Story: Doctor Who: The Movie
Written By: Matthew Jacobs
Length: 89 Minutes
Year: 1996
The movie is the culmination of everything that went wrong in the 1980s, only it was used to try and launch an all new series...in America...on Fox? So many things go wrong in these 80 minutes that it is rather hard to overlook at times. First off there are too many cooks in the kitchen. There is the writer, who didn’t really look to the right bits of source material when writing the story. There are the American producers who have no real clue what the source material is, why it’s important, or why they should try and stay true to it. Then there are the producers from Britain (for it was co-produced by the BBC and aired on that network after the Fox premier) that know what it’s all about and try too hard to make it fit. The mixture is something that doesn’t work on its own but has trouble actually fitting into the original series. The original intent was to make it its own monster, apart from the original, but then some idiot tried to change that...and that’s where we hit all sorts of problems.
They bring back the Seventh Doctor, for the regeneration. The regeneration itself is underwhelming…though the Doctor’s flip out on the surgery bed is kinda cool. But here’s the big issue, bringing the show to a new audience who don’t know the seventh Doctor doesn’t really give them any emotions to latch onto the guy…they don’t know him. Also the simple fact remains that even in his day…the seventh Doctor isn’t the most popular, and the show was CANCELLED at the end of his third year. So he’s obviously not the key to success (despite the fact that I rather liked him).
Then we have the Master…the whole opening story with him is contrived and makes little sense if you had watched the show…which the American producers panicked about and added the opening narration…which is terrible. Suddenly within the first 5 minutes of the movie the narration explains to the audience...Skaro, the Daleks, regeneration, the TARDIS, the Doctor, and Time Lords. That’s a lot to take in within the first 5 minutes. My prediction: “What’s on NBC tonight?”
The plot doesn’t make any sense from there…the Master for some reason turns into a snake ghost thing…and inhabits the body of terrible C-list actor Eric Roberts…who is AWFUL in the role of a character that I fucking like. His Master is over the top, flamboyant and creepy. Not creepy in a good villainy kind of way...no he is creepy in a “hey kids come into my ambulance I’ve got candy” kind of way.
There are pointless plot points like a traffic jam caused by some kind of weird Chicken Truck, and the Doctor having to find some kind of clock that is never fully explained. All around we get a bad bad plot.
Most of the American actors don’t understand Doctor Who or the script (no one from any country could understand this script) so they understandably just overact to compensate for the shitty screenplay. All the supporting characters are lame, and the companion Grace is about as bad as any of the terrible companions in the 80s. Or Dodo.
The one saving grace to this mess was Paul “Mr. Bush” McGann. He is a tremendous actor who I love from Hornblower as well as his audio dramas for Big Finish. In fact, his first audio adventure is, for me, where his adventures really start. He’s ten times more charming, understandable and Doctor-ish than he is in this mess. Oh, and at least the TARDIS interior looks cool. I’m glad it failed miserably...for we got a far better series in its place.
NEXT TIME: Jokes and Several Regenerations
Written By: Matthew Jacobs
Length: 89 Minutes
Year: 1996
The movie is the culmination of everything that went wrong in the 1980s, only it was used to try and launch an all new series...in America...on Fox? So many things go wrong in these 80 minutes that it is rather hard to overlook at times. First off there are too many cooks in the kitchen. There is the writer, who didn’t really look to the right bits of source material when writing the story. There are the American producers who have no real clue what the source material is, why it’s important, or why they should try and stay true to it. Then there are the producers from Britain (for it was co-produced by the BBC and aired on that network after the Fox premier) that know what it’s all about and try too hard to make it fit. The mixture is something that doesn’t work on its own but has trouble actually fitting into the original series. The original intent was to make it its own monster, apart from the original, but then some idiot tried to change that...and that’s where we hit all sorts of problems.
Then we have the Master…the whole opening story with him is contrived and makes little sense if you had watched the show…which the American producers panicked about and added the opening narration…which is terrible. Suddenly within the first 5 minutes of the movie the narration explains to the audience...Skaro, the Daleks, regeneration, the TARDIS, the Doctor, and Time Lords. That’s a lot to take in within the first 5 minutes. My prediction: “What’s on NBC tonight?”
The plot doesn’t make any sense from there…the Master for some reason turns into a snake ghost thing…and inhabits the body of terrible C-list actor Eric Roberts…who is AWFUL in the role of a character that I fucking like. His Master is over the top, flamboyant and creepy. Not creepy in a good villainy kind of way...no he is creepy in a “hey kids come into my ambulance I’ve got candy” kind of way.
There are pointless plot points like a traffic jam caused by some kind of weird Chicken Truck, and the Doctor having to find some kind of clock that is never fully explained. All around we get a bad bad plot.
Most of the American actors don’t understand Doctor Who or the script (no one from any country could understand this script) so they understandably just overact to compensate for the shitty screenplay. All the supporting characters are lame, and the companion Grace is about as bad as any of the terrible companions in the 80s. Or Dodo.
The one saving grace to this mess was Paul “Mr. Bush” McGann. He is a tremendous actor who I love from Hornblower as well as his audio dramas for Big Finish. In fact, his first audio adventure is, for me, where his adventures really start. He’s ten times more charming, understandable and Doctor-ish than he is in this mess. Oh, and at least the TARDIS interior looks cool. I’m glad it failed miserably...for we got a far better series in its place.
NEXT TIME: Jokes and Several Regenerations
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