I think the Amy-Rory thing was at its best when it was simple. Series 5 was a rollercoaster, incredibly well-executed, but I could write the plot on the back of a napkin. It was the most ambitious series arc of its time, but probably the simplest and most coherent of Steven Moffat's. The Big Bang was a little more complicated, but it's complicated in the way a Penn & Teller trick is complicated. A self-contained puzzlebox that rewards people who've been watching for twelve weeks, but also makes sense if you've been watching for the last twelve minutes.
My pet theory is that time pressures undermined the following series. In Steven Moffat's own words, "
Complex is probably what I do when I’m in a hurry. It’s my default setting and my biggest weakness." A lot of his scripts were very late in S6, but I wish he hadn't compensated quite so hard in S7.
I don't think Moffat's ever written a bad script. Frankly, The Name of the Doctor's as close as he's got, and that's so loved by so many. But I'm rewatching select episodes from S5, at the moment, and my god - it's something else. Breathtaking. I've just been watching the Vampires of Venice, and dashed here to sing its praises. Not a Moffat episode, just a silly little monster of the week story, but it bristles with colour and texture. The Calvierris are incredible one-shot villains, beautifully sketched and full of life. Francesco makes your skin crawl in the way a real (fish)person might, Rosanna wants to conquer Venice not out of spite but out of love and fear - the Doctor attempts to reason with her, and she attempts to reason with the Doctor. It looks beautiful, it tells the story clearly and efficiently, exposition is subtly woven in, under a veil of wit and humour, which is omni-present, but it's not all glibness and one-liners, it comes organically from the characters, who they are, how they clash. Rory, in particular, isn't just a passenger - he's a new companion, and essential. "And you kissed her back?" "No, I kissed her mouth." The Doctor's not being a prick, he just doesn't think of it in those terms. The whole series is magical.
I don't think S8 should attempt to emulate that S5 magic, I think it should be its own new thing, and I'm sure it will. But I hope it's a similar quantity of great. From Human Nature right through to Day of the Moon, we were living in a golden age of Who, and I reckon S5 was the apex.
Incidentally, Doctor Who news - Keeley Hawes cast. As Ms. Delphox.
I'm not sure why Doctor Who hasn't recruited the entire cast of Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes, yet. They're getting through them - John Simm, Marshall Lancaster, Danny Mays, and now Keeley - but they were all so superb, they should all have recurring roles. I really want Phil Glenister as the Corsair. (And Jaime Murray! Ideal casting.)