Here’s why the Doctor Who TV Movie is better than its reputation…
Amazing Grace
In retrospect, Grace isn’t the most fleshed-out of companions but, at the time, the TV Movie was clearly trying to go beyond the level of characterisation found in the classic series and give the feisty surgeon some inner life. Daphne Ashbrook is great in the role, and the character deserves the honour of being the first woman the Doctor was attracted to (that we know of).
The TARDIS
Is the TV Movie TARDIS, with its humungous size and gothic architecture, the most beautiful TARDIS interior ever? Quite possibly.
Apparently the production team put so much effort into the TARDIS set that they blew a sizeable hole in the movie’s budget – which explains why so much of the plot takes place inside the time machine!
The ‘half human’ revelation
Yep, we’re going there. One of the movie’s big flaws is that it regurgitates a lot of hardcore Who facts (the regeneration limit, the Eye of Harmony…) in a ham-fisted attempt to impress and reassure fans. The twist that the Doctor is half-human (on his mother’s side), however, proves that they were willing to shake things up as well.
Like Russell T Davies did with the Time War, you have to add to the mythology to keep it fresh. It would have been fascinating to see this idea developed if a series had materialised. And, technically, the theory has never actually been disproved since.
The Eighth Doctor
The best thing about the TV Movie, however, is absolutely Paul McGann. The first of the young, dashing Doctors preferred by the modern series, McGann is perfectly cast. With not even the full 90 minutes of this one episode under his belt, he could have been rejected by the fans but they instead took him to heart.
After dozens of audio adventures and a triumphant return to TV (well, the internet) in ‘The Night of the Doctor’, he is now one of the actors to have played the role the most. If nothing else, we have to thank the TV Movie for giving us the Eighth Doctor.
Buy ‘The TV Movie’ on Blu-ray on Amazon.
Buy ‘The TV Movie’ on DVD on Amazon.
How do you feel about the TV Movie? Let us know below…
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