It's like that one post that goes "who was the target audience for this movie?" "me, i was the target audience".

People that dislike this movie have no concept of joy, no whimsy. I made a casual, nuwho friend watch it with me and spent at least one hour explaining how the plot makes sense, actually, if you ignore the fact that the Eye of Harmony can do anything, the fact that you need a human eye to open it (honestly, what was up with that??), and some other things as well. Hilarious that poor Seven gets killed not by the bullets, but by the doctors investigating why his heart rate is so damn high. Grace is living the life as a companion: gets to kill and snog the Doctor in the span of two days! But really, she's a pretty solid companion, and Daphne Ashbrook and Paul McGann have great chemistry. Roberts' Master is fun and camp ("I always drezzz for the occasion") and also scary and I like him, okay? I also like it when the Master has a little companion, and Chang Lee is a good gullible accomplice for him.

Now. The real reason this movie somehow works in the end is Paul McGann. People complain about the memory loss, but idk, it's not a problem for me. The audience gets to figure out who he is alongside himself and Grace, and I thought that was nice, actually. The regeneration in the morgue bit was great, the "WHO. AM. I." was unprecedented in levels of ham. "These shoes! They fit perfectly!". His delivery of that "so that he will live and I will DIE! NO!" line lives in my head rent free. I liked him from the very first second, but was 100% sold when he steals that cop's gun and threatens to shoot... himself. C'mon. What's not to like. Love everything about him. Also, Paul McGann shouts very well?? He shouts "GO!" I'm like "yessir" and I'm out, fast. He can put a lot of authority on it and it's very impressive considering he can also be extremely soft spoken. I'm very glad got into his BF audio dramas, where this talent is very well utilized indeed.

Maybe my fav Doctor. Considering his further characterization in the novels and BF dramas, to me he's a combination of my favorite traits of the previous (and future, actually) Doctors. He's usually kind, very caring, self-sacrificing, full of child-like wonder and love, and quite ditsy. He's great at sleight of hand (love this gimmick), believably a genius, very alien. He has a lot of gravitas, can go from polite to commanding to cold in a split second, and can be quite manipulative too. Of course it's not all present in a 90min movie, but it does start here. Also, I love the outfit! It matches his personality very well and that's important to me.

Def my fav TARDIS interior!!! It makes Fifteenth's look like the inside of a fridge. Monstrous crime that this is the only time we see it.

Bottom line, this is definitely a comfort movie for me, and very much not a guilty pleasure, because I feel no guilt at all. Not to mention it doubles as a New Years movie, so I have a great excuse to watch it every year.