The Easter Sunday special of ‘Jonathan Creek‘ – The Judas Tree – features the Doctor Who duo of Sheridan Smith and Paul McGann, previously only heard on BBC Radio 7 or via download as Lucie and the Eighth Doctor. Worth a look, I’m sure. Seems like perfect timing given the return of Who this weekend.
Tag Archive: Paul McGann
Less than an hour until they announce who the next Doctor will be. OK… I’ll plump for Paterson Joseph. I know he’s already quite high up at the bookies – but it presents all sorts of potential. His recent work on ‘Survivors‘ presents a fine Who link (as it was created originally by Terry Nation, who also created the Daleks).
I doubt they’d go as far as making the Doctor a woman – and I’d personally prefer Richard E. Grant (purely for the fan boy reason that this would explain the aberration of ‘The Scream of the Shalka‘, in which he starred as an unidentified future regeneration of the Doctor) – but Paterson makes for a change without going out on a limb. He has been in the series already (he got killed in the future version of the Weakest Link, didn’t he?), but I’ve always thought the regeneration process draws on the Doctor’s experiences, as much as anything, to choose a final form. So, memories of a certain appearance leak into the process and mean the chances of coming out the other end looking like someone else can happen as often as anything completely new. That would explain Colin Baker, too! (he appeared in The Arc of Infinity as Commander Maxil before becoming the Doctor himself)
We won’t be seeing him in action until sometime in 2010… so, we all have plenty of time to wean ourselves off Tennant.
My really far out selection for the Doctor would be to set Series 5 during the Time War and allow Paul McGann (and perhaps India Fisher) to have their moment in the limelight. You could have all sorts of adventures charting the progress into and through the War, culminating in the Doctor’s sacrifice to defeat the enemy and force his regeneration into the Ninth Doctor. Like a flashback… and then Series Six can return us to present day Who.
Addendum: Ah well. Matt Smith is the Eleventh Doctor. My suggestions, while entirely valid and viable, must have simply been too much for the BBC to handle. So, we have Matt – who, on first impressions, I have no good feelings about. I shall have to be won over, I suppose.
Having thoroughly enjoyed the return of the 5th Doctor in ‘Time Crash’, I celebrated the almost-New-Year by watching the 7th and 8th Doctors in ‘The TV Movie‘. I can’t help but appreciate the camp humour and Hollywood-style entertainment delivered in this extended slice of fun. I know, from the audio adventures, that Paul McGann certainly has what it takes to make a great Time Lord.
I watched the full uncut version on this occasion, for the first time since the original release in 1996. The full cut contains some more bullets and a morbid final scream from the dying 7th Doctor, on the operating table, but I fail to understand what all the fuss was about and why the TV censors chose to enforce the changes. The TV Movie contains many of the elements of the series to come – like the Doctor’s encouragable name dropping, the moments of passionate romance, and even the hand-in-hand run with Grace that mirrors the 9th Doctor and Rose running across the bridge in ‘Rose‘. The Master continues to use and dispose of anyone assisting – or obstructing – him with customary indifference… Mrs Saxon should feel relieved she didn’t go the way of Bruce’s wife.
Certain elements necessitate the interests of a fan boy to make any sense… You can forgive the half-human element if you accept the line when the Doctor tells Grace he could choose to change his species upon regeneration and that the 7th Doctor had drifted far enough from humanity to want to make an enforced return to something less otherworldly. It was he who chose to give up his Time Lord existence within the pages of ‘Human Nature‘, while the 8th Doctor would later become completely human in the New Adventure novels of the BBC. On the other hand, parts make complete sense and don’t need excuse now that Russell has delivered three seasons. The TARDIS restoring Chang Lee and Grace to life closely resembles the restoration of Captain Jack by ‘Bad Wolf’ Rose and the miraculous return of the Doctor in ‘Last of the Time Lords‘ – so, why not… Nothing out of the ordinary there.
Flawed at heart and a failed pilot, The TV Movie nevertheless delivers a hefty dose of high entertainment, complete with a breathtaking TARDIS makeover and a fine new Doctor. I can but hope that Russell T Davies will do the right thing and give us a televised glimpse of the 8th Doctor and the role he played in the Time War. I’m sure Paul McGann would relish finally having the chance to tread the boards as the Time Lord again and get the chance, at last, to continue the tradition of taking part in the regeneration sequence. No need for Chris to participate – now that we have a recognizable regeneration special effect, we just need the 8th Doctor to make some great sacrifice and suffer a mortal injury… then mid-regeneration, cut back to the 10th Doctor recounting the tale to Donna (or Martha… or whoever!).
I just saw India Fisher (Charley, companion to the Eighth Doctor) in a Vodaphone advert. It’s one of the current series that shows a mobile user getting a conversation seconds long instead of the significant higher amount of time they’d get with Vodaphone… The odd thing about it… well, India had brown hair, rather than her previous blonde. As it happens, it seems this might be her current (or natural) colour – as seen on the Big Finish site.