‘THE TV MOVIE’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
The Eighth Doctor with the Master, Grace and Chang Lee
It was on the planet Earth that my favourite TV show ‘Doctor Who’ was becoming for me a fact of life. They say calmly I was obsessed as I watched through the list of ‘Doctor Who’ episodes…and enjoyed them with such flourish. Then I made my next…and I found somewhat unusual decision. I decided…that I, Tim Bradley, a relatively new ‘Doctor Who’ fan, should watch ‘The TV Movie’ starring Paul McGann, which was made back in 1996. It was a decision…I should never have made…
Ha; ha, only joking. Honestly, I enjoyed watching the ‘Doctor Who’ TV Movie with Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor. Some bits are bizarre and unusual, but this is like a new series episode of the show with action sequences, amazing glossy sets, visual effects and the Doctor kissing a companion.
‘The TV Movie’ of ‘Doctor Who’ is a BBC/Universal co-production to re-introduce the TV series in the USA in 1996. The episode was by Matthew Jacobs, produced by Phillip Segal, and directed by Geoffrey Sax (who later directed ‘Stormbreaker’ in 2006). This was an intriguing viewing experience.
This story was originally released on DVD in 2001. It was re-released on a 2-disc Special Edition DVD in the ‘Revisitations’ DVD box set (with ‘The Talons of Weng-Chiang’ and ‘The Caves of Androzani’) in 2010. The 2-disc DVD set has the story on Disc 1 and the special features on Disc 2.
I’ve had the Special Edition DVD cover of ‘The TV Movie’ signed by Daphne Ashbrook at the ‘Dimensions 2015’ convention in Newcastle, October 2015. I really like Daphne since she’s very friendly. I met Daphne again at ‘The Capitol II’ convention in Gatwick, May 2017 and had more chats with her.
As well as Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, they also had Sylvester McCoy making an appearance as the Seventh Doctor. It turns out Sylvester briefly appeared at the beginning and regenerated into Paul McGann. This was to fulfil the fans’ dream of watching Sylvester McCoy Doctor regenerate in ‘Doctor Who’.
In a way, it was a nice gesture to give Sylvester that pay-off as the Doctor. But in retrospect, I wish they hadn’t bothered with the regeneration. I’m sure it would have confused the USA audiences to see ‘the old doctor’ transform into ‘the new doctor’ without having seen or heard of ‘Doctor Who’ before.
The actual regeneration is pretty impressive. The Seventh Doctor is put into a morgue at a hospital after his death. Eventually, some electrical currents emanate from his body and we have the morphing of Sylvester’s Doctor’s face into Paul’s Doctors’ face until the transformation is complete.
I like how in the regeneration sequence we cut back and forth to the 1931 ‘Frankenstein’ film with Boris Karloff being watched by that chubby guy. The Doctor smashes through and breaks down the morgue door, giving the chubby guy a shock. The new Doctor is troubled in his state of mind and wonders who he is.
I like Paul McGann’s performance as the Doctor in ‘The TV Movie’. I’ve also met Paul at ‘Doctor Who’ conventions. I’m saddened that this was his only full-length TV appearance as the Eighth Doctor, as he’s really good. It’s such a shame that his ‘Doctor Who’ TV era didn’t last beyond this single adventure.
Thankfully however, Paul McGann’s Doctor has had more adventures in the Big Finish audios as well as in the books and comics, which have allowed him to greatly develop his Doctor. Paul has also reprised his role as the Eighth Doctor in ‘The Night of the Doctor’ during the 50th anniversary celebrations.
I enjoyed Daphne Ashbrook as Grace Holloway in ‘The TV Movie’. Grace gets to be the Doctor’s companion here. She’s a medical doctor at a San Francisco hospital who operated on the Seventh Doctor before he died. She then meets the Eighth Doctor; gets to know him and has an adventure with him.
The villain of this story is Eric Roberts as the evil Master. I found Eric’s performance as the Master interesting and enjoyable to watch. He has a sense of humour as well as an air of unswerving menace. The Master is also frightening with his green eyes when he kills his wife and lies to Chang Lee.
Yee Jee Tso stars as Chang Lee (the Asian child) in ‘The TV Movie’. Lee belongs to a street gang in Chinatown of San Francisco. He’s the one who gets the Seventh Doctor to hospital after he was gunned down by a street gang. He also gets manipulated by the Master when told that the Doctor is evil.
‘The TV Movie’ was meant to be the first of a new series of ‘Doctor Who’ in America. Sadly the TV movie didn’t work in the US. Whilst viewing figures in the UK were high, the figures in the US were low. It must have been very confusing for the US audiences to understand what went on in ‘The TV Movie’.
This story is more of an ending as well as a beginning, since it features the closure of Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor as well as the beginning of Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor. I would have liked it if they didn’t include Sylvester (no disrespect) and just have Paul, or at least have flashbacks with Sylvester.
The good things that I like about ‘The TV Movie’ are the motorbike chase sequence with the Doctor and Grace and the brand new TARDIS console room interior design. I also liked the Doctor’s relationship with Grace as much as the Doctor himself, since the two of them work so well together.
What I found disappointing about ‘The TV Movie’ were certain inaccuracies about the story and the Doctor’s character. The half-human element shocked me. Perhaps the Seventh Doctor set this as a trap for the Master but the Eighth Doctor forgot about it. He made a joke about it with Professor Wagg.
I found it disconcerting with the Eye of Harmony in the cloister room of the Doctor’s TARDIS. That confused me since I thought the Eye of Harmony was on Gallifrey. Thankfully, Terrance Dicks corrected this mistake when he wrote the novel ‘The Eight Doctors’ and he resolved the continuity error.
I hoped that the Doctor and Grace would continue travelling together in the TARDIS. I wanted Grace to say “Yes!” to the Doctor’s offer to travel with him, but Grace kindly declines. This was sad since they could have had adventures in the TARDIS together, had the new US ‘Doctor Who’ TV series been made.
The DVD special features on the 2-disc Special Edition DVD are as follows. On Disc 1, there’s ‘The Seven Year Hitch’ documentary which looks into executive producer Philip Segal’s journey of reviving ‘Doctor Who’ in America with ‘The TV Movie’. There’s also ‘The Doctor’s Strange Love’ discussion on ‘The TV Movie’ with writers Simon Guerrier and Joseph Lidster as well as comedian Josie Long. There are also two DVD audio commentaries on the story. The first is with director Geoffrey Sax and the second is with Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann, moderated by Nicholas Briggs. There’s an isolated music option by John Debney; four music tracks; an info-text commentary option to enjoy and an updated photo gallery of the story. There’s also a ‘coming soon’ trailer for ‘The Seeds of Doom’, starring Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen.
On Disc 2, the special features are divided into ‘Pre-Production’, ‘Production’ and ‘Special Features’. In ‘Pre-Production’, there’s an audition video of Paul McGann; test reels of some CGI effects shots for the opening credits and the Spider-Daleks. Spider-Daleks! Were they out of their minds on this?! In ‘Production’, there are original cast and crew interviews and behind-the-scenes footage of ‘The TV Movie’. There’s a tour of the TARDIS set provided by executive producer Phillip Segal himself. And there are alternate/extended scenes of ‘The TV Movie’ to enjoy. In ‘Special Features’, there’s ‘The Wilderness Years’ documentary and the ‘Who Peter 1989-2009’ (Part 2) documentary (Part 1 is on ‘The Horns of Nimon’ DVD). There’s also the ‘Stripped For Action – The Eighth Doctor’ documentary. This is looks into the comic book adventures of the Eighth Doctor. There’s ‘Tomorrow’s Times – The Eighth Doctor’, presented by Nicholas Courtney; BBC trailers of the story and a ‘Radio Times Listings’ PDF of the story. There’s also an Easter Egg to look out for on Disc 2.
Recently, ‘The TV Movie’ has been made onto Blu-ray. The additional special features on the Blu-ray include ‘The Night of the Doctor’ 50th anniversary special.
I enjoyed watching the ‘Doctor Who’ TV Movie! It didn’t work as a TV pilot, but it set in motion the future of ‘Doctor Who’ as the show’s return in 2005 is proof of that. Paul McGann’s Doctor is reassuring and such a real joy to watch; even though his TV era is shorter than the Big Finish audios.
‘The TV Movie’ rating – 8/10
‘TOMORROW’S TIMES – THE EIGHTH DOCTOR’
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‘Tomorrow’s Times – The Eighth Doctor’ is currently available on ‘The TV Movie’ 2-disc Special Edition DVD and ‘The TV Movie’ Blu-ray.
‘Tomorrow’s Times – The Eighth Doctor’ is presented by Nicholas Courtney, who played the Brigadier in ‘Doctor Who’ with Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison and Sylvester McCoy on TV. Nick Courtney has also read the introductions to every ‘Tomorrow’s Times’ DVD special feature.
It was nice to see Nick Courtney do this ‘Tomorrow’s Times’ edition on the Eighth Doctor era of ‘Doctor Who’ and this was before he sadly passed away in 2011. The ‘Tomorrow’s Times’ edition on the Eighth Doctor era is so unusual as it focuses on the single TV story for Paul McGann’s Doctor – ‘The TV Movie’.
It was interesting to hear the press reactions to ‘The TV Movie’ before, during and after it came out on UK television. Reviewers and critics shared how ‘The TV Movie’ looked better with a big budget of a UK/USA co-production to it compared the smaller production values that were in the classic TV series.
It was amusing to hear the reactions of Paul McGann’s Doctor kissing Daphne Ashbrook as Grace Holloway. Nowadays it’s something we take for granted when the Doctor kisses one of his companions. It was intriguing to hear former producer John Nathan-Turner’s views on ‘The TV Movie’.
The sad news of Jon Pertwee’s death gets reported in the newspapers during the time ‘The TV Movie’ was transmitted on UK television. Sadly, ‘The TV Movie’ didn’t guarantee ‘Doctor Who’ having a proper return in the 1990s as newspaper critics hoped. This item does end on a positive note though.
‘Tomorrow’s Times – The Eighth Doctor’ rating – 8/10
‘DOCTOR WHO – THE TV MOVIE’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
The Review of the TV Movie Novelization 😀
It’s fascinating and intriguing to talk about this certain ‘Doctor Who’ Target novelization/audiobook.
When I read the sampler book from ‘Doctor Who Magazine’ called ‘Doctor Who and the Library of Time’, it contained extracts of the first ‘new’ Target novelization I was looking forward to in 2021. This of course was on ‘The TV Movie’ by Gary Russell and it features the Seventh and Eighth Doctors.
It’s ironic because there was an original ‘novel of the film’ by Gary Russell, which was published in 1996 a couple of days after ‘The TV Movie’ was transmitted in the UK. An abridged audiobook of the novelization read by Paul McGann came along with the 1996 ‘novel of the film’ afterwards in 1997. 😀
Gary Russell makes it clear in his introduction for the new 2021 novelization entitled ‘the ‘thanks very much’ bit (2021 remix)’ that it’s not the same book as the 1996 edition of the novelization. This became evident to me once reading the sampler extracts. Noticeable updates are made to the book.
This includes the mention of Ace being of A Charitable Earth in the opening chapter of the book. I don’t mind this so much. It’s just as well that I didn’t purchase the original 1996 ‘novel of the film’ from Amazon before the 2021 edition of the book came out with certain noticeable updates made. 🙂
There is also a brand-new audiobook made for the 2021 ‘TV Movie’ novelization read by Dan Starkey. I’ll talk about how I feel about him reading the novelization later on. I purchased the paperback edition of the 2021 ‘TV Movie’ novelization from Amazon and was very excited to read it.
I also purchased the audiobook as a download via Audible. It’s great to read these new Target novelizations of ‘Doctor Who’ as paperbacks whilst having to hear the audiobooks in the background on Audible. I hope it’ll be the same experiences for the ‘Dalek’, ‘The Crimson Horror’ and ‘The Witchfinders’ books.
I like ‘The TV Movie’ of ‘Doctor Who’ very much. I know there are flaws to it, but it’s a pretty fascinating excursion in trying to make a ‘Doctor Who’ story for American audiences in order to revive the series. A shame a US TV series never got made in the 1990s, but it’s still a decent attempt.
It’s very interesting how Gary Russell got to novelize ‘The TV Movie’ for BBC Books back in 1996. Gary Russell’s contribution to ‘Doctor Who’ has been immense from being the editor of ‘Doctor Who Magazine’ at one time to being a producer/director of Big Finish audios and a writer of ‘Who’ books.
I like Gary Russell as a ‘Doctor Who’ writer. He’s written some very decent books over the years, including ‘Beautiful Chaos’ featuring the Tenth Doctor and Donna, which I enjoyed. Some are divided over some of Gary’s books like ‘Divided Loyalties’ featuring the Fifth Doctor team, but I enjoyed that. 🙂
At the time of ‘The TV Movie’s release in 1996, not a lot of ‘Doctor Who’ was promoted on TV due to the show being cancelled since 1989. There had been books and comics made to keep the spirit of the TV series alive, but not enough TV-related stuff since then. ‘The TV Movie’ was a breakthrough. 🙂
Gary had written ‘Doctor Who’ books for the Virgin range of novels that were published in the early 1990s including ‘The New Adventures’ and ‘The Missing Adventures’. ‘The TV Movie’ novelization was the first of many ‘Doctor Who’ books published by the BBC in the late 1990s in the wilderness years.
This was before the BBC range of ‘Eighth Doctor Adventures’ books got published in the late 1990s. I suppose because Gary Russell was the editor of ‘Doctor Who Magazine’ and had written books beforehand that it made him an ideal choice to novelize Matthew Jacobs’ script for ‘The TV Movie’.
I imagine Gary Russell was very lucky to novelize ‘The TV Movie’ into prose. He certainly does a good job novelizing the film from reading the 2021 edition of the book. He writes in the style of Terrance Dicks whilst also embellishing additions that reflect his expertise about the ‘Doctor Who’ universe. 🙂
He also amends certain aspects of ‘The TV Movie’ that might be considered weak for many ‘Doctor Who’ fans from watching the film itself. This includes the reducing ‘half human’ aspect of the Doctor as well as clarifying the climax in order to make it less confusing, keeping Grace and Chang Lee alive.
When I see Gary Russell again at a convention or something, I would like to ask him about the challenges of novelizing ‘The TV Movie’ both in 1996 and for this 2021 edition. He certainly knows how to improve a story and has had a lot of experience with being a writer, a producer and a director in books and audio.
I enjoyed reading ‘The TV Movie’ 2021 novelization with the audiobook read by Dan Starkey. Dan Starkey plays the Sontarans both on TV and audio and he’s well-known for playing Strax of the Paternoster Gang. Dan does a good reading of the story, but he’s not my first choice as a narrator. 😐
I can’t believe that I have to keep addressing this every time when it comes to a ‘Doctor Who’ novel/audiobook, but a lot of the narrators chosen by the BBC for certain stories, whether it’s novelizations or original books, don’t make sense. Why was Dan Starkey chosen to read this story? 😐
As far as I’m concerned, Dan had no involvement with ‘The TV Movie’ back in 1996. It’s good he’s a ‘Doctor Who’ fan and he clearly know the story well enough, but wouldn’t it make sense to have either Paul McGann, Daphne Ashbrook, Yee Jee Tso or Eric Roberts narrating the audiobook instead?
Maybe due to Covid-19 restrictions happening at the time this audiobook was made (I assume Dan Starkey recorded it in 2020), it wasn’t possible to get Paul, Daphne, Yee Jee or Eric to read the audiobook. But it does feel like a random choice on the BBC part’s for Dan Starkey to read the story.
Again, I stress that Dan isn’t a bad narrator. He’s demonstrated he can do good readings of ‘Doctor Who’ audiobooks in the past like with ‘The Krikkitmen’ for the Fourth Doctor and ‘Molten Heart’ for the Thirteenth Doctor. I enjoyed the voices Dan provided for Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann’s Doctors.
This must come from working with Sylvester and Paul in the Big Finish audios over the years. But I would have picked a reader that was more suited to ‘The TV Movie’ and had an involvement with ‘The TV Movie‘ itself. Not somebody random who is generally associated the ‘Doctor Who’ series overall.
Let’s talk about ‘The TV Movie’ novelization itself. Again, I like how ‘The TV Movie’ is novelized by Gary Russell. It reminds me of how I used to enjoy move novelizations of superhero films I enjoyed in the 2000s like the original ‘Spider-Man’ trilogy and the ‘Fantastic Four’ novelizations by Peter David.
It’s very nostalgic. As well as ‘The ‘thanks very much’ bit (2021 remix)’ introduction at the beginning, the story is divided into eight chapters in the book. Mind you, you could argue that it’s a prologue and seven chapters, since the last seven chapters have more ‘TV Movie’ material contained in them.
The opening chapter/prologue (there aren’t any Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, etc listings in the book) features the Seventh Doctor receiving a call from the Time Lords and the Time Lord President that the Master is about to be executed by the Daleks. He soon heads off to collect the remains of his dead adversary.
This is before his TARDIS gets attacked by the Master morphant creature in the second chapter of the story. I enjoyed the opening chapter, since it does feel epic, especially when we have the Daleks making an appearance. The Daleks also have excellent voices provided when hearing the audiobook.
I’m not sure if it’s Dan Starkey who voices the Daleks in the audiobook since it sounds like Nick Briggs came in to voice the Daleks briefly for this audiobook. Then again, I’m sure Dan Starkey can do a good voice for the Daleks and the ring modulator tones can disguise the fact that it’s Dan Starkey. 😀
I’m also curious as to whether the Time Lord President who communicates with the Doctor is Romana herself. This is accounting for the fact that the Time Lord President is female and Gary Russell worked on the ‘Gallifrey’ audios. It might be President Flavia, but it still makes me curious. 😀
It’s interesting how Gary Russell divides the story into chapters in ‘The TV Movie’ novelization. From what I recall in reading the info-text commentary on the 2-disc Special Edition DVD, there were certain points in the film for commercial breaks. This was when the movie was shown on Fox TV in the US. 🙂
So each chapter of the book ends at points when the movie stopped for commercial breaks on US TV. This explains why the chapters are so lengthy and why it’s a short chapter structure in being 8 chapters. You have to have certain hours to read the chapters when reading the audiobook as well here.
I like how we get to know more about the characters and their certain backstories compared to seeing them in the film. This is especially when getting to learn more about Grace’s history with her parents and wanting to be a medical doctor as well as Chang Lee being involved with street gangs. 🙂
It was intriguing to hear that Grace’s mother died of cancer when she was five and that her father comforted her. This adds extra information on why Grace wanted to be a medical doctor. Grace’s relationship with Brian gets explored as well as her anxiety and her not wanting to reunite with him.
I also like how Grace’s interaction with the Doctor and getting to know him was handled in the book. Grace’s scepticism about the Doctor claiming who he says he is gets explored and how she gradually comes to believe him. The dialogue between the Doctor and Grace is so well handled in the book. 😀
In fact, Gary Russell improves a lot of dialogue in the confrontations between the Doctor and the Master in the last two chapters of the story. It echoes the confrontational style between Jon Pertwee’s Doctor and Roger Delgado’s Master as the Eighth Doctor interacts with the Master here. 🙂
It was also intriguing to hear about Chang Lee’s backstory since his mother and father owned a shop. He also had an older brother named Chang Ho who died three years beforehand. It was interesting how Chang Lee’s relationship with the Master was explored and how he wanted all of that gold dust.
It’s good that Gary Russell challenged Chang Lee’s thinking into whether being friends with the Master was a good idea or not. It’s lucky that Chang Lee got paralysed rather than have his neck snapped by the Master and its lucky Grace didn’t get killed by the Master in the book’s final chapter.
Bruce and his wife Miranda are given full names as their surname is Gerhardt. It was intriguing to hear Bruce’s character and what his and Miranda’s family life was like before he got turned into the Master. The Master in Bruce’s body killing Miranda in cold blood was pretty chilling when I read it. 😀
It was also good to learn more about the supporting characters such as the nurses at the hospital who are given full names like Angela Wheeler and Shelly Curtis. The doctors are also given full names like Dr. Jim Salinger and Dr. Roger Swift. The supporting characters feel more important in the book.
Professor Wagg is also given a full name as his first name is Joseph. He also happens to have a daughter named Sophie who was the girl that kissed Gareth Fitzpatrick, the student/security guard, at the end of the film. I really like how the romance between Gareth and Sophie gets developed in the book. 😀
Although the kiss on the cheek from the random girl is sweet, it did seem to come out of the blue, especially when Gareth was pleasantly surprised by it. I like how Gary Russell develops on that since it made me curious why the girl who kissed Gareth on the cheek actually did that by the film’s end. 🙂
It was fun how Gareth was introduced early in the book along with his fellow student friend David Bailey at the Institute for Technological Advancement and Research in San Francisco. Gareth works it out that the Doctor isn’t Professor Wagg when he’s interacting with Sophie who’s flirting with him. 🙂
Thus Gareth catching the Doctor and Grace out at the atomic clock when they try to steal the beryllium chip is not a surprise in the book. I also like how the Doctor recognises Gareth from somewhere earlier on before he realises who Gareth is, telling him to answer ‘the second question’.
There’s also more given on characters who were seen briefly and unnamed in the film. This includes Bruce’s paramedic partner Joey Sneller as well as Chang Lee’s friends Pik Sim and Ling Wang who get shot by a rival gang. I’m certain Pik Sim and Lin Wang are a reference to the actress Pik Sen Lim from ‘The Mind of Evil’.
It was unusual how the story ended with the Master being changed into a strange white glowing monster or something rather than reverting back to the Bruce form he had. It makes me wonder how the Master continues to look like Bruce when Eric Roberts portrays him in the Big Finish audios.
The way that Bruce’s body decays when the Master inhabits him is pretty gruesome when reading the book. I liked the mentions of Traken, Xeriphas, the Cheetah People and the Tzun Confederacy when the Doctor is explaining to Grace about the Master’s attempts to cheat death and prolong his life.
I also like how the book ends with Grace contemplating whether she should have travelled with the Doctor or not, but decides that she made the right choice by staying on Earth. She wonders how she’ll get her job back though. It does leave the story open-ended on a potential future US TV series.
‘The TV Movie’ novelization of ‘Doctor Who’ by Gary Russell is very good. I can’t claim to know how different the 2021 edition of the novelization is compared to the 1996 novelization without having read it, but I’m glad I’ve explored a novelization of an underrated attempt to reinvent ‘Doctor Who’ for the US.
It’s been especially good to read the novelization with the audiobook read by Dan Starkey in the background. Dan Starkey is an odd choice to read the 2021 edition of ‘The TV Movie’ novelization, but he still provides a very good reading. I have enjoyed exploring more of the story by Gary Russell.
‘Doctor Who – The TV Movie’ rating – 9/10
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Bradley's Basement 
Arrrrgggghhh I’m soooooooo envious, i had a massive crush on Daphne Ashbrook growing up she was in Knight Rider episode & A-Team & Airwolf your so jammi Mr Billy Walker lol.
Excellent review mate, I’d rate this a 6/10 good but has a few flaws especially those helium voiced Daleks at the beginning & Eric Roberts hams it up as the Master a bit to much for my liking but McGann is awesome & gives a brilliant performance as The Doctor.
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The half-human twist, even though it was tentatively explored again within the 12th Doctor’s Hybrid discussion with Ashildr in Hell Bent, was quite understandably not appreciated by all fans. It might have explained the Doctor’s love for Earth and humanity. But for fans who are more appreciative of the total alien nature of the Doctor’s character even in some of the most socially engaging regenerations, it was an arguable betrayal. I remember liking the idea, but in retrospect now find that it was handled too whimsically, as with a lot of the TV Movie. The fact that ETs having human elements to them has worked before, most notably for Mr. Spock, Deanna Troi and Ambassador Delenn, may have been an easy inspiration. But in all honesty, perhaps too easily.
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Hi scifimike,
Yes, indeed. Characters like Spock and Deanna Troi have half-human elements to them because that’s how they started in their ‘Star Trek’ shows. With the Doctor as a character, the half-human element wasn’t there to begin with and it’s unnecessary to be included in the TV Movie. Maybe it was a plan made by the Seventh Doctor to trick the Master that the Eighth Doctor forgot about, but that’s a speculation on my part and it’s a shame the Eighth Doctor TV era didn’t go beyond the TV Movie to explore the concept.
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
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Hi Simon.
Glad you enjoyed my review on ‘The TV Movie’.
I must have seen this TV movie of ‘Doctor Who’ a number of times. I’ve enjoyed it over the years and find it better compared to the new series of ‘Doctor Who’ today, so that warrants me to give it an 8/10. It does have flaws yes and I can’t believe they went for Mickey Mouse voices for the Daleks at the beginning, which we don’t ever see.
I don’t mind Eric Roberts’ performance as the Master. It’s a notch better than Michelle Gomez’s performance in Missy in the current series. I love Paul McGann’s performance as the Doctor in this adventure and it’s not a surprise he went onto become popular in the Big Finish audios.
I’ve not seen Daphne Ashbrook in ‘Knight Rider’, ‘A-Team’ and ‘Airwolf’ as I’ve yet to see those. Thank you for sharing your memories of seeing Daphne in those. I’ve seen Daphne in both ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Star Trek: DS9’. Very pleased you like my photo with Daphne Ashbrook in the photo gallery above and thanks for calling me Mr. Billy Walker. 😀
Tim. 🙂
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There are some rebirths for our favourite sci-fi franchises that might be enjoyed for being new Dr. Who, Star Trek, Star Wars or whatever, but not much else. The TV Movie is a most obvious example of that, with McGann proving that the actor as the Doctor may still significantly shine in a not-so-shining story. I’m glad that McGann for the 8th Doctor has successfully endured via Big Finish. Roberts too as the Master.
Thank you, Tim, for your review.
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Hi scifimike,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the TV Movie and glad you enjoyed my review. Yes, it’s great Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor and Eric Roberts’ Master have had lives beyond the TV Movie in the Big Finish audios. I’ve enjoyed some of those audios. I have a soft spot for the TV Movie, but even I’m willing to admit that it’s not without its problems, particularly in the half-human element. I’m looking forward to revisiting this story soon this year though.
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
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You’re welcome.
I started listening to Paul McGann’s Dr. Who audios on the BBC7 site starting with Storm Warning and up until Human Resources. There was a Blake’s 7 audio that I listened to there. I forget the title. But I seem to recall that it revealed the ultimate fate of Servalan.
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Hi scifimike,
I’ve not heard and reviewed all of the Eighth Doctor audios featuring Paul McGann with companions like Charley and Lucie. I should get around to doing more Eighth Doctor reviews soon. Hopefully by the time that ‘Doctor Who’ @ Big Finish’s 30th anniversary comes along, I’ll be reviewing more Eighth Doctor audios in a possible marathon review season.
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
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Great review Tim,
I must admit that it’s been a while since I watched the ‘TV Movie’, but I believed I enjoyed it. Hopefully I’ll get another chance to watch it someday. I actually liked Sylvester McCoy’s appearance. I wouldn’t call it unnecessary and confusing for US audiences, as I believe some of the Seventh Doctors stories had been released on VHS over there by the time of the Movie’s release. Although there is the point of the Movie achieving low ratings in the US.
It was interesting to see Eric Roberts as the Master. I saw him in this before I saw him in ‘The Dark Knight’. Daphne Ashbrook and Yee Jee Tso we’re good as well.
Xavier
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From what I’ve seen in Big Finish promos, Eric Roberts has been able to improve on his mark as the Master.
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Hi scifimike,
Thanks for letting us know about Eric Roberts as the Master in the Big Finish audios. I hope to check out more of them someday. So far, I’ve heard him in ‘Masterful’ with some of the other Masters. 😀
Tim 🙂
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Hi Xav,
Glad you enjoyed my review on the ‘Doctor Who’ TV Movie with Paul McGann. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it. Hope you get a chance to revisit ‘The TV Movie’ soon, whether it’s on DVD, Blu-ray or Britbox.
I think the point I was trying to make was that ‘Doctor Who’ would be confusing for certain US audience members who hadn’t heard of ‘Doctor Who’ before. They’d probably be confused as to what’s going on, having never checked out the TV series on VHS and such. I know it sounds like a miniority of people, but sometimes introducing a new version of the TV show needs to cater for a variety of audience members, including the uninitated. I’m generally okay with Sylvester McCoy being in ‘The TV Movie’, but I would have preferred Paul McGann to be more centre-stage and perhaps refer to Sylvester McCoy’s Doctor in flashback scenes. Like we start off with the Eighth Doctor coming out of the morgue and throughout the film, he’s trying to regain his memory when interacting with Grace before he gets flashbacks to when he was Sylvester McCoy in order to remember who he is and what he’s doing with the Master.
Glad you enjoyed Eric Roberts as the Master in the TV Movie as well as Daphne Ashbrook and Yee Jee Tso. I believe I saw Eric Roberts in ‘The TV Movie’ way before ‘The Dark Knight’ came along.
Many thanks for your comments.
Tim 🙂
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A start to the Eighth Doctor, but not necessarily *the* start, curiously enough. Looking at 1996/97, there are five stories that could qualify for that role. The TV Movie, “The Dying Days”, “The Eight Doctors” (or “Vampire Science”), and “Endgame”.
Looking at these individually: The first is almost like a modern fable, retelling a regeneration story in the mould of something like ‘Highlander’. The second is a loving homage to “The Invasion” with all the trimmings of British conspiracy-thrillers and ‘The X-Files’. The third is almost a docudrama, romping through the programme’s past (or, alternatively, the fourth is a morality drama that reasserts ‘Doctor Who’ as a series that grapples with uncomfortable questions about good and evil). The fifth is a return to home territory — literally, in terms of Stockbridge — with an old adversary and an enjoyably wily Doctor.
I’m more inclined to remember these “entry” stories outside of the TV Movie, rather than the film itself. Why? Well, it’s in Gary Russell’s novelisation. Something that I think is worthwhile pointing out. We get a great deal of background information on the Doctor, the Master, Grace and Lee… But we also learn a great deal about the people in San Francisco.
Everyone is given a Terrance Dicks-style thumbnail sketch of who they are and where they sit in the day-to-day milieu of this story. It’s a critical change as all these “little people” are the ones affected by the Time Lords battling it out on the Earth. It’s their world and their lives that are being affected. To know them is to know what’s at stake. More than anything else, I think that’s where fans — more used to the detail of the New Adventures at the time — may have bounced off of the TV Movie. ‘Doctor Who’ is about people… Who are these people?
In fact, it’s rather interesting to see “Rose” as a reaction to the TV Movie. We start the episode from her perspective, understanding the milieu of her existence, before we’re introduced to the Doctor. Someone who completely overturns the status quo purely by existing. He’s wise, he’s cosmically-aware, and he feels fundamentally detached from the grounded post-millennium world of Rose Tyler. He’s the mutagenic element in the narrative. The outside force that compels her to change. In much the same way as the First Doctor and Susan were to Ian and Barbara.
Whereas in the TV Movie… We don’t really get that humanistic baseline. The baseline is instead set by the Seventh Doctor. The new shake-up of the status quo is his change into the Eighth Doctor and, after that point, we don’t really get a statement of intent. You’ll see what I mean in stories like “The Time Meddler”, “Terror of the Autons” or “Attack of the Cybermen” where the series had to restate its parameters. “Rose” has that moment twice — the Doctor’s monologue about the rotation of the Earth and when we see the TARDIS console room for the first time. The latter, especially, is depicted as a transformative moment.
But the TV Movie doesn’t know what it wants this new ‘Doctor Who’ to be. We don’t get a good sense of the Doctor after this story. Much like “The Twin Dilemma” before it, we’ve seen the Doctor in the throes of post-regenerative trauma, but the real identity is somewhere over the rainbow. The biggest influence on the Eighth Doctor’s characterisation, I think, was the unsung efforts of Alan Barnes. Both in Big Finish and in Doctor Who Magazine. Many of the character choices made in his stories defined the more laid-back and sardonic Eight that we’ve grown to know and love since.
Especially odd given the fantastic premise buried at the heart of the telemovie — the Doctor’s new companion killed his previous self. That’s a terrific dynamic and new quandary to have. Does Grace tell him the truth? How does the Doctor react? Does she feel guilt? Does he need to forgive? This could have been a gold mine of opportunities to characterise this new incarnation, but unfortunately, they’re not capitalised upon.
But, let’s say that it had done well enough to go to a full series. Where could they have gone from here? Well, from the top…
— The Doctor’s mission to Gallifrey has been bungled. That’s the big one. It’s unlikely that the High Council are going to just let the problem lie. They’re going to do something about it. All the more important if recovery of the Master’s remains was part of a diplomatic overture to the Daleks. Why give the Doctor this “repatriation” mission?
— Grace is unemployed and unattached after her encounter with the Doctor. If they decided to bring her back, she could have turned up in any near-future story with great ease. Grace’s role in stealing a police motorcycle, a policeman’s gun and *firing on him* would have likely gone on record. All the more reason to leave San Francisco.
— Lee probably gets the most interesting send off. A bag of gold dust and a warning not to be in San Francisco come next Christmas. Of the three, he’s probably the most explicitly linked with “Bruce” and would be a person of interest in the murder of Bruce’s wife, Angela, by association. As with Grace, all the more reason to leave.
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Hi Wolfie,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and insight into the ‘Doctor Who TV Movie and what could have been different had the Paul McGann/Eighth Doctor era gone in a different direction.
I have read the book ‘The Eight Doctors’ and the comic ‘Endgame’ (though it was a long time ago and I’ve yet to review them), but I’ve yet to check out the books ‘The Dying Days’ and ‘Vampire Science’. I enjoyed how you described ‘Rose’ as being a reaction to ‘The TV Movie’. I’m glad that most ‘Doctor Who’ stories that start off a season nowadays are taken from the point of the companion, which was the case for companions like Rose, Martha, Graham, Ryan and Yaz. If ‘The TV Movie’ had taken that appproach with the story starting from Grace’s point of view, maybe it could have been better and more successful with audiences both UK and USA in terms of identifying with a normal person meeting the Doctor for the first time.
I’m glad the Eighth Doctor has had room to breathe following his initial TV appearance in the Big Finish audios, comics and books, as it would have been a shame if Paul McGann’s potential as the Eighth Doctor went to waste if it was just ‘The TV Movie’. There are a lot of missed opportunities featured in ‘The TV Movie’, which I think could have been explored more if an American TV series of ‘Doctor Who’ was green-lit. Mind you, the Doctor kissing a woman for the first time and the Doctor turning out to be half-human raised eyebrows and I wonder if those concepts would have been continued in a satisfying manner for 1990s audiences compared to 2000s-to-present-day audiences.
Many thanks again for your comments.
Tim 🙂
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Thanks Tim,
Well, that was the lovely thing about “Storm Warning”. It introduced us to the Eighth Doctor through Charley and used her uncertainty around him to establish key points of his character.
This is an incarnation that loves adventuring in the moment, breathes in the vivacity of life, yet still has enough danger in him to be interesting. He’s far more a product of the turn-of-the-millennium shift away from 1990s anti-heroes. When male-presenting protagonists, typically of a younger disposition, were exploring how to be… Not emotionally vulnerable, we’d already seen that with the Seventh Doctor in the New Adventures (beaten to a physical/emotional pulp on a regular basis), but emotionally tender, instead.
There’s even an argument to be made that the prototype for the “Woman with a Mystery” story arc of NuWho came from the success of those initial Eighth Doctor and Charley stories.
I can understand why people got riled about the half-human revelation. In the context of everything else, it feels like an incredibly cheap way to make the audience go: “Oh, like Spock.” Contrast that with the Doctor’s memory about spending time with his father watching the meteor storm. The passion, the energy, the sudden manic shift to: “These shoes! They fit perfectly, yes…” All enabled with a wonderful performance from Paul McGann. That’s lovely.
The kiss feeds into a much larger conversation about queer representation. I’m asexual and I have a lot of problems with the Moffat era’s attempted sexualisation of the Doctor. It’s rare to be able to find characters in the wild who are positive ace representation. I like Colin Baker’s portrayal as very clearly someone who doesn’t get it and doesn’t feel like he needs to. He’s happy as he is. The Moffat tenure, on the other hand, feels like one big effort at erasure and it’s uncomfortable to see that leant into by writers who don’t recognise the implications. It has the same connotations as “curing” gay characters by turning them straight. Granddaughter or no, it’s not great. The 1990s also came with a push from the New Adventures where the Seventh Doctor was, quite explicitly, asexual.
Watching the TV Movie… That first kiss in unearned. It’s bizarre, actually, and is only normalised by NuWho’s recurring habit of characters snogging one another. Usually under the influence. It’s baffling. The second, under the fireworks at New Year’s… doesn’t feel nearly as egregious. It’s well played between McGann and Ashbrook, and feels like it comes from a genuine place of romance. I can see that. There’s more than a glimmer of the romantic in the First Doctor. I think all that was missing was two things. Remove that first kiss and, if you’re going to keep the second, just add this little bit:
> As their faces parted, Grace touched her lower lip. Her brow knitted. She didn’t know what she expected it to *feel* like. Not like that, certainly. She’d expected something else. Something… What?
He was smiling at her. Almost chidingly.
She looked at him, quizzical. “Do you…?”
“No.” The Doctor shrugged. “I don’t.”
She paused, considering, then said, “Oh.”
“Not my scene.” His smile widened. “But it felt polite, all the same.”
Grace’s realisation overwhelmed her embarrassment.
“*Oh*,” she said again.
In the vein of Mr Darcy: “Do you kiss, Mr Darcy?” / “Not if I can help it.”
Best,
Wolfie
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I remember a glimpse of the Doctor’s first kiss in the TV Movie trailer before seeing the TV Movie. I remember feeling a little intrigued by that as trailers often intend. But it’s certainly appreciable how the Doctor’s romantic side was mellowed afterwards in both the modern series and Big Finish.
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Hi scifimike,
I’m glad the Doctor’s romantic side isn’t explored to a great extent in the TV series and the Big Finish audios, as it keeps the mystery and allows you to speculate. Though it is interesting how it gets mentioned that the Doctor had a family in stories like ‘Fear Her’ and ‘The Doctor’s Daughter’. I’ve not read ‘Lungbarrow’, but the relationships between Time Lords being cousins instead of brothers and sisters is an intriguing revelation, which makes me wonder whether Susan’s granddaughter relationship with the First Doctor is genuine or not.
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
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Hi Wolfie,
Thanks for mentioning ‘Storm Warning’. I like how that story began what could have been the potential American TV series of ‘Doctor Who’ with Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor and I like how it has India Fisher as Charley in a more active role of the companion compared to previous companions, especially when she’s the mystery girl or the woman who has a connection to the Web of Time. I’d like to think that the production team of the new TV series were inspired by how Big Finish did things with the Eighth Doctor and Charley to set up things with the Ninth and Tenth Doctors and Rose in the new TV series.
Yeah, the half-human element to the Eighth Doctor did feel like it was an echo of Spock from the original ‘Star Trek’ TV series. Had the American ‘Doctor Who’ TV series been greenlit, I’m sure it would have been explored further at some point. As is, it feels like it could have been avoided and edited out in the script in order to allow the Eighth Doctor to maintain his mystery as to why he’s so connected to humanity. It’s element of ‘The TV Movie’ that I’m glad the Big Finish have chosen not to follow up on over the years.
Interesting insight you have about the kiss thing in ‘The TV Movie’ as well as the sexualisation in the new TV show, especially during the Steven Moffat era. I have a lot of issues with the Steven Moffat era, and it’s interesting how you view it with Moffat’s attempt to sexualise the Doctor, which I suppose was getting overdone and tired by this point. Whilst it would have been interesting to see where the Thirteenth Doctor’s stance is on sexuality, I’m glad it’s not explored to a great extent, as that would have got in the way of how stories are told in the Chris Chibnall era compared to how there were lots of distracting elements in the Steven Moffat era.
Yeah, I agree, the first kiss between the Eighth Doctor and Grace came out of nowhere and it didn’t feel earned. I suppose you could say the Eighth Doctor was overjoyed that he remembered who he was and he kissed Grace as a way of thanking her to help him remember. It’s a bizzare thing for the Doctor to do though, as he never did that with any of his previous companions and I don’t think it was a neccessary thing to include in ‘The TV Movie’. I don’t mind the second kiss so much, but again, I don’t think it’s neccessary, as the Doctor isn’t really a romantic person and I didn’t find the Eighth Doctor doing a lot of kissing in the Big Finish audios, unless I’ve not been listening to them properly. 😀 Thanks for sharing what you think could have been different had that final scene between Grace and the Eighth Doctor been played out differently.
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
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The Hybrid dialogue between the 12th Doctor and Ashildr in Hell Bent might have been intended as a way to take the half-human reveal more seriously. It was at least better than how whimsically the reveal was handled in the TV Movie.
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Hi scifimike,
Interesting insight you have about the Hybrid storyline going on in Series 9 of new ‘Doctor Who’ being connected to ‘The TV Movie’. Whilst I’m not a fan of Series 9 of new ‘Doctor Who’ with Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor, it’s not outside the realms of possibility to connect the Hybrid storyline to what went on with the Eighth Doctor claiming to be half-human, especially as it wasn’t explored enough in ‘The TV Movie’.
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
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I easily imagined that the bag of gold dust was for encounters with the Cybermen. Perhaps there could have been some mention of that in the dialogue.
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Hi scifimike,
Yes, that could have been it. Maybe that’s why the Eighth Doctor told Chang Lee not to be in San Francisco the following Christmas and the bag of gold dust could have been helpful to thwart an army of Cybermen if they invaded the world in 2001. Then again, the Sontarans could have been the ones invading and Gareth Jenkins could have led the human defence force against them. 😀 It’s all open to speculation, although I’m still not a fan of the Cybermen being allergic to gold, despite the possibilities of why that’s the case e.g. combustion.
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
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