Looking Ahead to Series 6

I will be the first to admit I wasn't wild about Series 5 when it first began.

I think, honestly, my taste buds had been desensitized.  After all, Russel T. Davies' Doctor Who had been like huge, spicy helpings of Thai green curry...hot, fiery, and anything but subtle.  His Doctor was an operatic figure,  a tragic hero.  Moffat is a very different kind of writer.  He is subtle, and his Doctor is a return towards the classic program, the erratic alien who meddles in lives like a trickster or clown.  Having been overwhelmed for four years, Series 5 came off as a whimper rather than a bang.  Which of course is not really fair after going back and giving it a second viewing.

I should point out that of all the writers who worked under Davies, Moffat was my favorite and I was initially thrilled to hear he was taking over Who.  "The Empty Child/Doctor Dances," "The Girl in the Fireplace," "Blink," and "Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead" are among the best episodes the Davies' years had to offer.  His episodes also introduced two of the most intriguing characters Whodom has ever seen; the roguish Captain Jack and perplexing River Song.  And if Davies excelled at emotional highs and lows, Moffat's gift is that he understands better than anyone else in Doctor Who history that the show is essentially about "time travel," and how to use that in the plot.  In "The Girl in the Fireplace" he wielded it as an emotional weapon.  In "Blink," he boggled the audience's mind with the DVD sequence.  And don't get me started on the ingenious out of sequence relationship between River and the Doctor.  Looking back then, my initial distaste stemmed from the fact that I had unconsciously expected him to continue the tone and feel of the Davies era, something I was wrong to expect.

I was also mistakenly disappointed with the finale of Series 5.  Who the heck made the TARDIS blow up?  What brought that impossible alliance of hostile aliens together?  What is the bloody Silence?  And will somebody please explain to me why "The Lodger" just got brushed under the rug?  I mean, someone was trying to build a freaking TARDIS!!!!   But seeing the Series 6 trailer, I understand that Moffat plans to answer all those questions, but unlike Davies, who wrapped up his story arcs in a single season, Moffat has spread his out over two (or three?).  

And I, for one, and really looking forward to it.