stories by him have revealed Cybermen to have human skeletons underneath their metallic casing. When the Doctor goes to visit the preserved head of Dorium Maldavar, the Seventh Transept is full of vicious, biting skulls. And in the web short ''The Last Day'', the Time Lord POV character has a brief vision of himself as nothing but a skull in his helmet (possibly a reference to the Vashta Nerada Nerada).



-->I'm vile. Full of myself. Pompous, and dismissing all the writers of the old show as lazy hacks. Dear God, I blush, I cringe, I creep. I walked out of the interview high on my own genius, and wrote ''Chalk'', one of the most loathed and derided sitcoms in the history of the form. The thing about life is, you can always rely on it to administer a good slap when required

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-->I'm vile. Full of myself. Pompous, and dismissing all the writers of the old show as lazy hacks. Dear God, I blush, I cringe, I creep. I walked out of the interview high on my own genius, and wrote ''Chalk'', one of the most loathed and derided sitcoms in the history of the form. The thing about life is, you can always rely on it to administer a good slap when requiredrequired.

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-->"I didn’t enjoy my third year as much. It was a bit miserable... The workload was just insane. I wasn’t coping as well. No-one else’s fault, all mine. The 50th was looming, and I didn’t know if we could make it work. It was a tough, tough time. My darkest hour on Who was that."

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-->"I didn’t didn't enjoy my third year as much. It was a bit miserable... The workload was just insane. I wasn’t wasn't coping as well. No-one else’s fault, all mine. The 50th was looming, and I didn’t know if we could make it work. It was a tough, tough time. My darkest hour on Who was that."



* OldShame: He's quite embarrassed by his sitcom ''Series/{{Chalk}}''. In one interview, he refused to even name it for fear of getting attacked in the street.

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* OldShame: OldShame:
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He's quite embarrassed by his sitcom ''Series/{{Chalk}}''. In one interview, he refused to even name it for fear of getting attacked in the street.street.
** He ''really'' regrets [[https://doctorwho.org.nz/archive/tsv43/onediscussion.html?fbclid=IwAR1nQcLettayNbvklsSVVKD31YI7XRrT9FgIxrtwGlzoIVUQxA1kkx2OqUw some infamous comments]] made about classic ''Doctor Who'' in 1995 during a roundtable discussion with Creator/PaulCornell and others.
-->I'm vile. Full of myself. Pompous, and dismissing all the writers of the old show as lazy hacks. Dear God, I blush, I cringe, I creep. I walked out of the interview high on my own genius, and wrote ''Chalk'', one of the most loathed and derided sitcoms in the history of the form. The thing about life is, you can always rely on it to administer a good slap when required
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Un-soft-splitting


!!His work on ''Series/DoctorWho'' offers examples of:

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!!His work on ''Series/DoctorWho'' offers writing provides examples of:



* BadassInANiceSuit[=/=]SharpDressedMan: In his run, this often applies to the Doctors (which is par for the course at this point in the show) and the monsters (which is much less so.) Eleven is almost always wearing high-class, old-fashioned clothing, and Twelve frequently does as well (particularly early on in his era), in contrast to the more down-to-earth clothing of their [[Characters/DoctorWhoNinthDoctor two]] [[Characters/DoctorWhoTenthDoctor predecessors]]. His villains and monsters, such as the Clockwork Droids, the Silence, Walter Simeon and the Whisper Men, and Missy, also wear ornate clothing.

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* BadassInANiceSuit[=/=]SharpDressedMan: BadassInANiceSuit: In his run, this often applies to the Doctors (which is par for the course at this point in the show) and the monsters (which is much less so.) Eleven is almost always wearing high-class, old-fashioned clothing, and Twelve frequently does as well (particularly early on in his era), in contrast to the more down-to-earth clothing of their [[Characters/DoctorWhoNinthDoctor two]] [[Characters/DoctorWhoTenthDoctor predecessors]]. His villains and monsters, such as the Clockwork Droids, the Silence, Walter Simeon and the Whisper Men, and Missy, also wear ornate clothing.
* BetterByADifferentName: ''Chalk'' was blatantly just ''Series/FawltyTowers'' [[WriteWhatYouKnow set in a comprehensive school like the one Moffat taught at]], with Creator/DavidBamber as an incompetent, insufferable, officious headmaster trying to keep the school running smoothly while the universe screws him over at every turn. [[https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/steven_moffat/features/steven-moffat-interview/ In an interview]], Moffat elaborated on its less than stellar reception compared to the original: "The best joke in ''Chalk'' isn't actually in ''Chalk''. It was an absolutely withering, destructive, soul-clenchingly bad review - even among the reviews of ''Chalk'' this was bad. It did the great kindness of comparing my work to John Cleese's, actually beat for beat why I was so terrible, which was awful. But it had the best headline ever for a bad review - Chalk and Cleese. That's superb, funnier than anything I wrote in ''Chalk''."[[note]] ''"Chalk and cheese" means "to compare two things which aren't alike".''[[/note]]



* CreatorBreakdown: Both ''Series/PressGang'' and ''Joking Apart'' contain some incredibly bitter dark comedy regarding his attempt to deal with his divorce.
* CreatorCouple: His wife, Sue Vertue, has co-produced several of his shows, including ''Series/{{Coupling}}'' and ''Series/{{Sherlock}}''.



** Themes of love and hope are a cornerstone of Moffat's stories, especially with his finales. Bonus points if this involves the Doctor and his companion.
* DistractedByMyOwnSexy[=/=]ScrewYourself: A bit of a running gag, combined with time travel. It's used sparingly, but pops up in "Space"/"Time" and some other stories. The ScrewYourself trope is, of course, not used ''explicitly'', since ''Doctor Who'' is a family show, but he did once write a Master-on-Master CrackFic as a joke--in which the Delgado and Gomez incarnations ended up bangin'.

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** Themes of love and hope are a cornerstone of Moffat's stories, especially with his finales. Bonus points if this involves the Doctor and his companion. Phones seem to be one of his things. They tend to be featured prominently and as integral plot devices.
* DistractedByMyOwnSexy[=/=]ScrewYourself: A bit ** Both Sherlock's "A Study In Pink" and Doctor Who's "The Eleventh Hour" feature mobile smart phones as plot devices.
** "The Impossible Astronaut" also has phones as plot devices, both mobile and land-line.
** The Empty Child from the episode
of the same name is fond of placing unearthly calls, even to the TARDIS's fake phone.
** "The Beast Below"'s cliffhanger involves
a running gag, combined phone call, and "The Pandorica Opens" is kicked into gear by a phone call as well.
** "The Day of the Doctor" has the Doctor answer the fake phone, followed by a nice aerial trip over London outside the TARDIS.
** "The Time of the Doctor": "Urgent: action required. You must patch the telephone device back through the console unit."
** The titular "Bells of St. John" is the phone on the TARDIS.
** ''Series/{{Jekyll}}'' uses the protagonist's mobile phone [[spoiler:as a clever communicator "device" between two sides of the character's personality]].
** ''Series/{{Coupling}}'' has several episodes based around misunderstandings
with time travel. It's used sparingly, but pops up in "Space"/"Time" and some other stories. The ScrewYourself trope is, phones.
** Likewise with ''Series/PressGang''.
* DeconstructorFleet: This was hinted at with ''The Curse
of course, not used ''explicitly'', since Fatal Death''. Both Matt Smith's ''Doctor Who'' and ''Sherlock'' are defiantly "anti-myth", as it were. Sherlock is a family show, self-aggrandizing genius who gets a taste of his own medicine in "The Reichenbach Fall", when ''every'' character he has insulted throughout the series conspire to ruin his reputation and [[spoiler:drive him to apparent suicide]]. The Doctor is a bit friendlier, but he did once write makes no bones about being a Master-on-Master CrackFic as a joke--in which "mass-murdering psychopath" who often dooms people by offering them an escape from real life. The overall message seems to be that there are no clean "heroes" and that myths are dangerous, though Moffat concedes the Delgado and Gomez incarnations ended up bangin'.childlike wonderment of myths.



* ExplainExplainOhCrap: Regularly used, but for suspense/horror rather than comedy. A great example in "The Empty Child", where they are listening to a tape recording of the child speaking. After a while the characters notice that there is a ticking sound caused by the tape flicking off the reel after it has finished playing... but the sound's still going, and only then do they realise the child is in the room with them.

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* ExplainExplainOhCrap: Regularly used, DisownedAdaptation: He didn't care for the American remake of ''Series/{{Coupling}}'', blaming it on Creator/{{NBC}}'s interference.
* EagleLand: Harsh flavour in ''Series/{{Jekyll}}'' and ''Series/{{Sherlock}}''; mixed flavour in ''Series/DoctorWho''.
* EverybodyLives: The Ninth Doctor might have coined the phrase
but for suspense/horror rather than comedy. A great Moffat practically shouts this at the end of every episode. Unlike Davies who is very keen on death, he can't bear to lose even a single character. He even brought back Osgood (Creator/IngridOliver) ''and'' the fake Osgood.
* FanCommunityNicknames: His fans have taken to calling themselves "Moffat Masochists" with good reason.
%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your
example in "The Empty Child", where they are listening to a tape recording of fits the child speaking. After a while the characters notice that there is a ticking sound caused by the tape flicking off the reel after it has finished playing... but the sound's still going, and only then do they realise the child is in the room with them.current definition.



* GirlOnGirlIsHot: Any male character (except the Doctor and Sherlock) will become near-comatose at even the mention of lesbianism. Oddly enough, this includes his version of John Watson, whose sister is a lesbian.
* LineToGod: Long before social media really took off, he had an account on Outpost Gallifrey, which is the source of his epilogue to ''Series/{{Coupling}}'' which can be seen on that work's Trivia tab. He continued to use it whilst working as a freelance writer for ''Doctor Who'' (amongst other things, confirming the "windows are the wrong size" line in "Blink" was a deliberate in-joke) but stopped using it the moment he was announced as the new showrunner.
* LyingCreator:
** Rule Zero: Moffat Lies (after the well-known "Rule One: The Doctor lies"). ''Self-admitted''; in an interview on about the fiftieth anniversary special, he said, "Normally I am responsible for the disinformation and the rubbish rumours--I usually put them out myself, but I haven't needed to for this one." (And he was lying about this too; he was personally responsible for some of the misinformation about the fiftieth).
** It happened again with "[[Recap/SherlockSpecialTheAbominableBride The Abominable Bride]]". [[spoiler:He'd flat-out stated it was a Victorian "alternate universe" setting that had nothing to do with the main series' continuity. The Victorian part turned out to be accurate, but the {{Mind Screw}}y ending showed either that the entire Victorian storyline was a drug-induced hallucination of modern-day Sherlock's, or that the entire modern-day series is a drug-induced hallucination of Victorian Sherlock's. Intriguingly, the episode could support either interpretation. In any case, the episode is a direct sequel to the series 3 finale, "[[Recap/SherlockS03E03HisLastVow His Last Vow]]", and the end of that episode becomes a plot point for the special.]]



* NoodleIncident: Episodes often begin with these and casual lines are often tossed in. These are often used for humour and to effect a zanier mood.



* OldShame: He's quite embarrassed by his sitcom ''Series/{{Chalk}}''. In one interview, he refused to even name it for fear of getting attacked in the street.



* ScrewYourself: A bit of a running gag in ''Doctor Who'', combined with time travel. It's used sparingly, but pops up in "Space"/"Time" and some other stories. The ScrewYourself trope is, of course, not used ''explicitly'', since ''Doctor Who'' is a family show, but he did once write a Master-on-Master CrackFic as a joke--in which the Delgado and Gomez incarnations ended up bangin'.



** Most things he's written will have a "Jeff" and/or a "Sally" appear at some point.
** {{Author Avatar}}s of Moffat appear throughout his works. ''Joking Apart'' was based on Moffat's early life as Anti-Sherlock, a sort of fratboy Machiavelli whose schemes never quite take off; ''Coupling'' was a rather merciless depiction of his own marriage (with his wife's consent, of course). The Doctor and Sherlock channel his voice quite often, as well.
** Continuing the "Florida" theme, in the ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' episode "A Study in Pink", Mrs. Hudson's husband was arrested in Florida.
** He seems to really love the ButtMonkey and TheChewToy, and always makes sure one character has almost everything seemingly possible go wrong in their lives. [[Series/{{Coupling}} Jeff Murdock]], [[Series/DoctorWho Rory Williams]], [[Series/{{Sherlock}} Molly Hooper]]...he seems to always like having one character to use as a punching bag.
** Has a fondness for not-so-subtle {{Audience Surrogate}}s and [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall metatexual references]] to the popularity of ''Series/DoctorWho'' and ''Series/{{Sherlock}}''. Also enjoys lampshading the fact that his superheroes are going to win, no matter what; thus, the story becomes more about the journey than the destination.
* SpiritualAntithesis: In a few interviews, he has said that he considers ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' to be this to his tenure on ''Series/DoctorWho'', with his take on ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' essentially a dark {{Foil}} of the Doctor. ''Doctor Who'' is about an long-lived alien time traveller's relationships with his beloved mostly-human friends who keep him "down to Earth", whereas ''Sherlock'' is about a human detective who shuns emotions and friendly relationships. Where the Doctor is an alien being who's afraid of losing touch with his "human" side, Sherlock Holmes is an ordinary human who wants to prove to the world that he's something better than human, or, as Steven himself put it, "The Doctor is an angel who wants to be human; Sherlock is a human who wants to be a god."\\\
Tonally, they're also complete inversions of one another: ''Doctor Who'' is a whimsical, light-hearted science-fiction series that's known for its dark undertones, and ''Sherlock'' is a gritty crime saga that's known for its whimsical undertones.
* TeasingCreator: He routinely and openly admits to lying about his shows, encourages preview guests to give out fake spoilers, and is generally good at gleefully trolling the fandoms. He also encourages fans to speculate on their own because if they have a good idea it makes his job much easier.



* UncannyValley: {{Invoked}}. His monsters are designed to be unsettling rather than outright horrifying.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** He was asked to write ''Doctor Who'' audio plays for Creator/BigFinish when the company first started. He was interested, but the only Doctor he wanted to write for was Eight and Creator/PaulMcGann hadn't signed on yet.
** He was originally supposed to write "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E4DaleksInManhattan Daleks in Manhattan]]"[=/=]"[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E5EvolutionOfTheDaleks Evolution of the Daleks]]", but he was busy with ''Series/{{Jekyll}}''. He volunteered to write the Doctor-lite story of that season, which turned out to be "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E10Blink Blink]]".
** He was supposed to write "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E11TheCrimsonHorror The Crimson Horror]]", but he realized he would not be able to write the story from the point of view of Vastra, Jenny and Strax, and he called on Creator/MarkGatiss to do so.
* WordOfGay: Has stated that River is bi and that the Doctor has no real concept of human sexual preference for one gender over another. Both were hinted at in his stories, but only became explicit on his Twitter and in ''Doctor Who Magazine''.

!!His other writing provides examples of:
* BetterByADifferentName: ''Chalk'' was blatantly just ''Series/FawltyTowers'' [[WriteWhatYouKnow set in a comprehensive school like the one Moffat taught at]], with Creator/DavidBamber as an incompetent, insufferable, officious headmaster trying to keep the school running smoothly while the universe screws him over at every turn. [[https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/steven_moffat/features/steven-moffat-interview/ In an interview]], Moffat elaborated on its less than stellar reception compared to the original: "The best joke in ''Chalk'' isn't actually in ''Chalk''. It was an absolutely withering, destructive, soul-clenchingly bad review - even among the reviews of ''Chalk'' this was bad. It did the great kindness of comparing my work to John Cleese's, actually beat for beat why I was so terrible, which was awful. But it had the best headline ever for a bad review - Chalk and Cleese. That's superb, funnier than anything I wrote in ''Chalk''."[[note]] ''"Chalk and cheese" means "to compare two things which aren't alike".''[[/note]]
* CreatorBreakdown: Both ''Series/PressGang'' and ''Joking Apart'' contain some incredibly bitter dark comedy regarding his attempt to deal with his divorce.
* CreatorCouple: His wife, Sue Vertue, has co-produced several of his shows, including ''Series/{{Coupling}}'' and ''Series/{{Sherlock}}''.
* CreatorThumbprint: Phones seem to be one of his things. They tend to be featured prominently and as integral plot devices.
** Both Sherlock's "A Study In Pink" and Doctor Who's "The Eleventh Hour" feature mobile smart phones as plot devices.
** "The Impossible Astronaut" also has phones as plot devices, both mobile and land-line.
** The Empty Child from the episode of the same name is fond of placing unearthly calls, even to the TARDIS's fake phone.
** "The Beast Below"'s cliffhanger involves a phone call, and "The Pandorica Opens" is kicked into gear by a phone call as well.
** "The Day of the Doctor" has the Doctor answer the fake phone, followed by a nice aerial trip over London outside the TARDIS.
** "The Time of the Doctor": "Urgent: action required. You must patch the telephone device back through the console unit."
** The titular "Bells of St. John" is the phone on the TARDIS.
** ''Series/{{Jekyll}}'' uses the protagonist's mobile phone [[spoiler:as a clever communicator "device" between two sides of the character's personality]].
** ''Series/{{Coupling}}'' has several episodes based around misunderstandings with phones.
** Likewise with ''Series/PressGang''.
* DeconstructorFleet: This was hinted at with ''The Curse of Fatal Death''. Both Matt Smith's ''Doctor Who'' and ''Sherlock'' are defiantly "anti-myth", as it were. Sherlock is a self-aggrandizing genius who gets a taste of his own medicine in "The Reichenbach Fall", when ''every'' character he has insulted throughout the series conspire to ruin his reputation and [[spoiler:drive him to apparent suicide]]. The Doctor is a bit friendlier, but makes no bones about being a "mass-murdering psychopath" who often dooms people by offering them an escape from real life. The overall message seems to be that there are no clean "heroes" and that myths are dangerous, though Moffat concedes the childlike wonderment of myths.
* DisownedAdaptation: He didn't care for the American remake of ''Series/{{Coupling}}'', blaming it on Creator/{{NBC}}'s interference.
* EagleLand: Harsh flavour in ''Series/{{Jekyll}}'' and ''Series/{{Sherlock}}''; mixed flavour in ''Series/DoctorWho''.
* EverybodyLives: The Ninth Doctor might have coined the phrase but Moffat practically shouts this at the end of every episode. Unlike Davies who is very keen on death, he can't bear to lose even a single character. He even brought back Osgood (Creator/IngridOliver) ''and'' the fake Osgood.
* FanCommunityNicknames: His fans have taken to calling themselves "Moffat Masochists" with good reason.
%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.
* GirlOnGirlIsHot: Any male character (except the Doctor and Sherlock) will become near-comatose at even the mention of lesbianism. Oddly enough, this includes his version of John Watson, whose sister is a lesbian.
* LineToGod: Long before social media really took off, he had an account on Outpost Gallifrey, which is the source of his epilogue to ''Series/{{Coupling}}'' which can be seen on that work's Trivia tab. He continued to use it whilst working as a freelance writer for ''Doctor Who'' (amongst other things, confirming the "windows are the wrong size" line in "Blink" was a deliberate in-joke) but stopped using it the moment he was announced as the new showrunner.
* LyingCreator:
** Rule Zero: Moffat Lies (after the well-known "Rule One: The Doctor lies"). ''Self-admitted''; in an interview on about the fiftieth anniversary special, he said, "Normally I am responsible for the disinformation and the rubbish rumours--I usually put them out myself, but I haven't needed to for this one." (And he was lying about this too; he was personally responsible for some of the misinformation about the fiftieth).
** It happened again with "[[Recap/SherlockSpecialTheAbominableBride The Abominable Bride]]". [[spoiler:He'd flat-out stated it was a Victorian "alternate universe" setting that had nothing to do with the main series' continuity. The Victorian part turned out to be accurate, but the {{Mind Screw}}y ending showed either that the entire Victorian storyline was a drug-induced hallucination of modern-day Sherlock's, or that the entire modern-day series is a drug-induced hallucination of Victorian Sherlock's. Intriguingly, the episode could support either interpretation. In any case, the episode is a direct sequel to the series 3 finale, "[[Recap/SherlockS03E03HisLastVow His Last Vow]]", and the end of that episode becomes a plot point for the special.]]
* NoodleIncident: Episodes often begin with these and casual lines are often tossed in. These are often used for humour and to effect a zanier mood.
* OldShame: He's quite embarrassed by his sitcom ''Series/{{Chalk}}''. In one interview, he refused to even name it for fear of getting attacked in the street.
* SignatureStyle:
** Most things he's written will have a "Jeff" and/or a "Sally" appear at some point.
** {{Author Avatar}}s of Moffat appear throughout his works. ''Joking Apart'' was based on Moffat's early life as Anti-Sherlock, a sort of fratboy Machiavelli whose schemes never quite take off; ''Coupling'' was a rather merciless depiction of his own marriage (with his wife's consent, of course). The Doctor and Sherlock channel his voice quite often, as well.
** Continuing the "Florida" theme, in the ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' episode "A Study in Pink", Mrs. Hudson's husband was arrested in Florida.
** He seems to really love the ButtMonkey and TheChewToy, and always makes sure one character has almost everything seemingly possible go wrong in their lives. [[Series/{{Coupling}} Jeff Murdock]], [[Series/DoctorWho Rory Williams]], [[Series/{{Sherlock}} Molly Hooper]]...he seems to always like having one character to use as a punching bag.
** Has a fondness for not-so-subtle {{Audience Surrogate}}s and [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall metatexual references]] to the popularity of ''Series/DoctorWho'' and ''Series/{{Sherlock}}''. Also enjoys lampshading the fact that his superheroes are going to win, no matter what; thus, the story becomes more about the journey than the destination.
* SpiritualAntithesis: In a few interviews, he has said that he considers ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' to be this to his tenure on ''Series/DoctorWho'', with his take on ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' essentially a dark {{Foil}} of the Doctor. ''Doctor Who'' is about an long-lived alien time traveller's relationships with his beloved mostly-human friends who keep him "down to Earth", whereas ''Sherlock'' is about a human detective who shuns emotions and friendly relationships. Where the Doctor is an alien being who's afraid of losing touch with his "human" side, Sherlock Holmes is an ordinary human who wants to prove to the world that he's something better than human, or, as Steven himself put it, "The Doctor is an angel who wants to be human; Sherlock is a human who wants to be a god."\\\
Tonally, they're also complete inversions of one another: ''Doctor Who'' is a whimsical, light-hearted science-fiction series that's known for its dark undertones, and ''Sherlock'' is a gritty crime saga that's known for its whimsical undertones.
* TeasingCreator: He routinely and openly admits to lying about his shows, encourages preview guests to give out fake spoilers, and is generally good at gleefully trolling the fandoms. He also encourages fans to speculate on their own because if they have a good idea it makes his job much easier.
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* CreatorBacklash:
** He regards "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E2TheBeastBelow The Beast Below]]" as his least favourite episode he wrote, calling it a bit of a mess. A lot of the fandom agree with him, this episode being widely considered the worst of Series 5.
** He doesn't have high thoughts on Series 7.
-->"I didn’t enjoy my third year as much. It was a bit miserable... The workload was just insane. I wasn’t coping as well. No-one else’s fault, all mine. The 50th was looming, and I didn’t know if we could make it work. It was a tough, tough time. My darkest hour on Who was that."
** He also feels the opening episode to Series 9 wasn't original [[http://www.denofgeek.com/uk/tv/doctor-who/41885/doctor-who-steven-moffat-says-series-7-was-miserable#ixzz4IFGbX4eg enough]].
** He also had regrets over not being able to properly revise Series 10's [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E7ThePyramidAtTheEndOfTheWorld "The Pyramid at the End of the World"]], which was criticized for its IdiotPlot and extremely contrived {{Cliffhanger}}. (It also led into the least-popular episode of the season, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E8TheLieOfTheLand "The Lie of the Land"]], a Toby Whithouse script.) He was preoccupied with getting [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E6Extremis "Extremis"]] in shooting shape ''and'', sadly, the terminal illness of his mother, so he couldn't revise "Pyramid" with co-writer Peter Harness (who was initially {{Misblamed}} for its failings).



* OfficialFanSubmittedContent: Aside from the typical contests from the likes of ''Series/BluePeter'' that surround ''Doctor Who,'' there has been some ''un''official fan content. Fans will occasionally ask him a question at a convention or on Twitter, and he'll express some genuine interest in trying to put the answer into the show. He's said he tried to work in an explanation to a question about Weeping Angels and mirrors, but it was cut (although "[[Recap/DoctorWho2013CSTheTimeOfTheDoctor The Time of The Doctor]]" does have a brief reference to the idea that the concept works). Similarly, a fan asked if a pregnant Time Lady's unborn baby would regenerate if she has to regenerate, and it really seemed to pique his interest. He's also taken the opportunity to canonize some of his own personal fan theories, like the idea that the word "doctor" came to mean "healer" in the English language ''because'' of the Doctor's interventions throughout Earth's history.
* PromotedFanboy: There's a reason he's quote at the top of that particular page. In fact, he appeared on TV once to discuss the show's failings at the time from a fanboy perspective. He later wrote short stories for the officially licensed ''Doctor Who'' Virgin Books line, and in 1999 wrote the Comic Relief spoof ''Recap/DoctorWhoTheCurseOfFatalDeath''.
-->''"My entire career has been a secret plan to get this job. I applied before but I got knocked back because the BBC wanted someone else. Also, I was seven."''
* SelfAdaptation;
** He wrote the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode, ''[[Recap.DoctorWhoNSS3E10Blink Blink]]'' based on his short story, '''What I Did on My Summer Holidays' by Sally Sparrow''.
** His only book is the novelization to the ''Doctor Who'' episode ''[[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor The Day Of The Doctor]]'' that he wrote.



* TrollingCreator:
** He seems to enjoy inflicting the ComedicSociopathy version of this on his characters and his fans. In fact, in Twitter posts he even admitted he took sadistic pleasure in making Rory TheChewToy. And then there's the massive ShipTease RedHerring in series 6, involving the Doctor, Amy, Rory, River, the TARDIS, a baby, and one hell of a TimeyWimeyBall.
** Realizing that River Song is a polarizing to some fans, he and Creator/NeilGaiman gleefully announced an episode titled "The Doctor's Wife". The section of the fandom that didn't like River went berserk... and River did not appear in the episode. [[spoiler:And then he married them at the end of the series]].
** He also loves to [[LyingCreator straight-up lie]] about his plans for the show. Reached epic heights with [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor the 50th anniversary]], which he claimed [[spoiler:would feature no classic Doctors, did not involve Creator/TomBaker in any way, wouldn't provide any peeks at Creator/PeterCapaldi's upcoming incarnation of the Doctor, and wouldn't really involve much if any of the show's canon from before 2005. The climax of the episode was a scene of every single Doctor, even Capaldi, working together to save the Time Lords and Gallifrey, thereby restoring one of the biggest parts of Classic Who's canon that the new series changed, followed by a heartwarming cameo by Tom Baker]]. Well played.
** He's also fandom-savvy enough ([[PromotedFanboy he's been at it long enough, after all]]) to know ''exactly'' the right things to say and do to whip his detractors up into a lather, which he does with some regularity. Predicting what he'll be bashed for this week makes for an entertaining spectator sport.




to:

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** He was asked to write ''Doctor Who'' audio plays for Creator/BigFinish when the company first started. He was interested, but the only Doctor he wanted to write for was Eight and Creator/PaulMcGann hadn't signed on yet.
** He was originally supposed to write "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E4DaleksInManhattan Daleks in Manhattan]]"[=/=]"[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E5EvolutionOfTheDaleks Evolution of the Daleks]]", but he was busy with ''Series/{{Jekyll}}''. He volunteered to write the Doctor-lite story of that season, which turned out to be "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E10Blink Blink]]".
** He was supposed to write "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E11TheCrimsonHorror The Crimson Horror]]", but he realized he would not be able to write the story from the point of view of Vastra, Jenny and Strax, and he called on Creator/MarkGatiss to do so.
* WordOfGay: Has stated that River is bi and that the Doctor has no real concept of human sexual preference for one gender over another. Both were hinted at in his stories, but only became explicit on his Twitter and in ''Doctor Who Magazine''.


Added DiffLines:

* CreatorBreakdown: Both ''Series/PressGang'' and ''Joking Apart'' contain some incredibly bitter dark comedy regarding his attempt to deal with his divorce.
* CreatorCouple: His wife, Sue Vertue, has co-produced several of his shows, including ''Series/{{Coupling}}'' and ''Series/{{Sherlock}}''.


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* DisownedAdaptation: He didn't care for the American remake of ''Series/{{Coupling}}'', blaming it on Creator/{{NBC}}'s interference.


Added DiffLines:

* FanCommunityNicknames: His fans have taken to calling themselves "Moffat Masochists" with good reason.


Added DiffLines:

* LineToGod: Long before social media really took off, he had an account on Outpost Gallifrey, which is the source of his epilogue to ''Series/{{Coupling}}'' which can be seen on that work's Trivia tab. He continued to use it whilst working as a freelance writer for ''Doctor Who'' (amongst other things, confirming the "windows are the wrong size" line in "Blink" was a deliberate in-joke) but stopped using it the moment he was announced as the new showrunner.
* LyingCreator:
** Rule Zero: Moffat Lies (after the well-known "Rule One: The Doctor lies"). ''Self-admitted''; in an interview on about the fiftieth anniversary special, he said, "Normally I am responsible for the disinformation and the rubbish rumours--I usually put them out myself, but I haven't needed to for this one." (And he was lying about this too; he was personally responsible for some of the misinformation about the fiftieth).
** It happened again with "[[Recap/SherlockSpecialTheAbominableBride The Abominable Bride]]". [[spoiler:He'd flat-out stated it was a Victorian "alternate universe" setting that had nothing to do with the main series' continuity. The Victorian part turned out to be accurate, but the {{Mind Screw}}y ending showed either that the entire Victorian storyline was a drug-induced hallucination of modern-day Sherlock's, or that the entire modern-day series is a drug-induced hallucination of Victorian Sherlock's. Intriguingly, the episode could support either interpretation. In any case, the episode is a direct sequel to the series 3 finale, "[[Recap/SherlockS03E03HisLastVow His Last Vow]]", and the end of that episode becomes a plot point for the special.]]


Added DiffLines:

* OldShame: He's quite embarrassed by his sitcom ''Series/{{Chalk}}''. In one interview, he refused to even name it for fear of getting attacked in the street.


Added DiffLines:

* TeasingCreator: He routinely and openly admits to lying about his shows, encourages preview guests to give out fake spoilers, and is generally good at gleefully trolling the fandoms. He also encourages fans to speculate on their own because if they have a good idea it makes his job much easier.

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** Only "The Empty Child", "The Doctor Dances", and "The Beast Below" ''don't'' involve the TimeyWimeyBall in some way, and of those, only "The Beast Below" doesn't have time travel integral to the plot (as opposed to just landing the TARDIS there).

to:

** Only "The "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E9TheEmptyChild The Empty Child", "The Child]]"/"[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E10TheDoctorDances The Doctor Dances", Dances]]", and "The "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E2TheBeastBelow The Beast Below" Below]]" ''don't'' involve the TimeyWimeyBall in some way, and of those, only "The Beast Below" doesn't have time travel integral to the plot (as opposed to just landing the TARDIS there).



** He's also mentioned Florida several times in a really short time frame. In "The Big Bang", the Doctor and Amy visit "Space Florida". "The Impossible Astronaut" and "Day of the Moon" are partially set in and around Cape Kennedy.

to:

** He's also mentioned Florida several times in a really short time frame. In "The "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E13TheBigBang The Big Bang", Bang]]", the Doctor and Amy visit "Space Florida". "The Impossible Astronaut" and "Day of the Moon" are partially set in and around Cape Kennedy.



** While a lot of these aren't specifically written by Moffat, as producer he's had some say in them (approval, etc.) That being said, there have been a '''lot''' of Amy Pond doubles floating around. Let's count: Time-Shifted Amy/Amelia ("The Big Bang"), Time-Slipped Amy ("Space", "Time", "The Girl Who Waited"), Teselecta Amy ("Let's Kill Hitler"), and, of course, [[spoiler:Flesh Ganger Amy ("The Almost People")]]. Let's hope Creator/KarenGillan gets time and a half for all the ActingForTwo she did.

to:

** While a lot of these aren't specifically written by Moffat, as producer he's had some say in them (approval, etc.) That being said, there have been a '''lot''' of Amy Pond doubles floating around. Let's count: Time-Shifted Amy/Amelia ("The ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E13TheBigBang The Big Bang"), Bang]]"), Time-Slipped Amy [[DoctorWho2011RNDSSpaceAndTime ("Space", "Time", "The "Time"]], "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E10TheGirlWhoWaited The Girl Who Waited"), Waited]]"), Teselecta Amy ("Let's Kill Hitler"), and, of course, [[spoiler:Flesh Ganger Amy ("The Almost People")]]. Let's hope Creator/KarenGillan gets time and a half for all the ActingForTwo she did.
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* AuthorAppeal: There's a lot of Scottish floating around ''Who'' since he took over. Between the Scottish Amy Pond, the Scottish-sounding Twelfth Doctor, and subtle references about Scotland in various forms (Strax's favorite hobby is regular bar fights in Glasgow, Amy chalking up her temper in "Asylum of the Daleks" to being Scottish) he seems to be doing to Scotland what Russell T Davies did to Wales during his tenure.

to:

* AuthorAppeal: There's a lot of Scottish floating around ''Who'' since he took over. Between the Scottish Amy Pond, the Scottish-sounding Twelfth Doctor, and subtle references about Scotland in various forms (Strax's favorite favourite hobby is regular bar fights in Glasgow, Amy chalking up her temper in "Asylum of the Daleks" to being Scottish) he seems to be doing to Scotland what Russell T Davies did to Wales during his tenure.



** Most of his episodes are more psychologically scary, leaving you cowering behind the couch despite a body count of zero. He tends to invoke the UncannyValley quite often. His monsters involve masks (Clockwork Men, Empty Child) and statues/mannequins (Weeping Angels, Smilers).

to:

** Most of his episodes are more psychologically scary, leaving you cowering behind the couch despite a body count of zero. He tends to invoke the UncannyValley [[invoked]]UncannyValley quite often. His monsters involve masks (Clockwork Men, Empty Child) and statues/mannequins (Weeping Angels, Smilers).



* EagleLand: Harsh flavor in ''Series/{{Jekyll}}'' and ''Series/{{Sherlock}}''; mixed flavor in ''Series/DoctorWho''.

to:

* EagleLand: Harsh flavor flavour in ''Series/{{Jekyll}}'' and ''Series/{{Sherlock}}''; mixed flavor flavour in ''Series/DoctorWho''.



* NoodleIncident: Episodes often begin with these and casual lines are often tossed in. These are often used for humor and to effect a zanier mood.

to:

* NoodleIncident: Episodes often begin with these and casual lines are often tossed in. These are often used for humor humour and to effect a zanier mood.



* SpiritualAntithesis: In a few interviews, he has said that he considers ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' to be this to his tenure on ''Series/DoctorWho'', with his take on ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' essentially a dark {{Foil}} of the Doctor. ''Doctor Who'' is about an long-lived alien time traveler's relationships with his beloved mostly-human friends who keep him "down to Earth", whereas ''Sherlock'' is about a human detective who shuns emotions and friendly relationships. Where the Doctor is an alien being who's afraid of losing touch with his "human" side, Sherlock Holmes is an ordinary human who wants to prove to the world that he's something better than human, or, as Steven himself put it, "The Doctor is an angel who wants to be human; Sherlock is a human who wants to be a god."\\\

to:

* SpiritualAntithesis: In a few interviews, he has said that he considers ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' to be this to his tenure on ''Series/DoctorWho'', with his take on ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' essentially a dark {{Foil}} of the Doctor. ''Doctor Who'' is about an long-lived alien time traveler's traveller's relationships with his beloved mostly-human friends who keep him "down to Earth", whereas ''Sherlock'' is about a human detective who shuns emotions and friendly relationships. Where the Doctor is an alien being who's afraid of losing touch with his "human" side, Sherlock Holmes is an ordinary human who wants to prove to the world that he's something better than human, or, as Steven himself put it, "The Doctor is an angel who wants to be human; Sherlock is a human who wants to be a god."\\\
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* BetterByADifferentName: ''Chalk'' was blatantly just ''Series/FawltyTowers'' [[WriteWhatYouKnow set in a comprehensive school like the one Moffat taught at]]. [[https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/steven_moffat/features/steven-moffat-interview/ In an interview]], he elaborated on its less than stellar reception compared to the original: "The best joke in ''Chalk'' isn't actually in ''Chalk''. It was an absolutely withering, destructive, soul-clenchingly bad review - even among the reviews of ''Chalk'' this was bad. It did the great kindness of comparing my work to John Cleese's, actually beat for beat why I was so terrible, which was awful. But it had the best headline ever for a bad review - Chalk and Cleese. That's superb, funnier than anything I wrote in ''Chalk''."[[note]] ''"Chalk and cheese" means "to compare two things which aren't alike".''[[/note]]

to:

* BetterByADifferentName: ''Chalk'' was blatantly just ''Series/FawltyTowers'' [[WriteWhatYouKnow set in a comprehensive school like the one Moffat taught at]].at]], with Creator/DavidBamber as an incompetent, insufferable, officious headmaster trying to keep the school running smoothly while the universe screws him over at every turn. [[https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/steven_moffat/features/steven-moffat-interview/ In an interview]], he Moffat elaborated on its less than stellar reception compared to the original: "The best joke in ''Chalk'' isn't actually in ''Chalk''. It was an absolutely withering, destructive, soul-clenchingly bad review - even among the reviews of ''Chalk'' this was bad. It did the great kindness of comparing my work to John Cleese's, actually beat for beat why I was so terrible, which was awful. But it had the best headline ever for a bad review - Chalk and Cleese. That's superb, funnier than anything I wrote in ''Chalk''."[[note]] ''"Chalk and cheese" means "to compare two things which aren't alike".''[[/note]]
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Added DiffLines:

* BetterByADifferentName: ''Chalk'' was blatantly just ''Series/FawltyTowers'' [[WriteWhatYouKnow set in a comprehensive school like the one Moffat taught at]]. [[https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/steven_moffat/features/steven-moffat-interview/ In an interview]], he elaborated on its less than stellar reception compared to the original: "The best joke in ''Chalk'' isn't actually in ''Chalk''. It was an absolutely withering, destructive, soul-clenchingly bad review - even among the reviews of ''Chalk'' this was bad. It did the great kindness of comparing my work to John Cleese's, actually beat for beat why I was so terrible, which was awful. But it had the best headline ever for a bad review - Chalk and Cleese. That's superb, funnier than anything I wrote in ''Chalk''."[[note]] ''"Chalk and cheese" means "to compare two things which aren't alike".''[[/note]]
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* AlanFridge
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* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTintin: The Secret of the Unicorn'' (feature film, co-written with Creator/EdgarWright and Creator/JoeCornish, 2011)

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* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTintin: The Secret ''WesternAnimation/{{The Adventures of the Unicorn'' Tintin|2011}}'' (feature film, co-written with Creator/EdgarWright and Creator/JoeCornish, 2011)

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