Saturday 23 November 2013

The Night of the Doctor

I squeed. I did. Unashamedly. Paul McGann, back on screen as the Eighth Doctor? For nearly seven whole minutes? Now, that's an anniversary special right there. I don't care if it's 'just' a webisode, or an online exclusive. It's Doctor Who, written by Steven Moffat, starring Paul McGann, and it has a flaming regeneration in it. There's no way this doesn't properly, absolutely, definitively count.

And, luckily, it's really good. McGann's Doctor, in stasis for seventeen years (sort of), bounces back on to the screen just the same as he ever was. A little more weathered perhaps, but still the witty, compassionate, charismatic man we met in San Francisco all those years ago. I don't think Moffat writes the Doctor differently for McGann than he would for more recent incarnations. When Cass asks why they are heading to the back of the ship, the Doctor replies with that wonderful line "Because the front crashes first. Think it through." That's a line that Tennant or Smith would have had too; the Tenth Doctor might have said it breathlessly, the Eleventh absently, both of them stating the obvious. McGann delivers it patiently, with a suspicion of dry humour. His is the warmest of the Doctor's many personalities and that shows here, even in the darkest of contexts.

It's lovely to see him again. When the TV movie came out I was so excited that I got myself into a bit of a state and blinded myself to its considerable flaws. But McGann was always perfect for the part and for many years afterwards he remained the incumbent Doctor. No television episodes were made, of course, between 1996 and 2005, but the Eighth Doctor appeared in hundreds of stories during that time - in audio adventures produced by Big Finish, in a range of monthly novels published by BBC Books, and in Doctor Who Magazine's regular comic strip - and some of them, particularly Scott Gray's comics, are genuinely outstanding.

Troughton's the best Doctor. Tom Baker's the one I saw first; Davison is the one I grew up with. Hartnell is the original, Tennant the most popular and Smith is, blimey, you have to say he's right up there with Troughton, and sometimes even better.

But Paul McGann is my Doctor; from beginning to end, and through everything we imagined in between.


NEXT TIME...






2 comments:

  1. I was pointed towards this blog from a thread on RPG net and have greatly enjoyed reading all of your reviews. I was just wondering you had any plans to write about Day of the Doctor - I'd love to know what you thought of it...

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    1. Hi, thanks for reading, and thanks for the nudge. Going to try and post the Day of the Doctor later today.

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