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Doctor Who the Movie
Even though this film is
not considered cannon by most Whovians, this dilm was created by both
the BBC and Fox in the 90's to move the Doctor Who franchise forward.
Like George Lazenby as the Australian star of James Bond, another movie
that most Bond fans would like to forget, Doctor Who the movie did not
star the classic Doctors but rather, newcomer Mail McGann who took the
role as our esteemed Doctor. Ironically, he was quite good!
The story commences
around the 7th incarnation of the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) who has been
sent to the Dalek home world of Skaro in order to transport the remains
of the Master back. Unfortunately the Master is still alive and well and
upon leaving Skaro, he makes his first attempt at freedom as he
transforms into a snake and causes havoc within a very strange looking
TARDIS.
The Doctor is forced to
crash land the TARDIS in modern day San Francisco where he lands in the
middle of an Asian gang war, only to be shot for being in the wrong
place at the wrong time. As the Doctor is rushed to hospital, his
surgeon and cardiologist, Doctor Grace Holloway attempts to save his
life but as we all know, the Doctor has two hearts which causes the
surgery to go awry and the 7th Doctor dies.
From the morgue, the 8th
Doctor (McGann) rises who is extremely confused due to the aesthetic
from surgery. The Doctor seeks assistance from the attractive Doctor
Holloway who essentially becomes his next companion as the Master posses
another human (Eric Roberts) in order to steal the newly regenerated
body of the Doctor as his body is basically useless. Without spoiling
the story any further, the Doctor must somehow send the Master into a
black hole before his nefarious schemes are once again unleashed.
For a film based on the
classic BBC Doctor Who series, I actually enjoyed this more action
orientated Doctor Who that had some decent acting from McGann and
Roberts as their respective nemeses. The problem with the movie is that
certain elements of the TV series were ignored that did cause outrage
amongst the fans such as Skaro being destroyed in another Doctor Who
episode and that the Master is more magician than true despot of evil.
There are other titbits
that will rub a few fans up the wrong way but overall, there was
something appealing to me about this relative modern incarnation of the
Doctor. Given that, you still cannot beat the latest series of Doctor
Who but for what it's worth, it's definitely worth a watch to see what
all the fuss was about.
Video and audio quality
of this film are quite good and it almost has this movie feel to it.
There's a wealth of special features from audio commentaries, behind the
scenes and a great tour of the TARDIS.
Special Features:
- Audio commentaries
- The Seven Year Hitch - A new
documentary looking back at the long quest to return Doctor Who to
the screen
- The Doctor’s Strange Love - How
fans learned to love Doctor Who The Movie
- Behind the Scenes
- Philip Segal’s Tour of the TARDIS
- Alternate Takes
- Who Peter 1989-2009
- VFX Tests June 1994
- VFX March 1996
- The Wilderness Years How Doctor Who
was kept alive between 1989 and 1996
- Photo Gallery
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