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Doctor Who - The Movie [1996] [DVD] [1963]

Paul McGann , Sylvester McCoy , Geoffrey Sax    Suitable for 12 years and over   DVD
3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (78 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Actors: Paul McGann, Sylvester McCoy, Daphne Ashbrook, Eric Roberts, Yee Jee Tso
  • Directors: Geoffrey Sax
  • Writers: Matthew Jacobs, Sydney Newman
  • Producers: Alex Beaton, Jo Wright, Matthew Jacobs, Peter Bryant, Peter V. Ware
  • Format: PAL
  • Language: English
  • Subtitles: English
  • Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired: English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3 - 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: 12
  • Studio: 2 Entertain Video
  • DVD Release Date: 13 Aug 2001
  • Run Time: 85 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (78 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00005KB4D
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 22,050 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)

Reviews

From Amazon.co.uk

Made to re-launch television's most famous time traveller, Doctor Who: The Movie is an expensive feature-length episode which attempts to continue the classic series and work as a stand-alone film. Transporting the remains of the Master, Sylvester McCoy's Seventh Doctor is diverted to San Francisco in 1999. Regenerating in the form of Paul McGann, the Doctor gains a new companion in heart surgeon Dr Grace Holloway (Daphne Ashbrook) and must stop the Master from destroying the world. All of which might have been fine, had not the most eccentrically British of programmes been almost entirely assimilated by the requirements of American network broadcasting. Matthew Jacobs' screenplay is literally nonsense, dependent on arbitrary, unexplained events while introducing numerous elements that contradict established Doctor Who mythology. The Tardis is re-imagined as a bizarre pre-Raphaelite/Gothic folly, while the Doctor, now half-human, becomes romantically involved with his lady companion. From the West Coast setting to metallic CGI morphing, from the look of Eric Roberts as the Master to a motorcycle/truck freeway chase, director Geoffrey Sax borrows freely from James Cameron's Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). Doctor Who fans should feel relieved this travesty was not successful enough to lead to lead to a series, though McGann himself does have the potential to make a fine Doctor. This is the slightly more violent US TV edit, rather than the cut version previously released on video.

On the DVD: There are two BBC trailers and a Fox promo "introducing the Doctor" to American audiences. The interview section features Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, Eric Roberts, Daphne Ashbrook, director Geoffrey Sax and executive producer Philip Segal, twice. The main interviews are on-set promotional sound-bites. However, Segal's second interview was filmed in 2001 and finds him spending 10 minutes explaining why the programme turned out as it did, and coming very close to apologising for it. He also offers a two-minute tour of the new Tardis set. Alongside a gallery of 50 promotional stills is a four-minute compilation of behind-the-scenes "making of" footage. There are alternative versions of two scenes, though the "Puccini!" scene is so short as to be pointless. As usual with Doctor Who DVDs there are optional production subtitles and these offer a wealth of background information. Four songs used in the film are available as separate audio tracks, and John Debney's musical score can be listened to in isolation. Finally there is a commentary track by Geoffrey Sax, which contains some interesting material but does tend to state the obvious a lot. The sound is very strong stereo and the 4:3 picture is excellent with only the slightest grain. --Gary S Dalkin

Product Description

Whilst returning the Master's remains to their home planet of Gallifrey, the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) crash lands the TARDIS on Earth in end-of-century San Francisco. Gunned down by a street gang, the Doctor is rushed to hospital, where exploratory surgery by Doctor Grace Holloway triggers a regeneration. The Master has meanwhile taken over the body of a paramedic and infiltrated the Doctor's TARDIS, which he plans to use in his latest scheme to take over the Doctor's new body and destroy the world. Filmed as the pilot for a revived 'Doctor Who' series - tailored to the American market - which subsequently failed to materialise, this feature-length adventure introduces Paul McGann as the renegade Time Lord.


Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
For any Who fan the TV Movie is definitely worth another look.
All though it was much lambasted by some at the time the TV Movie aged surprisingly well. To set things up first you must remember that Doctor Who was unceremoniously cancelled in 1989, the last show, Survival, aired December 6th of that year. From the moment it was cancelled fans did everything possible to convince the BBC to renew the series. Nothing worked, the BBC seemed rather glad to be done with Doctor Who.
A successful Book series was launched (The New Adventures of Doctor Who)with some fans becoming writers (like Paul Cornell, Mark Gatiss, Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat [IMHO Moffat wrote one of the best short stories of the era]) filling the gap left when the Doctor left the air and kept the stories moving forward.

Enter 1996 and the TV Movie unofficially titled "Enemy Within", some how the Americans became involved and were instrumental in resurrecting the series. All though the story leading to how they became involved is a long meandering one full of narrowly avoided pitfalls.

To reintroduce the show the producers took a cheat using one of the most uniquely Doctor Who gimmicks, regeneration. They would use the introduction of a "New Doctor" to lay out an outline of who's Who and what the series was about. It worked, good, bad and ugly, it worked.
Sure mistakes were made and some things were changed that were better off left alone. But on the whole this was a loving homage to a series America knew very little about.

The cloister bell rings and Paul McGanns outstanding voiceover sets the stage. The theme music is retooled to sound like it would have without Delia Derbyshire's revolutionary interpretation, a mistake IMHO but one worth listing to.
TV Movie begins after an intro with the 7th Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) finally out of the ridiculous question marked costume that 80's Who producer (JNT) insisted upon. For the first time since the 80's the Doctor looks distinguished -in his own eccentric way of course. The TARDIS interior looks wonderful! About time that we see what this multiphasic, multideminsional ships interior is capable of looking like. More than a couple of corridors filmed in an empty BBC building or a crumbling set of second hand Styrofoam.
Also (IMO)the Doctor looks comfortable in the TARDIS, completely at home and the TARDIS really feels like his home even with the quasi museum/library deco, or maybe because of it.

I won't go in the details of the plot just in case you are one of the few who hasn't seen it yet, perhaps one of the new series fans (who weren't born with this first aired ;) )
Instead I'll concentrate on what they got right. The Master's eyes (ala Survival), the seal of Rassilon, The Cloister room and the eye of harmony (some set pieces reused in final SG1 seasons, if you've got a good eye for it you'll catch it), TARDIS controls (instead of the futuristic flashing buttons they went for a retro Victorian look that felt right for the Time Lords.), the half Human revelation fed right into the shows mythology about the Doctor being Merlin, The Cloister bell, and last but not least the New Doctor Paul McGann, perhaps one of the best casting choices since Tom Baker (and before David Tennant).

The TV movie has one of the most gripping Regeneration sequences in the shows history, the 7th Doctor dies screaming and alone. The 8th Doctor wonders around lost and still injured. Sad really, the Doctor always has a companion around who (with the audience) mourns the passing of the old Doctor and helps the new one get on his pins.
There is a very alien feel to the death and resurrection of the Doctor, making it unique and memorable.

Part of the criticism included the Doctor riding a motorcycle and kissing his (would be) companion. In retrospect what a load of rubbish those criticisms were. The 3rd Doctor always found his way into driving some outlandish vehicle or another. Why wouldn't the Doctor know how to ride a motorcycle? Not to mention drive like a Bat out of Skaro!
As for the kissing being verboten the new series put that controversy to rest. Now a days it is more difficult to find when the Doctor IS NOT kissing his companions, who by the way fancy him like mad.

The Master by Eric Roberts was not to my liking but more tame than the outlandish, overacting John Simm.

It must be remembered that one of the main weaknesses of this Movie is that it was never intended to be a standalone, one off, production. It was intended to be followed by 13-22 more shows, and those would have defined the series. It would be like watching "Rose" from the new series and never seeing the rest of the episodes that followed. On its own "Rose" is a weak introduction to Doctor Who, and unremarkable, but followed by the rest of Series 1 it is well fitted.

The Biggest waste was never re-using Paul McGann as the Doctor. When the new series was started they producer's decided against using him because of the perceived failure of the TVM. I say perceived because it wasn't a failure in the UK and Paul McGann was the official face of Doctor Who since 1996, helped keep the idea of the Who alive and helped make the Audio Dramas a smash.
I for one would have preferred McGann over Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Fly By Night). Rose would have had more impact with McGann playing a morose, taciturn, wounded Doctor. The fact that "something very Bad happened" would have been brought home in spades just with a dark shift in McGann's performance from the last we saw of him in the TVM.

If the producer can find the time and the will to make Torchwood and Sarah Jane Adventures, then why not a Missing Adventure series for the Doctor. McGann would be brilliant, it also would help fill in the gaps of the new series and the old, not to mention give new fan a taste of what it was like when the Time Lords were watching out over everything, before the Time War.
Mentioning the Time War McGann's Doctor is assumed by most fans to be the one who fought in the Time War and inevitably the one who ended it destroying Gallifrey in the process.

In the End the TV Movie has it flaws but is memorable for the effort to revive the show and the things that were done right. To think of how bad things could have been one need recall no further than the 60's Dr. Who movies staring Peter Cushing
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, but not great either 27 May 2006
Format:DVD
I admit to being very excited when this was first made - new Who after what seemed like an age of false starts, daft rumours and general disappointment. Unfortunately, what we got was a bit of a mixed bag, a half-British-half-American hybrid that set out to please everyone, but which was ultimately destined to never be.

The plot is a bit of a mess - the first half of the movie is fine, quite atmospheric in places and very nicely directed. Unfortunately it then becomes just another desparate race against time yarn that doesn't really deliver anything and with some plot holes you can fly a TARDIS through. However, the performances are generally good, Paul McGann is outstanding in the role and really deserved a better crack at the whip. Eric Roberts seems to divide fans as the Master, but I admit to liking him - somehow, his Master actually seems like a very dangerous person, rather than the slightly pantomime villain he was in the original series.

The production itself looks good, although I think I'm one of those few fans who doesn't really like the TARDIS interior in this show. I liked the wooden control room in the original series, but this one just seemed out of keeping. By making it so huge, the TARDIS actually seemed smaller as a result to me, and appeared to only consist of two rooms. I love the console, though - one thing they did get right. If only they had put roundels on the walls - it would have felt much more TARDIS-y.

All in all, a mixed bag. Entertaining enough, and a glimpse of what could have been if it had gone to a series. Then again, we probably wouldn't have got the series we've got now, and I for one am grateful for that.
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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars McGann was robbed of the Doctor! 4 Mar 2007
Format:DVD
I enjoy this movie very much but it made far too many mistakes to recieve more than 3 stars.Its americanisation is understandable considering it was a collaboration with Fox but the doctor was the ONLY british thing apart from the tourist poster for London in the background when the Tardis materialises in San francisco. There were 2 doctors, sylvester Mccoy provides a great turn as our hero but is let down by his over the top death sequence. McGann is an amazing doctor and while watching this i couldn't help but think about the tragedy that he never got his own tv series. He is the same childish joyful man we have seen before and it is important for who fans because this is the last time we will se that man on screen before the 'time war' and the scarred doctors of the new series.

Ok now i'm going too deep so here are my main issues, the story(too many coincidences e.g 'i need an atomic clock' looks to TV, the reporter talks about an atomic clock!), an over the top campy master, a companion who thinks she's an intellectual equal with the doctor when she is clearly not(she is clever for one of us apes though :)) and a romance that wasn't necessary and cheesy in the extreme. If you want a good doctor who romance watch the new series with the doctor and rose!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Doctor Who The Movie
As the 21st Century dawns, the Eighth Doctor needs to stop the Master in San Francisco. After being shot beside the TARDIS, the Seventh Doctor becomes the Eighth. Read more
Published 1 month ago by kk
4.0 out of 5 stars Dr Who Movie
Just as I remembered it. Just what a Dr Who geek would want.
Pity that film set in America - never quite the same as the old quarries in UK
Published 5 months ago by HalM
3.0 out of 5 stars Welcome 8th Doctor
For me, the only real importance of this DVD is to bump up my classic Doctor Who collection, and to also see the 7th Doctor depart properly. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Doctorq96
2.0 out of 5 stars The Link
In the first twenty minutes, Sylvester Mccoy shows what a great Doctor he could have been given a decent budget and production values when he was at the helm in the mid to late... Read more
Published 11 months ago by A. C. Green
3.0 out of 5 stars I find myself...disappointed!
Alas found myself disappointed in the film, found it too..Americanised, it seemed to forget it's British roots and what makes it special. Read more
Published 17 months ago by G. R. Patel
3.0 out of 5 stars The Hollywood Effect - Crash ! Bang ! Whallop !
Good performances and some nice new ideas in this slight reimagining of the good Doctor but far too much of the Hollywood car chase and action movie.
Published 21 months ago by Shrewlord
3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable
I believe it requires some basic interest in Doctor Who in order to like this. The first time I tried to watch it, I wasn't really known to Doctor Who and switched it off quite... Read more
Published on 14 Jan 2011 by Alies
5.0 out of 5 stars THE DOCTOR FACING THE MASTER WITH ALL REALITY AT STAKE, WOT CUD BE...
This 1996 doctor who adventure is well worth ordering. It stars paul mcgann (alien 3) as the doctor and ive forgotten who plays the master. Read more
Published on 24 Oct 2010 by ben
3.0 out of 5 stars this could of been very good
Without the American influence this could of been a cracking film. Paul McGann is actually very good in role and was somewhat unfortunate not to be still there when the new series... Read more
Published on 29 Sep 2010 by Red Rose
4.0 out of 5 stars What a Surprise!
If you are a fan of David Tennant you may also find Paul Mcgann a very interesting Dr Who. This is a very american made for TV movie but its quite entertaining and its actually... Read more
Published on 11 Aug 2010 by S. Y. Sadler
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