The TV Movie
By 1996 we were all begging for someone to have a go at reviving the show. When it was advertised as a special, nobody really knew what to expect, but we knew that it would probably be better funded, and something different to what had gone before. In the case of the movies, that's absolutely what we got, we just didn't know how different it would be from Doctor Who and how run of the mill it would end up being compared to shows like Buffy.
The saving grace of this attempt was that at least Producer, Phillip Segal had attempted to keep some of the stuff from the old show in there. The downside is that certainly at the beginning, he overplayed it, throwing in any old bits like the sonic screwdriver, and tons of the Prydonian symbol, as well as crowbarring in mention of the Daleks in the most stupidest place ever.
Once you get over the quite boring start and watch like 45 minutes of it, then it turns into something of a standard US romp which is watchable, but just doesn't make much in the way of sense at all.
Coming out of the show, McGann would have years of work ahead getting a good chance to play his version of the Doctor and that's about it.
Night of the Doctor
Everyone was so excited about this as it dropped, which was exactly the point. The Production Team had used this webisode as a great bit of a marketing ploy for the upcoming Day of the Doctor feature.
What a shame then that it's not really got much substance to it beyond the first 5 minutes or so. Obviously, they wouldn't have the budget to do anything massive, so we're left with conversations in a cave and on a spaceship, but still, little justification is given for anything here and the result of it is to massively undermine the future doctor's angst and what made them (the ninth doctor specifically) so great.
Beyond?
Okay, okay. I'm going to hold my hands up here and say that I have never read one of the BBC books with the Eighth Doctor, I've not read the comics, and I've only listened to one, maybe two of the audios. I've never had the urge to to be frank. However, that doesn't mean they're not good. Hailed by fans all around as great pieces of the universe and well worth checking out.
The comics even feature the first lesbian companion in the whole of the franchise.
The Doctor
There's a world of difference between the Doctor we see in the TV movie and the one in the Night of the Doctor. This is clearly intentional because the ongoing Time War has sapped the child like joy out of him and turned him cynical and jaded over time. Because I haven't seen or heard any of the other stories, I can't tell you which, if any. is the personality he usually has.
Out of the two however, the TV movie version clearly shines as the better, with more attraction to want to be around and promises of great adventures to be had. It is a shame there was not more from him but there is a vast catalogue to go at now if you don't mind making it up in your mind.
Favourite Moment
A bit like cheating, I know, but my actual favourite moment was seeing a lot more sensibly dressed McCoy on screen in a great, gothic style TARDIS. It was intriguing to me and I was a little sad that we couldn't have actually had more adventures with this specific version of the Doctor if I'm honest.
Worst Moment
Favourite Story
Out of the two, it's got to be this hasn't it? There's more that happens here because it's got a tremendously larger budget.
Worst Story
Favourite Companion
An interesting start, but someone who's not even bothered when his mates are shot and killed, and who's gullable to fall for the Master's Schemes like that, and get 5 million dollars out of it. Pah!
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