Who In Review: The Eighth Doctor

Selecting a favourite 8th Doctor story is always going to be difficult simply because there is both an unfortunate lack of 8th Doctor stories and, at the same time, more 8th Doctor stories than any other! 

On TV, he only officially appeared twice as the lead - first in the 1996 TV Movie and again in the 50th Anniversary short The Night Of The Doctor. Out of those, Night Of The Doctor is by far the better, giving a taste of his character in under ten minutes and leaving you wanting more. The 1996 TV Movie is a great runaround and far from terrible, but has as many things which make you wince as make you love what you're watching. The stunning TARDIS interior, the brilliant direction of Sylv's death scene (including the frankly horrific sudden last gasp after you think he's gone), the 8th Doctor and Grace working out who he is outside her home, McGann's breathless performance as they try to avert the end of the world in the TARDIS and Grace's possession, release and death are all fantastic but sit alongside squeaky Dalek voices, practically any scene featuring Professor Wagg, Eric Roberts camping it up ("I always drezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz for the occasion.") and, when it boils down to it, a fairly daft plot. It comes across as a cross between The X-Files and ER but never really seems to find its feet as it's often too preoccupied in being a continuation of the original series whilst making it accessible to the American audience (as if they hadn't been exposed to the series already). Whilst it's a great attempt to reboot the show, it just doesn't quite make it. However, its simple existence is what makes The Night Of The Doctor so much better, as we already have the set-up for the 8th Doctor and seeing him casually leaning against the door jamb of a crashing spaceship saying "I'm a doctor, but probably not the one you were expecting" seems as natural as anything before or since. In fact, for me, The Night Of The Doctor is far and away better than its counterpart, The Day Of The Doctor, which, for a celebration of the series lacked the excitement, drama and immediacy of McGann's short (or the fun of both The Three... and The Five Doctors).

Of course, outside the TV series there's an abundance of stories on Audio, in Comic Strips and in Books. I'd have to check, but for the 'George Lazenby of Doctor Who' McGann's Doctor seems to have more adventures out there than any of his counterparts. His Big Finish adventures with Charley (and later C'rizz) alone exceed all but the 1st and 4th Doctors televised adventures in number and, with his two TV adventures, equal the First! And thanks to The Night Of The Doctor the majority of these audio adventures would seem to be cannon. As with every Doctor, McGann's stories vary in quality, but feature some absolute classics. His Big Finish debut, Storm Warning, reintroduces him spectacularly through the eyes of new companion Charlotte Pollard in a Pseudo-Historical story about the ill-fated R101 and some creatures called Vortisaurs (which have some remarkable similarities to the Reapers from Father's Day). Following story Sword Of Orion pits him against the Cybermen in a very stark tale with clear influences from Alien and Blade Runner. Elsewhere there is the Yuletide atmosphere of The Chimes Of Midnight, the weirdness of The Natural History Of Fear and even a purely historical adventure with Other Lives. For me, however, the best of McGann's audio adventures is Embrace The Darkness which features a truly gruesome cliffhanger at the end of episode one and really plays the claustrophobic, sci fi setting well with doses of mystery and horror thrown in for good measure. Following on from the Charley/C'rizz series are the episodes featuring Lucie Miller which were transmitted on the radio station BBC 7. These took on a more modern quality akin to the 21st Century series, as opposed to the format of the earlier 8th Doctor audios which mirrored the Classic series. Like 'Nu Who', these episodes see the return of various old monsters whilst introducing new threats and a variety of modern day companions and feature story arcs which span several series. Having concluded the Lucie Miller arc, Big Finish embarked on a third and fourth set of adventures more akin to mini-series (being made up of four hour-long stories) featuring new companions and linking in with the modern TV show. More recently, a continuation of the Big Finish Time War series with the 8th Doctor as the main focus has been released following the death of War Doctor actor John Hurt.

Meanwhile, spanning the 'Wilderness Years' between the TV Movie and Rose, the BBC released a series of novels documenting the exploits of the 8th Doctor and his various companions. To be honest, I've only read a few of these and of those I have only a few stand out; early novel Alien Bodies saw the return of the Krotons and the introduction of the series-long arc concerning Faction Paradox, a Gallifreyan Voodoo cult; Autumn Mist is set in World War II and features a race of extra-dimensional elves; The Fall Of Yquatine centres around the destruction of the titular planet (but is otherwise unremarkable); and The Ancestor Cell and The Gallifrey Chronicles basically serve to conclude the major story arcs which, unless you've followed every novel in the series, serve to confuse more than entertain. The main novel to stand out for me, however, was Father Time, a tale which concluded a short series which saw the Doctor stranded alone and amnesiac on Earth throughout the 20th Century. This, set in the 1980s and introducing the Doctor's adopted daughter Miranda, was chiefly entertaining due to the cultural references and a plot which saw the Doctor not only saving the world because that's what he does, but saving the world because of his daughter. It was a new slant to the character which was sadly short lived and I'd like to see appear in the TV series.

Alongside the novels ran a series of comic strips in the Radio Times and Doctor Who Magazine. These, again, had various long story arcs interspersed with short set pieces and featured, amongst other things, a fake regeneration, a sequel to The Evil Of The Daleks and a stunning redesign for the Cybermen. Added to that were a series of companions of dubious morality and the charmingly geeky Izzy Sinclair.

The 8th Doctor may have had the least amount of screen time of any since 1963, but he is by far the most thoroughly explored. Paul McGann brought so much to the character in the 90 minutes which constituted the TV Movie and inspired dozens of authors to flesh him out in the various media which replaced the TV series over the turn of the century. He's one of my favourite Doctors and one I'd love to see return to the series again. If that doesn't ever happen, there are still plenty of his adventures out there to hunt down and explore.