Doctor Who

TV Movie
1996
12
1h 29m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Eric Roberts, Paul McGann, Daphne Ashbrook, and Yee Jee Tso in Doctor Who (1996)

Space Sci-Fi Time Travel Adventure Drama Sci-Fi

The newly-regenerated Doctor takes on the Master on the turn of the millennium, 31 December 1999.The newly-regenerated Doctor takes on the Master on the turn of the millennium, 31 December 1999.The newly-regenerated Doctor takes on the Master on the turn of the millennium, 31 December 1999.

Director
- Geoffrey Sax
Writers
- Matthew Jacobs
- Sydney Newman
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.3/10

11K

YOUR RATING

Director
- Geoffrey Sax
Writers
- Matthew Jacobs
- Sydney Newman
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination

Trivia
When The Doctor rifles through a locker looking for clothes, we see him momentarily admiring a long scarf. Doctor Who (1963)'s Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, wore a long scarf in his regular costume.

Goofs
At the start of the movie, when The Seventh Doctor seals The Master's remains shut with the sonic screwdriver, the head of the screwdriver is slightly out of focus. This is explained in a 2005 interview by Sylvester McCoy; he was holding it the wrong way around.

Quotes
The Doctor: Wait, I remember. I'm with my father, we're lying back in the grass, it's a warm Gallifreyan night...
Grace: Gallifreyan?
The Doctor: Gallifrey. Yes, this must be where I live. Now where is that?
Grace: I've never heard of it. What do you remember?
The Doctor: A meteor storm. The sky above us was dancing with lights. Purple, green, brilliant yellow. Yes!
Grace: What?
The Doctor: These shoes. They fit perfectly!

Crazy credits
The UK television broadcast ended with a dedication to Jon Pertwee, the third actor to play the Doctor in Doctor Who (1963) (and one of the most popular), who had died a week earlier.

Alternate versions
The version broadcast and released on video by the BBC in 1996 had the following cuts (totalling 1 min 6 secs):
The caption "Based on the original series broadcast by the BBC" is removed, although no footage is edited.
Chang Lee's gang firing at the departing car.
Chang Lee's two friends being shot.
The third and fourth gunmen aiming at Chang Lee.
The gunmen firing at the TARDIS.
The operating scene is heavily edited with many cuts of Grace and her attempts to retrieve the probe from the Doctor's body. The sound of the Doctor's final scream was also removed.
A closeup of Chang Lee's neck being twisted and the sound of Bruce's wife's neck snapping. These cuts were waived for the 2001 DVD release.

Connections
Edited into Comic Relief: Doctor Who - The Curse of Fatal Death (1999)

Soundtracks
In A Dream (I Called Out Your Name)
Written by Barbara L. Jordan and William Peterkin
Performed by Pat Hodges
Courtesy of Heavy Hitters Music
Played on a grammophone when the Doctor is sitting in the lounge of his Tardis, just before the Master escaped

User reviews134

Review

Featured review

Watchable, but hardly Dr Who at its best.

At last people can stop taking the proverbial out of the special effects in Dr Who! Instead they can take the proverbial out of the limp plot (if you can call it that). Eric Roberts isn't a patch on either of the previous incarnations of the Master. Paul McGann, however, makes an original Doctor and it's a shame a potentially interesting incarnation of the great Time Lord wasn't allowed to develop. There was a lot of complaining about the kissing scene, but I personally didn't see what was wrong with it as long as the Doctor doesn't turn into James Bond or Captain Kirk. Anyway, since the Doctor has a grand-daughter (Susan) then he must have done more than kiss a woman at some point in his life! But I did see what was wrong with the 'half-human' business. Can't people accept somebody who is an alien?

This film certainly has its moments and shows great potential for a new series, but it's just a shame Fox couldn't get their act together and make that series instead of allowing it to fall back into the clutches of the money-minded BBC where it'll probably never be seen again.

Not an example of Dr Who at its best by any means, but if you're a fan of the program like me then it's worth watching just to see the Doctor back in action, if only for one adventure.