Another Doctor down. He only had one TV movie and a
mini-episode. So as a result, I don’t have much for top or flop stories. So I’ll
just review both stories. HOWEVER, the Eighth Doctor does have some spin-off
media that held Doctor Who through the dark ages of 1996-2005. Anyways, here we
go.
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| Fresh after regenerating |
TV Movie: Doctor Who
So the first quarter/third of the movie was actually the
Seventh Doctor. He gets shot while landing in San Francisco and regenerates
into the Eighth Doctor. We had some unique moments with this Doctor. I found
his youthful attitude to be a precursor to David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor. He was
also the first Doctor to have a romantic kiss with a companion. The Y2K story
was actually pretty compelling, but there are definitely critiques I’d have.
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| Eighth Doctor's TARDIS team |
This movie was meant to reboot the show after it got
cancelled in 1989, but it didn’t set it up very well. It didn’t leave room for
new Whovians. It assumed you knew about the Doctor beforehand. So in comparison
to when the Ninth Doctor arrived, this story didn’t even have a chance. There’s
also the whole inconsistency with the Master’s interaction with Chang Lee. In
one scene the Master is threatening him into helping and in the next he’s
pulling some sort of elder brother move.
So my final thoughts: It’s worth watching, but it’s
definitely not a starting point for the series.
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| Regenerating again |
Mini-Episode: The Night
of the Doctor
It’s near the beginning of the Time War and the Doctor ends
up crashing, trying to help Cass. Then the Sisterhood of Karn forces a
regeneration to keep him alive. This story came out shortly before the 50th
Anniversary Special in 2013. It was the perfect way to help close the gap of
the Doctor’s regenerations. I absolutely loved this story when it came out and I
could still watch it a lot. One thing that I wish would have come from this
story would be more appearances by the Eighth Doctor. Even if it’s just for a team-up
episode with the current Doctor. I had hoped that Paul McGann would have worked
with the Twelfth Doctor. Since Paul McGann is still young enough to play the
character, why not? Maybe I can still hold out for him to team up with the
Thirteenth Doctor. I really loved this Doctor and he deserved a better shot.
COMPANIONS:
Grace TV Movie
Chang TV Movie
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| More than a match for the Doctor |
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| The Master's companion turned Doctor's companion |
What do you think of the Eighth Doctor? Have you read any of
his books or listened to any of the audio dramas? Which ones can you recommend?
I’d love to get into more of his canon.
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| Just before regenerating in to the War Doctor, he acknowledges several names including Charley and Molly. These were companions who traveled with him in the Big Finish audio dramas. |
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