Doctor Who (The TV Movie)

Beginning of the best doctor

Wish Mcgann got his own show

This movie is the best thing I've ever seen

Everyone needs to watch it once a month

You haven't lived until you've seen this one.

I have so much to say about this film.

Cinema fr.

They got him like Markiplier and the LA Gangs.

In a feminist retelling, the Doctor takes on the role of the classic who female companion - For the majority of the film, he is tied up and screaming.

Eric Roberts is banned in the UK now.

Why is The Master just Satan???

He hated. that. wig. He hated it.

Now would you stand aside before he shoots himself?

His shoes.

They fit perfectly.

This launched the audio drama cinematic universe of 8 and Charley's insane situationship that ended in them both f**king dying. Think about that. THIS movie spawned the EDAs.

This is my all time, no contest, favorite bad movie. 100 shitty wigs out of 5 possible car chases.

Doctor Who - The Movie is a curious part of Doctor Who history. Intended to launch a new TV series produced by the BBC, Fox and Universal, instead due to poor viewing figures in America it has become something of a missing link between the classic and new series. So what was at fault?

Well, it feels like it was a mistake to include Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor at the beginning of the movie. This would no doubt have been confusing for new viewers who didn't previously follow the series; the TV movie did, after all, air seven years after the last episode of the classic series. The mistake was later corrected when Russell T Davies brought the show back in 2005, when he opted to start without a regeneration.

It's a shame that executive producer Paul Segal made the decision to include Sylvester McCoy although it's understandable. He is a Whovian after all, so the temptation to include a regeneration sequence was likely too much to resist. Overall, he did make a great movie though with an engaging plot and great actors.

The plot of the Master trying to steal the Doctor's remaining regenerations and nearly causing the end of the world by opening the Eye of Harmony is a good one that feels largely in character for the Master. Paul McGann and Daphne Ashbrook are fantastic as the Doctor and Grace Holloway too; so believable in their roles that many wish to see them reunited in the form of a Big Finish audio. I don't even mind the idea that the Doctor is half human on his mother's side; it makes sense given his fascination with Earth. My only real complaint besides what probably didn't work for new viewers is at times the Master appears more Count Dracula than the Master himself; this is largely down to Eric Roberts' performance, who seems too theatrical and hams it up a little.

Overall, the Doctor Who TV Movie is a great film that should have been successful but is let down by a couple of poor decisions like bringing Sylvester McCoy back as the Seventh Doctor for a regeneration scene and Eric Roberts playing the Master too much like Dracula.

Wow! This movie sucked! I loved it!

Everyone should be subjected to this horrible campy fever dream masterpiece.

5 stars.

The TV movie, to me, finds itself in a fascinating place in the fandom.

I feel like up until watching the film, I had only really known it by a somewhat infamous reputation. People get so up in arms over the half-human thing they tend to downplay the movie's strengths, so I was pretty surprised to find the movie not that bad of an experience.

Paul McGann and Eric Roberts are both excellent as the Doctor and Master respectively. Their success in Big Finish I think nicely reflects that the two were well cast, even if maybe they weren't well used. While the Master himself was done well, his alien snake CGI effects do not hold up to the effects of time. There's a lot of stuff in the movie like that, much of which feels predictive of the New Who series (like romantic tension between Doctor and Companion along with a new TARDIS desktop theme) - yet in equal part just as dated.

The Doctor losing his memories and the whole business around his potential humanity are real problems. It would be one thing if these were random bits of the movie but rather they are very integral to the plot and hard to ignore. It's not that something like this couldn't work, it is that it isn't used for any benefit to the story. Nothing is gained by the Doctor being partially human in this story, or, as far as I know, any other, so the whole idea is kind of pointless. This twist also doesn't fit with what we know of the Doctor nor what I find most appealing about the character.

It is very cool how they brought back McCoy, but I think it derails the story in a way that is prohibitive to new fans and not a great idea for a new potential era of Doctor Who. It probably would have been fine on its own, but coupled with the other weird decisions I mentioned in the last paragraph make this a very meandering, unfocused story.

It's neat seeing a more "Americanized" production but I definitely think that works as a one-off curiosity more than a long-term choice for a TV series as was planned as a possibility with the movie. In some ways, I am glad things worked out the way they did, but I do feel remorseful this is all we got of a gorgeous TARDIS set with a lot of potential to it and some real value in the production that had been lacking in the 1980s. So, yeah, all things considered, the movie is definitely worth watching at least once for Doctor Who fans and yeah, I didn't have a bad time with it.

This could have been a disaster. The show had been away for six years after reaching a particularly low ebb in UK public consciousness. It was being brought back via a BBC/ Fox co-production that had to chop the classic show into some kind of acceptable shape for a mostly uninitiated American audience. Doctor Who had to change but it wasn’t clear what should stay and what should go. Was this a show that even made sense in the 1990s?

If this 85 minute show was split into four episodes, part one would be rock solid. Perfect for anyone with some awareness of Doctor Who and regeneration. Some fans have said having two versions of the same main character in this production is confusing for newcomers - but honestly, I disagree. McCoy didn’t *need* to be in the story but the plot surrounding his death, and how it introduces The Doctor to his new friends is terrifically handled (and for fans, it ties the eras together). I understand though that it gives us only an hour with the newly introduced 8th Doctor, with every second being precious they don’t use all of Paul McGann’s time wisely.

As is often the way with the mid tier episodes of Doctor Who, it devolves into a runaround with a rushed conclusion - but the characters and the journey make this all worth it. McGann is a strong Doctor, even if he is hampered with the cliched pompous old boy look and dialogue - his performance shines through this. The violent gangs, opera visiting Doctors (love Grace’s dress SO MUCH) and enthusiastic morgue staff make you feel like the Doctor’s world is significantly bigger than before this story.

I've always been very hard on Eric Roberts' portrayal as The Master as it varies wildly in tone throughout the story. He can't decide whether he wants to be brooding and sinister or bubbly and camp. He seems to forget what he is doing as he goes through the shoot and the acting consistently leaves something to be desired. This time through though I did not mind the portrayal as much. To be honest, he is probably better than Ainsley.

The TV Movie is also a nice oddity right? Totally different from any other era of the show. What would Doctor Who be like had it been made in the 1990s in Toronto with a schlocky US focus? Well now we know!

Thank God the team at Big Finish did such a good job of doing this Doctor justice in the years to follow, making him into a fully fleshed out, nuanced Doctor.