Given that I was born the year this film came out and therefore
wasn't betting the revival of my favourite show on it being good when I first saw it,
I personally think the 1996 TV Movie is fine if a little silly.
At the time it was largely hated due to its continuity errors,
and those are certainly obvious. Firstly, the voices of the
Daleks heard in the opening sequence are all high-pitched and
ridiculous. Secondly, according to
this movie, the Doctor is half-human on his mother's side. My headcanon
is that the Doctor used the chameleon arch to become half-human
temporarily while he was escorting the Master's remains back to
Gallifrey so he could go undetected while on such
a dangerous mission. This might also be one of the reasons why
his regeneration was so difficult and took so long to kick-in
after he was shot by the street gang and operated on by a bunch
of humans who didn't understand Time Lord anatomy (which, by the
way, is one of the most gory and
traumatic scenes that Doctor Who has ever produced). Thirdly, the
logic of the plot is a bit shaky, especially the ending when
time rewinds.
However, the whole plot of the movie revolves around the
TARDIS's connection to the eye of harmony being opened, causing
massive damage to reality around it to the point that the Doctor to
pass straight through solid matter. Anything that doesn't quite add up in
the plot can be put down to the eye causing the universe to go a
bit wibbly. I've always said that Doctor Who has no canon and
that if you're believer in the idea that it does or should, you
have to do a lot of work on your own to make it all work properly
(like reconciling the show's three conflicting interpretations
of Atlantis, or in what years all the UNIT stories are supposed
to take place). Never has that been more true here.
The direction of Geoffrey Sax and the high production values
(they built the massive new TARDIS with the intention of using
it as a standing set for years and years to come) all look great
and help to create a more serious gothic atmosphere that works really well and continues
the tone established by the Virgin New Adventures (which later
went on to feature stories with the Eighth Doctor). The music is also
superb, with a wonderful new orchestral arrangement of the
iconic theme. It's a shame McGann didn't get to star in any more
episodes if only so we could see more of his TARDIS and hear
more of his theme.
McGann himself is a brilliant Doctor and despite his underuse on
TV, he continues to this day to have a long and eventful career
on Big Finish (and I would urge anyone who hasn't yet done so to
listen to the Eighth Doctor's audio adventures) (SO MANY
BRACKETS!). From the moment he first appears, McGann comes into
the role
fully formed. There was never any doubt in my mind that this man
was the Doctor. Even in scenes where he's lost his memory, he
still manages to carry himself with the confidence and wisdom of
900 years, and in the 70 minutes he spends on screen he
effortlessly creates his own distinct version of the
character. When compared to his predecessors, the Eighth Doctor
could be described as a young First Doctor, right
down to the costume and hairdo. Despite having a very old style
to him, Eight is very clearly the first step towards the
character's 21st century portrayal, most notably when he takes
part in a motorbike chase and (controversially for the time)
became the first Doctor to kiss a companion.
It's a shame we never got to see more of Grace Holloway and
Chang Lee as they have great recurring companion potential.
Grace especially is a well thought out and intelligent
character, and it would have been nice to see her as a series
regular. The villain of the movie is the Master, played here by
Eric Roberts. He might not be Michelle Gomez or
Roger Delgado, but Eric Roberts does have a threatening presence and
he injects a lot of energy into the film. At least he has more
subtlety to him than John Simm, who in The End of Time became a
comic book supervillain
who could shoot lasers and fly. Incidentally, you know it's the
90s when the Master responds to the exclamation of "No way!"
with "Yes way." That's the 1996 equivalent of that one
time Missy did a dab.
The Doctor Who TV Movie is an odd bridging chapter between the
old and new eras of the show but it's overall a welcome addition
to the series and a bizarre window into what the show could have
been like had it returned to our screens earlier.
Next: The Night of the Doctor