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Keeping the Flame Alive

Review of The Doctors Revisited – Eighth Doctor

In any rundown of all the Doctors, Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor always seems to get the short end of the stick. The same is true here, as the eighth installment of Revisited is about a two-thirds the length of any of the previous episodes. Further, McGann himself is conspicuous in his absence, the only surviving Doctor actor to date not to appear in his own retrospective.

Granted, since the series seems to be sticking tightly to televised stories—an oversight, in my opinion, since alternative media like audio adventures are where Eight really comes into his own—we can hardly have expected a long homage to a Doctor who only had 70 minutes on screen. Even bringing in Sylvester McCoy to discuss the regeneration barely padded things out.

However, Companion actors Daphne Ashbrook and Yee Jee Tso (who appeared in interview snippets, along with Steven Moffat, Marcus Wilson, and Nicholas Briggs) make a valiant effort to express to the audience why McGann’s Doctor, and The Movie as a whole, should be of interest to those (presumably primarily “new series” fans) who are as yet unfamiliar with them. Their fondness not only for McGann and the rest of the cast but also for the entirety of the story is clearly evident.

Focusing as always on the positive aspects of McGann’s run, rather than its admitted flaws, Revisited emphasizes the ways in which The Movie bridges the gap between pre- and post-Hiatus eras (as I’ve mentioned a couple of times before). For one thing, it involves a “proper handover,” as Moffat puts it, with an actual regeneration scene between the Seventh and Eighth Doctors, and McGann provides us with a persona recognizable as the Doctor because he uses quick wits to further his ends rather than brute force. Further, it introduced the idea that the Doctor might actually have a romantic side, with the at-the-time controversial first on-screen kiss.

The Companions are also interesting characters, each unique in their own way. Dr. Grace Holloway (Ashbrook) actually kills the Seventh Doctor (though that’s not precisely her fault) and believes the Eighth to be a lunatic before finally getting on board, while Chang Lee (Tso) switches sides between Doctor and Master as events progress and the Master’s powers of persuasion confuse matters.

Speaking of the Master, he is the only “famous foe” in The Movie. While previous incarnations had an almost oily charm, this one is pretty much just nuts. He’s creepy (and eventually campy), but has just enough of his old style to take in Lee with his lies. While it’s not necessarily the most successful interpretation of the character, Eric Roberts brings just enough menace to the role to make it (mostly) work.

Wrapping up the special and continuing into the introduction to the screening of The Movie, Moffat again talks about how it makes such a good transition between old and new. He also talks about how much potential it had as the beginning of a new story, and that McGan “got it completely, completely right.” Unfortunately, it turned out to be no more than a one-night-stand, and fans realized they’d seen the show’s last gasp. “Funny how things work out.”

2 Comments

  1. Tree

    Evolution of the Doctor
    I just finished watching this special. I really do wish I had been a Doctor Who fan back in 1996. It would have been interesting to gage my own reaction. However, then I wouldn’t have known about the coming series in 2005. I don’t have any of the radio series, as I have to pace myself in terms of cost. I’m still working on the DVDs. Maybe I should mix it up and try some; I wonder if they have any streaming yet? It would help in terms of storage!

    I have to catch up with your other posts; I have been travelling steadily for about a month and things get away from you! I have to re-watch the 96 movie, as it’s been a few years, but I’ll admit one of my favorite things was that McCoy was included in the beginning and given a proper goodbye.

    • mrfranklin

      Big Finish Audio
      Paul does a brilliant job as the Eighth Doctor in every Big Finish audio adventure I’ve ever heard (and granted, that’s nowhere near all of them). They do offer a download option rather than the CDs, which is definitely convenient as far as physical space goes. 🙂 The latest series (Dark Eyes) is very good, and I’d definitely recommend it.

      Totally agree about continuity with McCoy, too! (I’ve even heard one fan suggest that the Ninth Doctor could be an impostor, as we’ve never seen Eight regenerate into Nine!)

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