I love Doctor Who (1996), I say this genuinely, it's one of my favourite films and 8 one of my favourite Doctors. More than that, though, Doctor Who (1996) teaches us an important lesson: films do not have to be good to be good

I'd heard a lot about this in the past, so I wasn't sure what I'd think about it. Well, I finally watched it, and it was actually pretty good.

Now, don't get me wrong, there's still a lot that wasn't great in it. (The master is a translucent snake? The Doctor is half-human?) But I loved Paul McGann and Eric Robert's acting, the music was great, the TARDIS set is gorgeous, and it was overall just a fun ride.

Not sure what I think about the Seventh Doctor dying because of a medical procedure...

I would recommend to fans of the Eighth Doctor or for a look at what could have been.

This wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't great.

Nonetheless, I like the story, and rewatching clips of the movie always reminds me of what could've been. There definitely should've been a 90s Doctor Who series with McGann as the Doctor.

one of my fav televised dw episodes and a fun look at what could have been. doesn't work as a regeneration story but that's because it isn't; it's fun, silly sci-fi. grace is nice, wish we had more of her. overall, it's tonally nuwho with all the camp of classic. 9/10

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.

I think that the TV movie has some cool concepts, and I also feel that it looks good visually with nice costumes and sets (particularly the TARDIS console room). However, I feel that the plot is a bit messy with a few plot holes, and the romance elements didn't interest me at all. It's not too offensive, but it's also not too incredible.

Horribly camp in all the best ways possible. What many people seem to gloss over though, is that it’s not just camp. The TV Movie/The Enemy Within is often dismissed after the previous compliment, which I think is unfair. It’s absolutely an accurate observation in my opinion, but just because it’s full of cliche American Hollywood tropes doesn’t mean that it’s just that, and not also still really good Doctor Who.

Matthew Jacobs has a really poetic vision of the Doctor in my opinion, which I think can be seen best in the scene where he talks with Grace about her being a doctor. Paul McGann sells these types of moments extra well, and he was not only perfectly cast as Doctor Who (like every single actor has been) but also perfect for this vision of Jacobs. He’s like a fairytale figure, but not in the way that Matt Smith’s version is. Eight is less a magical hero, and more a mysterious being of age old wiseness and unhingedness. He takes a very passive role for a big chunk of the movie, and even as the main character, manages to come off as a wanderer who passes by.

Right i was talking about poeticisms. Eight literally picking up where Seven left off both as the main star of the franchise, and the book they are reading. That’s cool, I like that. The Doctor forgetting who he was being a perfect premise for a soft reboot without constraints of the past, but the story actively fighting against that, and embracing its history, not letting Doctor Who end up as an oddity that stumbles through America. Hey why not, f**k it. Look at this. We can see the Master and his American accent as a metaphor for the American entertainment market in general, trying to claim everything for themselves. Trying to claim that Doctor Who’s regenerations are actually his. Another body to be stolen by the Master. But not this time. Sometimes they might succeed, but not at getting the Doctor. No matter what he goes through, Doctor Who stays what they are. They hold onto the power and richness in who and what they are, and won’t let itself be taken only to be used up quickly and then thrown away to let the next one come in. Doctor Who isn’t that kind of TV show. He’s an alien. A really stubborn alien. Like an Englishman in New York. Or something like that.

There’s also parts to criticize about the movie, like for example, making the Doctor a romantic figure. But while it may feel out of place after the classic series, it could be as easily said that this part was actually far ahead of its time, considering what Russel T Davies would later do. It’s not something one could be more critical of then of the modern series. Neither am I of the opinion that such things as the Doctor being half human can be seen as genuine points of critique. I really don’t think relating the Doctor’s interest of Earth to him wanting to connect to his mother’s culture is an inherently bad idea. Like in the end I find a lot of people’s dislikes come more from them not liking stylistic choices than the movie being ‘objectively’ badly made.

There’s some pacing issues (though i find that more another fun camp element), and the ending I find really vague. Like I had no clue what was actually going on. But that might be me. I could possibly require a rewatch. But for the rest, issa just very enjoyable doccy who man, idk whatchu wan. Imo is ofc v good.

The plot was a mess, especially that ending. But i loved the characters!  Especially the eighth ofc!

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.