Screenwriter Steven Moffat

As part of our screenwriting module we were asked to research Dramas and Screen Writers.
I decided to research Steven Moffat.

About Steven: 

Steven is quite a well known writer as he writes popular programmes such as Doctor Who and Sherlock. He started writing for a television series in 1989 on 'Press Gang', it led to winning a BAFTA. He then went on to writing episodes for 'Joking Apart' and 'Chalk'. In 1999, Steven wrote the Comic Relief special episode of Doctor Who, 'The curse of fatal death'. Steven was successfully writing many series of episodes for TV and writing special short episodes like 'Time Crash' Doctor Who for Children in Need (2007). His major career highlight was finally getting to write series of episodes of Doctor Who from 2012. He has always been a fan and waited all his life for this moment. He began writing for Sherlock at around the same time.

Screenwriting style:

http://guru.bafta.org/steven-moffat-interview

I had a search on IMDB and looked for interviews to learn more about his style Steven writes for different programmes and genres but he sticks with his own style of writing from personal experience. I learn't that Steven was once a teacher and when he started writing for 'Press gang' and 'chalk' he used that experience in his screenplay, having a story about school life and teaching. In an interview I found Steven talks about how Chalk didn't work out that well, the series was soon sinking. "Writing comedy is a tricky business" he says. After chalk came 'Coupling', another comedy programme. Steven mentions how this was more successful but at the same time tricky in getting it right. 'Joking Apart' tells the story of a marriage between a screenwriter and his wife but they soon separate and divorce. This series is about Steven and his first wife. He wanted to screenplay another series similar to Chalk but it was suggested by his producer to write about his marriage break up.

Steven changed genres and began writing episodes for Doctor Who.
One of the first major episodes Steven wrote was 'Blink'. I personally think this is one of the best episodes Steven has wrote. It hardly has the doctor in this episode but it works so well. Steven said how he saw a grave yard with big gates and he saw a statue of an angel, this is how his idea developed for the episode, it went on to winning a BAFTA.

Review:

I enjoy watching Steven's screenplays. I have only watched Doctor Who but each episode tells a different story so It is amazing to see the progress Steven makes when putting his ideas into moving image. He has wrote great short episodes and specials to writing new and exciting dramatic shows today. Having said that some of his work I don't like, I feel that he overpowers the story in some episodes especially more recent ones. In my opinion his early work on Doctor Who in 2007 was far better than what it is today. When watching the series last year some of the episodes had too many characters in, having nearly all the villains in one episode. The latest series is poor with story having too much jokes that are not funny, and the actor Peter Capaldi not fitting the character any more. 

I think that Steven is a great screen writer but he can often go overboard. Maybe he is targeting the show at a more younger audience. 

Influence:

Steven has somewhat influenced me with the initial stages of generating ideas. Most of his ideas are from his personal experience, a great way to develop a story. I have got my idea developed already but Steven has influenced me for my future projects with having ideas from a personal background. His storylines are often energetic which I don't want to have in my story. Especially as it is a 10 page screenplay I want to take my time building the story into the moments.