Doctor Who (1996) Review

Hey, I know "Phantom Menace" was really bad, but trust me,
I can take you to see Episode II right now and the romance
is just gonna blow... you... away...
(mwahaha)

The TV Movie is now notorious amongst Doctor Who fans for its bizarre retcons, incomprehensible plot and overreliance on continuity, to the point where it's pretty much a crash course on how to not bring back a dead series. It's certainly an eccentric little film even by the show's standards, but I've always found it endearing and here's why.

WRITTEN BY

Matthew Jacobs, otherwise known for working on a few of Lucasfilm projects. He is tied to Doctor Who by his father Anthony Jacobs, who gave a memorable performance as Doc Holliday in The Gunfighters.

PLOT

The Master initiates a last ditch scheme for survival by tampering with the Doctor's TARDIS, forcing him to land on Earth where both of them acquire new bodies(one by regeneration, the other by possession) and engage in a final showdown.

ANALYSIS

One of my favourite aspects of the film is its director, Geoffrey Sax. Now, I've only seen one other movie that he's directed, which was an adaptation of Anthony Horowitz's "Stormbreaker" and in both cases, the films are just full of really experimental camera angles, transitions and very stylised performances by the actors involved.
The point is, Geoffrey Sax is not a point and shoot kind of director. He's the type to try and make every single moment as memorable and visually quirky as possible, which does become admittedly tiresome after a while, but at the same time I can't deny that the movie looks really, really good and is mostly entertaining.

The plotting is... unfortunate. The unsubtle obsession with the new millennium dates this film quite badly, and there's just no way any newcomer could understand what's going on, since the lore is either
A) Flat-out unexplained
B) Rushed.
or C) Retconned.
Which leaves the general audience baffled and even costs the film a chunk of the show's built-in followers.
This is, however, made up by charm and wit in the dialogue as well as the notion of a final confrontation between the Doctor and one of the classic series' best villains, the Master. As a huge fan of the character, including him in any story tends to improve said story for me, so it should come as no surprise that the focus on him makes the TV Movie much more important in my eyes.

The set design, namely the TARDIS interior, is absolutely spectacular. I don't think anyone can deny that this film has one of, if not the best TARDIS console rooms the franchise has ever depicted. From the vast space to the Victorian furnishings to that gorgeous steampunk console itself, it's a really nice reminder of the original show's Jules Verne-esque spirit back in the early 60s.

CHARACTERS

Paul McGann's debut performance as the Eighth Doctor is admittedly a little bogged down by the circumstances(like half of the movie goes by before he's regenerated and recovered, and then there's all the strange stuff with the precognitive powers), but he is such an avuncular, cheeky figure that you can't help, but love the guy. And since the movie goes downright apocalyptic at the end, we also get to experience the Eighth Doctor's sterner side as he becomes desperate to save Earth and his own fresh body from the Master's grasp.
The fact that the Doctor avoids death by the skin of his teeth and still offers to save the Master(this animalistic incarnation in particular) is nicely refreshing after the previous Doctor became downright bloated with universal chess matches to the point where the Master seemed like an insect in comparison, and was merely cast aside on the Cheetah World. It's a new millennium for the Doctor, out with the old and in with the new.
An argument could be made that it might've been better for McGann's Doctor to have encountered an entirely new foe(the Master having been definitely beaten in Survival already), but hey, we got what we got and what we got wasn't that bad.

Sylvester McCoy's Seventh Doctor isn't in the movie for long, but I actually quite like his performance here. There's still traces of his old playful charm in his introductory scene, yet the moment things turn odd he takes full control with a scowling expression. After everything he's been through, this Doctor is ready to spring into action at a moment's notice, but is instead cut down instantly, throwing a curveball and leading into the next incarnation's greater vulnerability, but also greater humanity.
Yeah, maybe I'm reading too deeply into it, but hey, I am a fan. Basically, it's fun to see Sylvester here and I'm sure he had a laugh gurning on that operation table.

Not gonna lie, I freaking love Eric Roberts as the Master. He's kind of like the American equivalent of Roger Delgado - cheerfully non-chalant in his extremely obvious villainy. Plus, pairing him up with the equally relaxed Chang Lee results in comic gold when the Master becomes mildly confused over human idioms later in the movie. That being said, the film also remembers to make him scary, having him lash out at random times in grotesque to keep you on your toes. Towards the end, this goes quite a bit over the top, but for the most of the movie, Roberts is awesome.

Speaking of Chang Lee, Yee Jee Tso gives a great performance as an ordinary guy who's way out of his depth. It's a shame that the film kind of flip-flops on Lee's motivation - he is written as a gang member who doesn't seem to care if the Earth is blown up or not so long as he gets his gold, but at the same time, we're clearly supposed to sympathise with him when the Master tricks him and he is friends with the Doctor at the end of the film, so... shrug. It's thanks to Tso's down-to-earth performance and chemistry with both Roberts and McGann that the role works as well as it does.

And finally, we have Daphne Ashbrook as Grace Holloway aaaand I'm not really keen on her. I think it's the way she spends most of the movie either not understanding what's going on, not believing what's going on and then finally trying to hide what's going on by pretending the Doctor's a silly British foreigner(eyeroll) that there's just not enough time spent on actually developing her relationship with the Doctor or giving her much of a chance to be likable. I'm quite fond of her at the very end when things finally quiet down and she certainly has chemistry with McGann, it's just that for most of the film, the overcomplicated plot gets in the way and she really doesn't get a chance to come into her own.

NOTES

*Speaking of the overcomplicated plot, here's my take on the whole temporal orbit thing: the Doctor tells Grace that they have to send the TARDIS back in time before they arrived, because they're just too late to stop the Earth from the Eye Of Harmony-induced apocalypse.

Now, if you remember the classic series, the Eye of Harmony drew power directly from a sun in the middle of going supernova. With the Eye open, the amount of "supernova power" feeding the TARDIS was drastically reduced, leaving the ship unable to move. The Doctor sets up a direct conduit between the Eye and the time rotor, allowing Grace to somehow set the ship in motion during the Doctor-Master body switcheroo(this is also powered by the Eye).

The TARDIS travels back in time a few hours to exactly where it was a few hours ago(similar to Time Crash when two TARDISes merged), and obviously no one was currently present in the TARDIS at the time, hence why our heroes don't run into anyone from the past.
The temporal orbit is the two TARDISes co-existing at the same time, which disrupts the Eye of Harmony enough to screw up the Doctor-Master body switcheroo. When the Master gets sucked in, the TARDIS vomits out his leftover regeneration energy(remember, the Eleventh Doctor had some in The Angels Take Manhattan despite being on his last life) and this heals Chang Lee and Grace.

*Does the Gordon Tipple narration still exist in some shape or form? It was recorded, I think, so I'd love to hear it.

*I love the Doctor's toolbox(the one where he picks up the sonic from at the start of the film). I want one like that.

*If only the Master's urn is shaking, why does it affect the Doctor's coffee and vinyl player?

*Why was the gang just hiding behind those boxes for like two minutes instead of attacking Chang Lee and his buddies immediately?

*I realise the Doctor was probably in shock and all, but what did he think Chang Lee was gonna do with "timing malfunction" and how was he supposed to stop the liquid Master from escaping the TARDIS?

*The third-person line "Chang Lee will help you!" always stands out for me. I'm not sure what that's about.

*Do doctors really listen to operas whilst performing complex heart surgery?

*Why does Lee freak out when questioned by Grace instead of just saying "um, his name is John Smith because I say so" and then leaving? Grace has no authority to keep him there.

*Gotta love the security guard who just flat-out ignores the guy running out of the hospital in spite of someone shouting "Stop him!!"

*Why does mrs. Roberts put up with Bruce's snoring? Just shake the guy a little!

*Also, her interpreting the Master's identity as pet play cracks me up.

*This film appears to be the first depiction of the Doctor exhaling regeneration energy after changing.

*I love the use of the 1931 "Frankenstein" footage, but whilst it makes sense to compare the Master to the Monster, especially when he's stealing someone else's body, I don't really get the comparison to the Doctor's regeneration.

*Also, the cut to some random shot of San Francisco after that scene with elevator music as if this was a sitcom is hilarious.

*How is the Doctor able to tap on that very solid window right before walking through the glass?

*I love how Ashbrook plays up her character's fear of the Doctor being insane so that every time he says something strange, she gives this "omg somebody please help" smile.

*When the Doctor and Grace argue over the cop's motorcycle, McGann literally holds the gun in front of the officer and looks away. The cop could've easily grabbed it. But no, toss the keys to the lunatics instead, that'll work...

*David Hurtubise's(professor Wagg) performance seemed to be a parody of Erick Avari, or is that just me?

*"So the Master's like the devil??" Okay, not all of the dialogue is that great. This line had zero build-up.

*I love how Grace and the Doctor don't even question the ambulance's willingness to immediately serve as a taxi for them to get to the Institute of Technological Advancement and Research.

*What exactly did the Doctor need that beryllium atomic clock for? Both him and the Master seem to consider it a vital piece of equipment until it does just about nothing and the Doctor has to improvise the new plan to jumpstart the TARDIS via the Eye. Like, they don't even give a technobabble-y reason for incorporating the clock into the console.

*What drugs did Geoffrey Sax give Paul McGann for that "WHO! AM! AHHHH!" line delivery?

*I know this isn't exactly the most subtle of films, but the Doctor owning an endless collection of clocks is just dumb.

*Apparently the Master has some kind of history with Sigmund Freud as he's able to sneak a line in to the Doctor and Grace's banter about the guy(if there's a joke, it went over my head).

*I must say, I hope they bring back the Doctor's backup key being hidden over the P on the TARDIS(wouldn't that have thrown a wrench into Clara's idiotic plans?).

CONTINUITY ADVISOR

1) The Master was put on trial by the Daleks on a possibly rebuilt Skaro(though it could just be from a different timeframe). This makes just about zero sense beyond having at least a reference to the Daleks in there somewhere.

2) The opening shot of the Master's yellow eyes suggests that he's still carrying the Cheetah virus from Survival(which, if that was actually the case, is quite a clever callback), but for the rest of the film, his eyes are green instead which is kind of weird.

3) Once again, the Doctor's temporary nickname is John Smith, although this time it seems to be a complete coincidence(also, Chang Lee sucks at pseudonyms).

4) One of the costume choices for McGann is a Fourth Doctor-esque scarf. Cute easter egg.

5) The Doctor comments that the TARDIS looks like a police box because its cloaking device got stuck on a previous misadventure(as seen in An Unearthly Child). I don't really mind that he calls it a cloaking device as he is obviously generalising a bit. It's a nice enough explanation.

BEST QUOTE

LEE: "We're a team, right?"
MASTER: *still confused by Lee's earlier comments* "Yes, we're a.... team..."

CONCLUSION

It's a really silly film, but it can be a lot of fun in the right mindset and I highly recommend it to every Doctor Who fan for Paul McGann's performance at the very least.

BONUS: ORIGINAL REVIEW FROM 2013(between my Series 3 and 4 viewings). I WAS 14.

Whoever said that this is only a cheesy flick with nothing but Paul McGann's performance is bonkers. This was WAY better than what the new series has offered us so far. The only episodes coming close to this swashbuckling tale of Awesome would be Dalek from Series 1 and the Master trilogy from Series 3.

Now, I know this is a movie and a bigger budget is expected, but still, compared to the console room of the Seventh/Eighth Doctor, the room of the Ninth/Tenth is pathetic.

Paul McGann loves to be the Doctor and it shows. He gives his heart and soul to the performance and by the end of the movie, I was all set to travel around the universe with him. Alas, his long era is comprised merely of comics and radio. Why couldn't BBC just hire him to do an older Eighth Doctor for the new show? Also, his costume rules.

Having previously enjoyed Sylvester McCoy in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey", I knew I was gonna like him as the Seventh Doctor and I did, but he wasn't around long enough for me to get really attached. But that's understandable, it's not his movie after all.

Eric Roberts as the Master was spot-on. His performance flew over Derek Jacobi(no offense) and nearly topped John Simm. I really liked how friendly his personality was, a far cry from the previous Masters. Just the kind of guy you'd like to have on your side. He's like Han Solo, except he's evil. Plus, the Master with shades... oh yeah.

Though I never really focus that much on companions, Chang Lee and Grace Holloway were both solid characters by the end and I really wished they would've sticked around for a series, they were a fantastic pair of people for the Doctor to go around with.

The special effects were all well done, not as good as the new series but it's the 1990s, not the 2000s, so no problem with that. The regeneration scene was a bit of a letdown though. It just happened so fast and so non-dramatically and no big glowy stuff like in the series.

Also, the intro for the movie... FAN-TASTIC.
And the negatives? What negatives? Well, the Master's devil costume at the end was a bit over-the-top and like usual in the DW franchise, no one except the audience can hear the painfully obvious sounds of evil creatures moving by. But that's no big deal.

*I have one question. Does the quality of this movie come directly from the old series or is it a result of "Americanized Who"? Please tell me.