In 1989, Doctor Who left the airwaves as the BBC cancelled the show after 26 seasons.Now, 37 years later, the BBC is putting the Doctor out to tender as they seek a new production company to take over for the departing Bad Wolf Productions. This process of tender and entering a new phase of production is predicted to take at least two years, if not longer.
The good news is that this tender period is not expected to take as long as the drought between the 7th Doctor and the 9th Doctor (1989 – 2005), but it’s possible that the gap could be as long as that between the 7th Doctor and the 8th Doctor (1989 – 1996). That gap was marked by a single official outing for the Doctor, Doctor Who: The Movie. I thought now an appropriate time to revisit the movie for two reasons. First is the BBC putting the show out to tender. The second is that the Movie was recently re-released on 4K UHD Blu-Ray, complete with a remaster of the original film negative.
So, let’s look at the often-maligned Doctor Who TV movie. In the words of a later Doctor, “Allons-y!”
The story is pretty solid. The 7th Doctor is taking the remains of the Master from Skaro to Gallifrey when those remains cause the TARDIS to make an emergency landing on Earth, December 30, 1999. When the Doctor is caught in the crossfire of a gang war in San Fransisco, he dies and is reborn as the 8th Doctor. Unsure of who he is, the Doctor spends most of the second act figuring out his identity and and the Master’s plan.
That plan? steam the Doctor’s remaining regenerations so that he can extend his own life, having reached the end of his regeneration cycle. This is classic Doctor/Master conflict, the battle between Life and Death. The plot has all the elements to be a strong Doctor Who story, but there is a problem. The writing gets in the way.
The writing makes little sense, and much of what happens in this movie is later discarded by modern Doctor Who. The most notable plot point that does not make sense is the idea that the Doctor is half human on his mother’s side. I think it’s meant to explain why he has such a fondness for Earth, but it just comes across as shocking for the value of being shocking. It’s also used as a plot point for why a human can open the Eye of Harmony, something established to have been located on Gallifrey. I suppose I can accept that every TARDIS has access to the Eye, but again, it doesn’t really fit with what has been established.
The acting is moderately better than the writing. Lee and Grace are decent companions, but let’s be honest: we’re here for the main event, the Doctor and the Master. Eric Roberts, known for scenery-chewing performances, gives an excellent performance as he chews all the scenery. Sylvester McCoy is really just an extended cameo, and he doesn’t get much to do as the 7th Doctor. On the other hand, Paul McGann as the 8th Doctor is an absolute delight. His childlike wonder as he gets to know his new body and personality makes for compelling viewing. It’s a shame the rest of the performances are not as serviceable as the Core four.
Finally, I want to talk about the production design. Holy Hannah! This movie looks like it’s entire budget was spent on the elaborate and detailed sets, especially the TARDIS control room and the Eye of Harmony Cloister. Location shoots around Vancouver appear to have taken up the rest of the budget. This is a beautiful movie with a look that feels like something we could have seen if the original series had a budget. It also appears to have inspired much of the production design in the 2005 and 2023 series. Also, the remaster makes this whole film look better than ever.
Overall, I highly recommend this flawed-but-fun entry in the Doctor Who canon. It’s far from perfect, but it’s no worse than most of the 1963 series, which notoriously had grand ideas that were difficult to realize. This, too, has lofty goals that it doesn’t quite reach.
