Review of Doctor Who (1996) by Ben H — 23 Dec 2007

In retrospect, the Doctor Who 1996 special is a wierd halfway house between the old series and the new. Paul McGann feels absolutely right as the Doctor (when he is on screen and in character) and Daphne Ashbrook's Grace makes a great intelligent, mature female sidekick; they would have made a great, capable, feisty duo if it had gone onto series.

Eric Roberts' Master is at turns campy and sinister, with an odd line in homoeroticism. The plot is perhaps needlessly obscure, but McGann's sheer force of personality as a newly-regenerated Doctor carries it along.

It is quite wierd seeing the clash between a very English icon and a generic American TV serial approach, and the prologue unweidlely shoehorns in continuity references which would fail to pacify the hardened fan and be irrelevant to new viewers.

A more traditional approach would have probably been more effective than this, although the Biblical themes of resurrection are very appropriate for this revival of an iconic hero, but McGann's 8th Doctor is a welcome addition to the series' mythology having been subsequently well-treated with a host of original novels, comic strips and audio dramas.

The new TARDIS interior is visually impressive and worlds away from the sterile white rooms of the 1980s series, and harks affectionately back to the wooden console room of 1976 and the cloister room from 1981's "Logopolis".

It was also nice seeing Sylvester McCoy's 7th Doctor, looking more dignified and world-weary here, enjoying retirement from adventures and time-travelling before an undignified death before a street gang in the streets of San Francisco, indeed the opening scenes are probably one of McCoy's finest Doctor moments in his brief time as Doctor.

The "half human" subplot still drives fans into paroxysms of continuity confusion, being a significant plotpoint and not a throwaway remark to be easily dismissed, but the new series (and RTD's own comments) has made it clear that the 8th Doctor counts (contrary to the opinion of a character in "Queer as Folk"!) so deal with it!