Doctor Who (1996)

Let me start by saying Doctor Who is one of my favourite television programs of all time if not my absolute favourite. A brief synopsis for the program is that the Doctor is an alien who travels around time and space with his various companions on all sorts of adventures. The program initially ended in 1989 and was brought back in 2005 however this film was the first attempt to revive Doctor Who in 1996 and unfortunately did not gain enough ratings to warrant a new series.The film starts off with a brief narration of the Doctor bringing his eternal rival's, the Master, remains back to his home planet. However, the Master's remains (somehow still alive) force the TARDIS to crash land in San Fransisco, a couple days before New Year's in 1999. The Doctor (In his seventh incarnation) is shot down by gangsters and soon regenerates into the eighth Doctor after a failed operation. The Master takes control of the body of a local paramedic and plans to destroy the world. The Doctor soon finds out and he, along with his new companion, Grace, must stop him before New Year's Day.Unfortunately, it's not a very good story by Doctor Who standards and lacks the charm that the program has with it's interesting characters, locales, themes and general imagination. There is a heavy emphasis on excitement and action (Which is, to the film's credit, actually done pretty well.) rather than atmosphere, characters and quirky humour that Doctor Who is known for. Oddly enough, having a reasonably high budget. The sets and effects seem a little too good and polished which may seem like an odd thing to gripe about but it makes you miss the old series' low budget production values that just seemed to add to it's charm and make things seem a little more 'legit' if that makes any sense.The characters are all largely forgettable though you can tell the actor's are trying their best. Well, all except for one character, and that being the Eighth Doctor superbly played by Paul McGann. The Doctor is both funny and serious, changing from a whimsical light hearted gentleman to spouting pure and utter nonsense like an insane alien to giving dramatic and heavy dialogue in the space of a few moments. Honestly, the Eighth Doctor is the only reason why I watch this film more than once and really makes you think how his character could have been developed further if a new series was produced, though there are audio dramas and novels that further the adventures of the Eighth Doctor despite only really appearing in a single episode. That is how fantastic of a character he is. Sylvester McCoy also returns briefly to reprise his role as the Seventh Doctor. Although he does not have much to say or do, he's still a fantastic actor giving it his all and it's cool to see him in the role on screen one last time.Overall, Doctor Who: The Movie is an enjoyable experience though I doubt many people see it more than once. If you're a fan of Doctor Who, I highly recommend it just to see the Eighth Doctor's beginnings and as an interesting piece in the program's history which really makes you wonder what the series would have been like if this was a success.

Doctor Who is a great series, which died a slow and painful death as a result of bad script writing and directors who no longer cared about it. This movie almost resulted in the end of Doctor Who forever. Why you may ask? Well, let me explain.No offence to you Americans out there, but this is so typically American. And it sucked big time. They picked up a British TV series and tried to do better. Here is a newsflash to all American producers out there... you cannot outdo the British. Especially when it comes to Doctor Who. You just have no idea what you're on about.When the doctor landed and he was shot I was like, really? Gangs? Guns? Shooting? No, no, no, no, NO! Doctor Who is about aliens fighting with aliens. Oh and don't forget the infamous hospital scene. What is it with Americans and gangs, shooting and hospital scenes?Then the rest of the movie was just terrible. The acting was bad, the master was a joke and it just wasn't Doctor Who. The only person who made it even slightly good was Paul McGann. He wasn't fantastic but with such a bad script, he didn't have a lot to work with. If he was given half a chance, he could have been good.So let's just say this... don't watch this. It's terrible and a total waste of time. Watch the original series and the current series but avoid the movie at all costs.

Had less money been spent on CGI and special effects and invested instead into the plot and research into the TV series this movie would've shined. Unfortunately it doesn't. As typical of all Hollywood movies the point has been missed by a long shot for the sake of special effects, cliffhangers, and a romance scene. What's more they've rewritten the Doctor as being half-human. You can't do that to a series that has been going on for decades! And what is the Eye of Harmony doing in the tardis?Overall attempts at trying to hype up a British series and Americanize it have failed. The TV series aims at having enough suspense to have you on the edge of your seat but then some ridiculously good way of saving the day that you either fall back into your chair laughing, cheering, crying, or panicking and eager to know what's going to happen next. This movie does not reflect the TV series and attempts at being too serious that it doesn't strike the viewer in the same manner. If anything the Saw movies share more in common with Doctor Who as they contain jaw-dropping plot twists which this movie is missing out on.

I'm absolutely bonkers about Dr. Who. When it's at its best there is no finer Sci-Fi. It manages to mix the supernatural, science fiction, horror, comedy, and history seamlessly at times. This was the failed attempt at reviving Dr Who, with a stronger focus on getting him to break America. This was probably the biggest mistake of all. It reminds me of when pop stars/comedians try and crack the ever important (in terms of money and fame) market. It seems like a lot of the Dr's identity is lost along the way.However, being able to view this after 6 seasons of the most recent incarnations, this isn't so bad. In fact, it is a damn sight better than some of the nonsense Russell T. Davies subjected the audience to (I love a lot of his stuff, but he was hit and miss). Paul McGann is fantastic. Maybe I have a soft spot for The Doctors that didn't last long, but I can't wait to read the novels based on his character. McCoy gets a decent send off and unlike the more recent Doctors it's also fairly subtle and underplayed. Eric Roberts is menacing, but also confusing at times. He starts almost off robotic, and is later camp. A mix between the terminator, a lizard alien thing, and a gay pop star. There are some awful performances, mostly because the American cast members don't seem to understand the tone they should be going for. This is most likely down to bad direction. Overall most of the plot holes that boil fans' blood can be ignored. The half human thing kind of makes sense in a way, as a planet hopping time traveller should really spend some more time away from Earth otherwise. Daleks holding a trial is confusing though. Certainly one to check out, and actually a pleasant surprise after all the negativity.