He’s Back...and it’s about time! Well that’s the tag line that the continuity announcer gave when Doctor Who returned onto BBC television since December 1989. This was the first Doctor Who story that I had watched since I became a fan back in 1988 after seeing an episode of Remembrance of the Daleks. This TV Movie was a co-production between Universal, the BBC and FOX and was an attempt at a back door pilot to hopefully be made into a full series. An interesting stat according to Wikipedia states that this episode of Doctor Who cost close to £3.5 million or $5 million US. In was recently commented on in one of the DVD’s that they thought it was a mistake for them to bring back Sylvester McCoy only to kill him off 10 minutes into the story. I disagree. I think it was a nice piece of continuity and it was a mistake that they didn’t bring McGann back to regenerate into Christopher Eccleston. Also for the record, I think calling this story just ‘The TV Movie’ is a bit weird. From now on I’m going to call it the name that keeps getting banded about – The Enemy Within.
I quite liked the opening bit which explained that the Master had been exterminated by the Daleks. Quite why they bothered to use the Daleks when you only hear their voices is beyond me. The story sees the seventh Doctor regenerate into the eighth and a race against time to stop the Master from using the Eye of Harmony to destroy the Earth. There are many questions that remained unanswered in this story such as where and how long ago did Ace depart to? Also when did the Doctor become so in love with Gothic furniture and statues? The opening few shots have loads of bits and pieces.
There were many things that I liked about this story was that for the first time in the history of Doctor Who it looked like some money had been spent on it. The interior and console of the TARDIS looked beautiful and far superior to anything that is seen even in the new series. I also thought that Paul McGann was a very good Doctor. At the time I wasn’t aware of anything he had been in and at 13 years old at the time all I knew him as was the next Doctor. I thought that McGann gave a very credible performance and with some of the action sequences reminded me of Jon Pertwee’s Doctor. Pertwee sadly died shortly before transmission. Daphne Ashbrook was also very good in this story as Dr Grace Holloway. To be honest she did grate on me at first but after the scene with her and Chang Lee. Also I had the same reaction to this character played by Yee Jee Tso. I thought the final scene with everyone in the Eye of Harmony room was probably the best of the entire piece. All the character being killed and chained up left right and centre along with the Master taking all of the Doctor’s memories was a real highlight.
There were flaws with this production. It pains me to say this but Julia Roberts’ brother Eric was very poor in this. He camped the scene in the TARDIS where he says “I always dress for the occasion”. Not even John Nathan Turner would have allowed that. He wasn’t a total disaster but neither was he anything like Anthony Ainley and worlds apart from Roger Delgado. Another problem was the plot was a little bit basic. I know that it’s a pilot and had a series been cast then there would have been better stories planned out but for most of the story it was the Doctor and Grace chasing the Master and Chang Lee around San Francisco on the eve of the Millennium.
In one way it’s a shame that FOX never made a series out of it because it would have been nice to see what McGann’s Doctor would have been like. To be fair we now know what it would have been like thanks to Big Finish who have given McGann well over 30 adventures over the last near ten years. However when watching this TV Movie I am left wondering WHAT IF?? That said on the other hand I’m glad they didn’t because now we have a TV series of Doctor Who that’s made by the BBC and made in Britain where it wont be watered down and made to be like Jack Bauer with a Sonic Screwdriver. Oh it was good that they bought the screwdriver back, long overdue!
At the end of the story I thought it was a good story. Brilliant production values and even after 14 years it stands us really well. Matthew Jacobs has written a good script with ok characters but largely good solid ones and Geoffrey Sax has directed a nicely paced adventure. The only Doctor Who story of the 1990’s and the last to be made in the 20th Century was a good piece of drama and at 85 minutes long this story is something that should be viewed by every new Doctor Who fan.
I quite liked the opening bit which explained that the Master had been exterminated by the Daleks. Quite why they bothered to use the Daleks when you only hear their voices is beyond me. The story sees the seventh Doctor regenerate into the eighth and a race against time to stop the Master from using the Eye of Harmony to destroy the Earth. There are many questions that remained unanswered in this story such as where and how long ago did Ace depart to? Also when did the Doctor become so in love with Gothic furniture and statues? The opening few shots have loads of bits and pieces.
There were many things that I liked about this story was that for the first time in the history of Doctor Who it looked like some money had been spent on it. The interior and console of the TARDIS looked beautiful and far superior to anything that is seen even in the new series. I also thought that Paul McGann was a very good Doctor. At the time I wasn’t aware of anything he had been in and at 13 years old at the time all I knew him as was the next Doctor. I thought that McGann gave a very credible performance and with some of the action sequences reminded me of Jon Pertwee’s Doctor. Pertwee sadly died shortly before transmission. Daphne Ashbrook was also very good in this story as Dr Grace Holloway. To be honest she did grate on me at first but after the scene with her and Chang Lee. Also I had the same reaction to this character played by Yee Jee Tso. I thought the final scene with everyone in the Eye of Harmony room was probably the best of the entire piece. All the character being killed and chained up left right and centre along with the Master taking all of the Doctor’s memories was a real highlight.
There were flaws with this production. It pains me to say this but Julia Roberts’ brother Eric was very poor in this. He camped the scene in the TARDIS where he says “I always dress for the occasion”. Not even John Nathan Turner would have allowed that. He wasn’t a total disaster but neither was he anything like Anthony Ainley and worlds apart from Roger Delgado. Another problem was the plot was a little bit basic. I know that it’s a pilot and had a series been cast then there would have been better stories planned out but for most of the story it was the Doctor and Grace chasing the Master and Chang Lee around San Francisco on the eve of the Millennium.
In one way it’s a shame that FOX never made a series out of it because it would have been nice to see what McGann’s Doctor would have been like. To be fair we now know what it would have been like thanks to Big Finish who have given McGann well over 30 adventures over the last near ten years. However when watching this TV Movie I am left wondering WHAT IF?? That said on the other hand I’m glad they didn’t because now we have a TV series of Doctor Who that’s made by the BBC and made in Britain where it wont be watered down and made to be like Jack Bauer with a Sonic Screwdriver. Oh it was good that they bought the screwdriver back, long overdue!
At the end of the story I thought it was a good story. Brilliant production values and even after 14 years it stands us really well. Matthew Jacobs has written a good script with ok characters but largely good solid ones and Geoffrey Sax has directed a nicely paced adventure. The only Doctor Who story of the 1990’s and the last to be made in the 20th Century was a good piece of drama and at 85 minutes long this story is something that should be viewed by every new Doctor Who fan.
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