| THE T.V. MOVIE by Matthew Jacobs |
| Story 159 Synopsis: The Master has been caught by the Daleks, and the Doctor has to take his remains back to Gallifrey. But the Master escapes, and the TARDIS goes haywire. Crash-landing on Earth in 1999, the Doctor is shot down when he leaves the TARDIS. He is taken to hospital, but a mix-up causes him to appear to die. Later, he regenerates, and finds the doctor, Grace Holloway, who operated on him. Watching the news, he realises the new Millennium Clock, to be launched that night, contains a beryllium chip, which will repair the TARDIS. The Master wants to take over the Doctor's body, and steal his TARDIS, destroying Earth in the process. The Doctor and Grace attend the party to unveil the Clock, and the Doctor steals the chip. When they reach the TARDIS, they find the Master already there, and he hypnotises Grace. The Master opens the Eye of Harmony inside the TARDIS, and begins to consume the Doctor. But a freed Grace puts the TARDIS into a Temporal Orbit. The Doctor and the Master fight, with the latter falling into the Eye of Harmony. The Doctor averts the disaster, and leaves Grace to lead her life. |
| Review:- When the BBC decided not to renew Doctor Who back in 1989, few expected there would be such a long wait for a new series. Then, one day in 1996, out of the blue, the announcement was made - Paul McGann would be the new Doctor, and the new show would be a 90 minute TV Movie, co-produced by a TransAtlantic operation. Sylvester McCoy would also be in it, and there would be a regeneration... and the Master would be back, too (though not played by Antony Ainley). There were other rumours about a sudden interest in the fairer sex, but most of that seemed too overblown to be serious. Finally, on the Whit Monday Bank Holiday, 9 million UK viewers tuned in to see what was the result. What they got was a mish-mash of intentions. There are many moments of magic, for which as a viewer, I am grateful. Sadly, there is also a lot of dross, and in my view, the problems start from the off. Filming in Vancouver, and pretending it's San Francisco, is a familiar idea, but seems to be an irrelevance to the plot. If this location was chosen to best use the American money, or to attract tha American audience, then it was a giant step too far. The presence of Chang Lee as a main character suffers from what seems pretty tokenist casting. Grace Holloway is meant to be an assured woman with a job, not some bimbo twit, but sadly she seems badly over-acted, and too much like a made-by-committee creation, designed not to offend the PC lobby. Unfortunately, such laudable intentions always fall flat. Both McCoy and McGann convince as the Doctor, which is great. Given around an hour to stamp his mark on the role, McGann is proficient at suggesting he is actually the latest incarntion of TV's greatest Time Lord, although there is an undercurrent suggesting that he is a puppet of the script's gimmicks, which is something carried over in many of the BBC Books that came after this, not to mention the Big Finish plays. The Master is mildly evil, snapping a few necks being his limit for viciousness. Perhaps his manipulation of Chang Lee proves the closest that the character comes to previous representations, but the way he controls Grace suggests he is using fouler methods than before. Ultimately, a dramatic tale about time, suggesting the imperilment of the Earth, comes down to a thin duel between the Doctor and the Master. Brawn is superior to brain, and when it comes to the crunch, there are too few explanations for comfort, and too many constrictions from playing to specific sections of the crowd, rather than trying to interest a general audience. Sadly, the conclusion, where the previously-killed Grace and Chang Lee are restored for no good reason, and the Doctor leaves alone, sum up best everything that can be remembered from this story. I can't recommend this really. In the final irony, the American audiences were low. The option to make further films came to nothing. Paul McGann made not further TV appearances as the Doctor. It would be 7 more years before any more was heard about Doctor Who on telly... but that's another story. |
| Disclaimer: I own a copy of the novelisation, and I have a copy of the video. |