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 This story heralds the long-awaited return of Doctor Who which took place in 1996.
This direct-to-television film, by producer Philip Segal, was a joint production between the BBC, Universal Television and Fox Television, and was produced entirely in Vancouver, British Columbia - to date the only Doctor Who story filmed in Canada. It was the first attempt to revive Doctor Who and was intended as a back-door pilot for a new American-produced Doctor Who television series.
This story was written by Matthew Jacobs - who interestingly is the son of Anthony Jacobs, who had played Doc Holliday in the 1966 First Doctor story "The Gunfighters", and was actually present on the set.
This film contains the final appearance of the Seventh Doctor, played by Sylvester McCoy, and introduced Paul McGann, as the Eighth Doctor. Due to this film not faring well on American television no new series was made – thus making it Paul McGann’s only televised appearance as The Doctor.
This film starts with the Seventh Doctor so providing continuity with the original run of the show that was cancelled in 1989.
The Seventh Doctor is now travelling alone. Various explanations for Ace's departure have since been given in various books and comic strips - in several of them she dies.
The Seventh Doctor is seen wearing a different costume from the one he wore during his 1987-1989 tenure. Gone are the question mark pullover and umbrella. The costume does though include the original hat, which is actually owned by Sylvester McCoy.
He is also seen to carry items associated with the Fourth Doctor, such as jelly babies and a yo-yo, and the Fifth Doctor's toolkit. A 900-year diary is also fleetingly visible in the TARDIS. As well as having a bowl of jelly babies in the TARDIS he is seen offering a jelly baby to a policeman, and he has jelly babies amongst his possessions claimed at the hospital by Chang Lee.
The Doctor has a new sonic screwdriver. The original was destroyed by the Terileptil leader in 17th century England (see the 1982 Fifth Doctor story "The Visitation").
The Seventh Doctor's x-ray reveals the presence of two hearts.
Both The Doctor (in his narration) and The Master reaffirm that Time Lords can regenerate twelve times. However, when The Doctor is heard saying he has 13 lives he isn't really saying it as he in actual fact he says twelve. When this error was discovered Paul McGann had to redub the line to say thirteen rather than the incorrect twelve.
Although The Doctor has never regenerated the same way twice (although his 9th and 10th regenerations were similar to each other), the depiction here is particularly unusual in that, unlike all previous (and later) regenerations, it sets in long after The Doctor's apparent ‘death’, a condition apparently caused by the anaesthetic in The Doctor's system.
On-screen dialogue confirms that the Seventh Doctor ‘dies’ at 10:03 PM on the 30th December 1999, with regeneration occurring early on the 31st December 1999. The position of prop clocks would suggest this regeneration to have occurred some time around 1:00 to 1:15 AM on that day.
It is often erroneously stated that the gunshot wounds are the cause of The Doctor's regeneration. This is incorrect as dialogue clearly indicates that the first bullet did no damage and the second was removed during a rather minor procedure. The Doctor's ‘death’ was caused inadvertently during the exploratory heart surgery that followed.
This is the only time The Doctor is declared dead during a regeneration story. However, it is also stated that his body processes (specifically the regeneration process, but perhaps his other vitals as well) were slowed by the anaesthesia so much they were undetectable. The Doctor's statement that he was ‘dead too long’ may simply have been a generalisation. This would reconcile the movie with the 2009/10 Tenth Doctor story "The End of Time", where The Doctor states that regeneration cannot take place if he is killed outright before the process begins. It is also the only occasion prior to "The End of Time" in which The Doctor refers to the circumstances leading up to regeneration as a death.
Of the regenerations actually depicted on screen, this was the first to show The Doctor undergoing the change while completely alone. This would next occur with the Tenth Doctor's regeneration in the 2009/10 story "The End of Time". (Two other regenerations, that of the Second Doctor after the 1969 story "The War Games" and the regeneration of the Eighth Doctor into the Ninth Doctor, were never shown on screen so it is not known if they occurred in the presence of others).
When reluctantly filling out an emergency medical treatment form, Chang Lee (who had only met the semi-conscious Seventh Doctor minutes earlier and did not know his identity) gives The Doctor's name as ‘John Smith’. This is a recurring alias originally given to the Second Doctor by companion Jamie McCrimmon in the 1968 story "The Wheel in Space".
While rummaging through lockers in search of clothing, The Doctor momentarily examines a long, multi-coloured scarf, similar to that worn by the Fourth Doctor. This also marks the second time when the newly-regenerated Doctor dons his new clothes by taking them from a hospital, the Third Doctor having previously taken the clothes belonging to a medical consultant in the 1970 story "Spearhead From Space". The Eleventh Doctor would again acquire his clothes from a hospital in the 2010 story "The Eleventh Hour".
The fact that The Doctor is half-human, on his mother's side, is news to The Master. This fact has proved extremely controversial among the show’s fans. The issue was referenced in a number of the BBC Books’ The Eighth Doctor Stories novels, which either seek to explain it or elaborate on it. "Alien Bodies" subtly suggests that it is just the Eighth Doctor who is half-human, while others books (such as "Unnatural History" and "The Gallifrey Chronicles") suggest that The Doctor's human mother is a Victorian Lady called Penelope Gate, and his Time Lord father is called Ulysses. Another explanation is offered in "The Taking of Planet 5" where it is suggested that The Doctor has become half-human as a result of repeated regenerations around humans, where he absorbed bits of their DNA. The issue was not addressed on-screen again, though in the 2008 Tenth Doctor story "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End", a second version of The Doctor is created whose physiology had, through the unique circumstances involved, been created as a combination of The Doctor's and his human companion Donna Noble.
At the time of broadcast there was significant reaction to The Doctor kissing Dr Grace Holloway as this was the first overtly romantic scene involving The Doctor. Although The Doctor experienced some arguably romantic situations in stories such as in the 1964 First Doctor story "The Aztecs", this film is the first time The Doctor's sexuality is overtly explored on-screen. This tendency carries over to the revived series especially by the Tenth Doctor and the Eleventh Doctor.
In the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "Human Nature/The Family of Blood", in which The Doctor presented sketches of his previous incarnations, the Eighth Doctor appears most prominently. The Eighth Doctor made another cameo in the 2008 Tenth Doctor story "The Next Doctor" in a sequence of clips, counting up the ten Doctors to date via means of a Cyberman infostamp. This was followed by two similar cameos in the 2010 Eleventh Doctor stories "The Eleventh Hour" and "The Lodger".
The Doctor, whilst fleeing The Master, is heard to say that he is afraid of heights. His tenth incarnation showed a fear of heights in the 2006 story "The Idiot's Lantern" and again in the 2007 story "Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks". In the original script for "The Idiot's Lantern", it was implied that The Doctor has this fear due to his fourth incarnation dying when falling from a height (see the 1981 Fourth Doctor story "Logopolis").
The ‘Old Master’ who appears at the start of this film, played by Gordon Tipple, resembles the incarnation played by Anthony Ainley until 1989 (and again in the computer game "Destiny of the Doctors"), but it is not indicated definitively on screen whether this is the same incarnation or a different one. The Master is seen with ‘cat's eyes’ in both the pre-credits sequence and again after taking over Bruce. This could be a possible reference to his condition on the Cheetah World in the 1989 Seventh Doctor story "Survival".
Eric Roberts, who played the part of Bruce and The Master is the brother of Pretty Woman's Julia Roberts. While Miranda, the wife of Bruce, is played by Eric Roberts' real-life wife, Eliza Roberts.
This remains Eric Roberts' sole appearance as The Master. This would also be The Master's last official television appearance in Doctor Who until the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "Utopia". In the following story, "The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords", it is stated that the Time Lords themselves resurrected The Master to use him in the Time War.
The Master's ashes have shape-changing abilities – suggesting that Time Lords can obviously regenerate even when their bodies are severely destroyed, but are unable to regenerate into a full human body, assuming instead that of a snake-like being that can possess other beings.
The Master's snake form is given an explanation in the BBC Books’ The Eighth Doctor Stories novel "The Eight Doctors" and in The Doctor Who Magazine comic strip "The Fallen".
The original script called for Bruce's body to start visibly decaying after The Master's possession. This though was later dropped when the prosthetics caused Eric Roberts severe skin irritation.
The Master tried to use the Eye of Harmony to obtain a new set of regenerations before (see the 1976 Fourth Doctor story "The Deadly Assassin"). He was also offered a new set of regenerations by the Time Lords in the Thirtieth Anniversary special "The Five Doctors", but his continued quest for regenerations in later stories, like in the 1984 Fifth Doctor story "Planet of Fire", implies that he never received them.
The Master, The Doctor and Dr Grace Holloway name-drop throughout this story by referring to Marie Curie (‘does she kiss as good as me?’), Sigmund Freud, and Genghis Khan.
Although the TARDIS interior changed several times throughout the original series, the movie's set was the most dramatic change to date, replacing the sterile white corridors and roundel-based design with a theme more reminiscent of Jules Verne. Several subsequent tie-in novels attempted to explain the change. In the 2005 series, the interior changed just as dramatically again. In a later interview with Doctor Who Magazine, series producer Russell T Davies mused that the TARDIS interior is probably ‘skinnable’. This seems to be confirmed in the 2007 special Children in Need story "Time Crash" where the Fifth Doctor remarks that the Tenth Doctor had ‘changed the desktop theme’. However, in the 1976 Fourth Doctor story "The Masque of Mandragora" the idea that the TARDIS has at least one secondary Console Room was introduced. This was later confirmed in the 2011 Eleventh Doctor story "The Doctor's Wife". Another change to the Console Room was made in 2010 Eleventh Doctoctor story "The Eleventh Hour" just after The Doctor had regenerated. It had been critically damaged and, as explained by The Doctor, it was ‘rebuilding itself’, thus confirming how such changes were made to the room.
The console itself is shown to be a hodge-podge of different technologies and objects, including a handbrake similar to that used on automobiles in the early 1900s, and a 1950’s-style television set/monitor. The shows’ revival in 2005 would continue the theme of the console featuring bits and pieces from different objects, as if it had been cobbled together.
The Seal of Rassilon is featured extensively throughout the TARDIS.
The Cloister Room, last seen in the 1981 Fourth Doctor story "Logopolis", makes a return appearance. However, it now includes the Eye of Harmony which The Master states is where the TARDIS gets its power. He also describes the Eye as the ‘heart of the structure’.
As established in the 1976 Fourth Doctor story "The Deadly Assassin", the Eye of Harmony is held on Gallifrey. Its presence on the TARDIS therefore seems a peculiar inclusion for this film. Fan theory quickly resolved this conflict by speculating that the ‘Eye’ on the TARDIS was merely a spatiotemporal link to the actual Eye of Harmony on Gallifrey, a feature presumably contained on all TARDIS’s as a source of energy. This theory soon found its way into licensed material such as the BBC novel range. Notably, in the revived series, in which Gallifrey has been destroyed, the TARDIS lacks its own power source, and must draw power from fissures in the fabric of reality. The 2007 Tenth Doctor story "The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords", also support this theory as it is revealed that after falling into the Eye, The Master is revived by the Time Lords without The Doctor's knowledge.
This film further states that the ‘Eye’ can only be opened with the scan of a human retina, a fact apparently tied to The Doctor's own human retinal pattern. The 2000 Big Finish Productions audio story "The Apocalypse Element" attempts to explain this by introducing a plot point in which the eye of The Doctor's companion Evelyn Smythe is keyed to a Gallifreyan security system so as to confound enemy expectations by allowing entry only to the most unlikely of candidates.
The golden ‘fairy dust’ emitted from the Eye that resurrects Dr Grace Holloway and Chang Lee, though unprecedented within the series and unexplained within the movie, is to some extent evoked in several stories of the revived series. These include the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways", in where Rose Tyler wrenches open the console to absorb the energies of the Time Vortex, thereby obtaining control over life and death. In this case, the Vortex energies are again depicted as a sort of golden dust. It is seen again when both the Tenth Doctor and the Eleventh Doctor undergo their respective regenerations in "The Christmas Invasion" and "The Eleventh Hour" as well as many other ‘regeneration’ scenes including The Master in "Utopia" and River Song in "Let’s Kill Hitler".
The Doctor's reference to the Chameleon Circuit as a ‘cloaking device’ was for a while another point of criticism within amongst fans. Russell T Davies referenced the criticism in the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "Boom Town" when at one point Rose Tyler refers to a cloaking device and The Doctor corrects her.
We learn that Twentieth Century Earth is in the "Humanian Era". Other eras shown on the TARDIS's co-ordinates panel include the "Sumaron Era" and the "Rassilon Era".
Chang Lee gets the honour of doing what has been referred to as ‘The TARDIS run-around’ – where a character goes inside, sees how big it is, comes back out and walks around the TARDIS, disbelievingly, before going back inside. This is also performed by Rose Tyler in the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "Rose", Donna Noble in the 2006 Tenth Doctor story "The Runaway Bride" and again in the 2008 Tenth Doctor story "Turn Left", Martha Jones in the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "Smith and Jones", Jackson Lake in the 2008 Tenth Doctor story "The Next Doctor", Amy Pond in the 2010 Eleventh Doctor story "The Eleventh Hour" and Vincent van Gogh in the 2010 Eleventh Doctor story "Vincent and The Doctor".
Although The Doctor's most famous alien adversaries, the Daleks, are not seen, they are heard condemning The Master to death during the film's opening sequence (sporting their trademark war cry of: ‘EX-TER-MIN-ATE!’).
The Daleks appear to have a legal system which includes trials and formal executions. They appear to have arranged with both the Time Lords and The Doctor for their mortal enemy to visit Skaro to collect The Master's mortal remains.
The book that The Doctor sits down to read at the beginning and the end of this film is ‘The Time Machine’ by H. G. Wells. The Doctor shared an adventure with H. G. Wells in the 1985 Sixth Doctor story "Timelash" and would meet him again in the Tenth Doctor comic "The Time Machination". In the 1973 Third Doctor story "Frontier in Space", The Master is seen reading H. G. Wells' ‘The War of the Worlds’. While in the untelevised Season Seventeen story "Shada", Professor Chronotis can be seen with a copy of ‘The Time Machine’.
This is one of six Doctor Who stories to be set on New Year's Eve 1999 and New Year's Day 2000. The comic strip "Plastic Millennium" (published in the Doctor Who Magazine 1994 Winter Special); Virgin Books’ The Missing Adventures novel "Millennial Rites" (written by Craig Hinton); The BBC Books’ The Past Doctor Stories novel "Millennium Shock" (written by Justin Richards); the short story "Suitors, Inc." (Short Trips: Seven Deadly Sins) and the Fourth Doctor's segment from the comic "The Forgotten" (2008) all take place on those dates, as do elements of the Torchwood story "Fragments".
The version of 1931's Frankenstein that is seen during the regeneration sequence is not the current restored version, but the earlier censored print that was commonly circulated on television prior to the 1980’s. This is evident from the fact that Doctor Frankenstein's dialogue ‘Now I know what it feels like to be God’ is not heard. However, this portion of the film is still visible, just not audible.
The reason for The Doctor warning Chang Lee not to be in San Francisco the Christmas is explained, in the BBC Books’ The Eighth Doctor Stories novel "Unnatural History", as an Earthquake rocks the city around that time.
The Virgin Books’ The New Adventures novel "Lungbarrow" sets up events for this story (including why the TARDIS interior looks the way it does, why The Doctor now has a sonic screwdriver and why The Doctor was rescuing The Master).
The Big Finish Productions’ audio story "The Apocalypse Element" attempts to explain why the Eye of Harmony, Gallifreyan technology, could be opened only by a human eye.
The producers of the television movie compiled several lists of actors to consider for the part of The Doctor. Among early thoughts were Michael Crawford, Tim Curry, Eric Idle, Billy Connolly, Trevor Eve, Michael Palin, Robert Lindsay, and Jonathan Pryce. All were uninterested in the project, or unavailable for the intended filming dates.
Casting sessions took place in March 1994. The actors who actually auditioned for the role include Liam Cunningham, Mark McGann, Robert Lindsay, Tim McInnerny, Nathaniel Parker, Peter Woodward, John Sessions, Anthony Head, and Tony Slattery. Paul McGann was first considered around the time of these auditions, but did not formally audition for the part until later.
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The Firsts:
The first direct-to-television film.
The first Doctor Who story for 6 years - since the 1989 story "Survival".
Paul McGann's first appearance as the Eighth Doctor.
Eric Roberts' first appearance in the show as The Master.
The first Doctor Who story to be written by Matthew Jacobs.
The first Doctor Who story to be directed by Geoffrey Sax.
Philip Segal's first involvement in the show as Executive Producer.
Jo Wright's first involvement in the show as Executive Producer.
Alex Beaton's first involvement in the show as Executive Producer.
Matthew Jacobs' first involvement in the show as Producer.
Peter V Ware's first involvement in the show as Producer.
The first Doctor Who story to show The Doctor regenerating while completely alone.
The first Doctor Who story to contain an overtly romantic scene involving The Doctor.
The first Doctor Who story to feature a narration since the 1976 Fourth Doctor story "The Deadly Assassin".
The first time that Doctor Who has been filmed entirely abroad and the first time in Canada.
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(Position = 89 out of 159)
(Position = 135 out of 200)
(Position = 152 out of 241)
