Doctor Who (1996)

The newly-regenerated Doctor takes on the Master on the turn of the millennium, 31 December 1999.

Director:

Geoffrey Sax

Writer:

Matthew Jacobs

Stars:

Paul McGann, Eric Roberts, Daphne Ashbrook

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Paul McGann	...	The Doctor
Eric Roberts	...	The Master / Bruce
Daphne Ashbrook	...	Dr. Grace Holloway
Sylvester McCoy	...	The Doctor
Yee Jee Tso	...	Chang Lee
John Novak	...	Salinger
Michael David Simms	...	Swift
Catherine Lough Haggquist	...	Wheeler (as Catherine Lough)
Dolores Drake	...	Curtis
Will Sasso	...	Pete (as William Sasso)
Jeremy Radick	...	Gareth
Eliza Roberts	...	Miranda
Bill Croft	...	Motorcycle Policeman
David Hurtubise	...	Professor Wagg (as Dave Hurtubise)
Joel Wirkkunen	...	Ted

Storyline

The Doctor, an alien time traveller from the planet Gallifrey, is transporting the remains of his nemesis, the Master back to their homeworld. However the Master is not as dead as the Doctor thinks. The Master's essence escapes and sabotages the TARDIS, the Doctor's time machine causing it to crash land in San Franscisco on December 30th 1999. The Doctor requires a beryllium atomic clock to repair the TARDIS, but is shot as he leaves it. Taken to hospital, the Doctor's seventh regeneration is triggered by a surgeon, confused by his alien physiology, while the Master takes over a paramedic's body. He needs a Time Lord's body to survive and be able to regenerate again so he needs the Doctor's. The newly regenerated the Doctor must fight to save his own eighth body, and the world when the Master sabotages the TARDIS' power source. By midnight on December 31st 1999, the Earth will be pulled through this power-source, a mini-black hole, and only the Doctor can stop if only he can remember ...

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Plot Keywords:

master | regeneration | eighth doctor | apocalypse | doctor who character | 

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Taglines:

He's Back... And It's About Time

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [UK]

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 May 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Doctor Who

Filming Locations:

1988 Odgen Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Television, BBC Worldwide, Fox Network

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The TARDIS set cost $1 million to build and was constructed in the hope that a series would have emerged from the film. Although it does not resemble the control rooms seen in the original series, it has long been established that The Doctor is capable of changing the interior configuration of the TARDIS anytime he chooses, as well as the TARDIS having more than one control room.

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Goofs

At the start of the movie, when the Seventh Doctor seals the Masters remains shut with the sonic screwdriver, the head of the screwdriver is slightly out of focus. This is explained in a recent (2005) interview by Sylvester McCoy; he was holding it the wrong way around!

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Quotes

[first lines]
The Doctor: [voiceover] It was on the planet Skaro that my old enemy the Master was finally put on trial. They say he listened calmly as his list of evil crimes was read, and sentence passed. Then he made his last, and I thought, somewhat curious request. He demanded that I, the Doctor, a rival Time Lord, should take his remains back to our home planet, Gallifrey. It was a request they should never have granted...

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Crazy Credits

Rather than credit the creator of "Doctor Who" (1963), Sydney Newman, a title card reads: "Based upon the television series broadcast by the BBC." Ron Grainer, composer of the film's theme music, and Delia Derbyshire, designer of the TARDIS sound effect, do not receive screen credit.

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Alternate Versions

The first BBC version and Region 2 DVD release include a dedication to actor Jon Pertwee, who played the Doctor in the 1970s and who died a week before the first British broadcast of the film.

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Connections

Followed by Doctor Who (2005)

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Soundtracks

Un Bel Di
(uncredited)
Written by Giacomo Puccini

User Reviews

When's he coming back? It's overtime

Not that bad really. Or at least the plus points outnumber the bad points. The major factor in favour of the movie was the inspired casting of Paul McGann as the Doctor. Paul McGann is probably the best actor to play Doctor Who (apologies to fans of William Hartnell and Peter Cushing), and his Doctor has more depth of character than the others. If only he would agree to do reprise the role (or the BBC if it comes to that). The dialogue was not to great, but better than the series frequently had. The same could be said of the plot, however the series also turned out some of the best stories and ideas to grace science fiction in any form, so the film loses out on that point. A popular criticism is the Americanisation and emphasis on high-speed action. Such thins are out of place in Doctor Who, but I believe they are misplaced in this case. The best two examples are the kiss and the car chases. I thought the kiss really added to this Doctor's character, but only because he then left her behind on Earth. Anyone who thought there was too much action obviously cannot remember the Jon Pertwee era when Doctor Who could hardly go an episode without high speed antics of some sort. Who thinks Jon Pertwee was a bad Doctor? No one, and quite rightly too.

The only real disappointment was the way Sylvester McCoy was killed. Doctor Who has got out of more unwinable situations than expendable extras on Star Trek, and needs a special end to each of his lives. This one just didn't pass mustard, although I wish whoever wrote it in does.

All in all the film is not bad, but hardly classic Doctor Who.

6/10

P.S. The new Tardis interior design is stunning.