Well, he's a professional, so if he does indeed suffer from bad memory and it's important to him to not use the same lines over and over again (or to use lines from other writers), then he should just double-check (or pay someone else to double-check his writing...).
My guess is that he either doesn't care or, more likely, that he's doing it on purpose.

Welcome to the thread, Whisky!  And yes, I suppose it is normal, in that Moffat is writing for TV, and there must be an awful lot of writing (not like doing a film screenplay every couple of years) - bound to be some repetition.  Especially with vaguely similar characters.   (I'm assuming you were watching a Moffat episode!). 

There's some (very, very tentatively!) possibly hopeful news on Peter Capaldi:

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-03-07/peter-capaldi-ive-been-asked-to-stay-on-in-doctor-who-after-steven-moffat-leaves

I would love him to stay.  I think it would be really interesting to see him with a new writer. 

Last edited by Liberty (March 8, 2016 6:38 pm)

Welcome, Whisky! So where are you with DW right now? EinsFestival started with S5 and Matt Smith, did you start with Chris Eccleston?
And well, I still think Moffat is copying - or you could also say referencing, sounds a bit more positive - himself on purpose. It's probably a matter of taste whether one likes this or not. Like I said, in the beginning I thought it was kind of charming, but after several seasons it's getting boring.

Liberty, thanks for that link. I'm not sure about Capaldi staying when Chibnall takes over though. Might be interesting, might also mean that Chibnall will be a bit restricted in his writing and his general concept for the show. But since David Tennant left when RTD left, it might be nice to see Capaldi take another route and stay when a new showrunner takes over.
 

Last edited by SolarSystem (March 9, 2016 6:05 am)

I totally agree with you. 

Sadly, when I compare some of the writing to the very best that TV writers can offer (I could give you a reasonably long list of those shows I regard as very strongly written) it falls below that which I would expect or hope for. I do not take pleasure in saying this but I do feel it is true. 

I hope they never hit Mark!  Tee Hee. 

I just finished watching "A Good Man Goes to War" and I thought the writing was brilliant. I guess I'm still at the stage of thinking Stephen Moffat is very clever and enjoying it all, even the lesser episodes. Anyway, I was spoiled for the big reveal about River Song ages ago, and would love to know what it was like for those who watched it when it was first aired, finding out who she really is. I reckon I wouldn't have seen it coming at all. The whole thing with Amy having a baby like that would have been a shock too. What was it like, for those who weren't spoiled?

I didn't guess it at all, although I'd been trying to!  I found the whole story about Amy's pregnancy and baby very, very dark, to be honest - darker than I'd expected in a children's show.   It was so sad that Amy never had a relationship with her daughter as a child (I know they were at school together, but it wasn't a mother/daughter relationship).  Even when she knows River is her daugher, it can never really be a mother/daughter relationship.   Awful for Rory as well (and for River!), of course, but it was Amy's experience that really got to me.

Yes, Ten saying goodbye to Donna was heartbreaking.   I was also moved by Rory waiting all those years.  I think I was just so shocked by the Amy story - I can't imagine what having your child abducted would be like and how it would change you forever.  The only positive thing was that Amy quite quickly knew that River survived and was OK.  But that meant she also knew that there was no way to get her baby/child back. 

True, Jawn, those moments are very moving indeed. That episode with Rory and Amy is probably one of the best in the whole Matt Smith era. Almost right up there with "Vincent and the Doctor" which makes me cry everytime.