Eighth Doctor
The Eighth Doctor | |
---|---|
Doctor Who character | |
First regular appearance | Doctor Who (1996) |
Last regular appearance | Doctor Who (1996) |
Introduced by | Philip Segal |
Portrayed by | Paul McGann |
Preceded by | Sylvester McCoy (Seventh Doctor) |
Succeeded by | Christopher Eccleston (Ninth Doctor) |
Information | |
Tenure | May 1996 |
Appearances | 1 story (1 episode) |
Companions | Grace Holloway |
Chronology |
The Eighth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Paul McGann.
The character was introduced in the 1996 TV film Doctor Who, a back-door pilot produced in an unsuccessful attempt to relaunch the series following its 1989 cancellation. While the Eighth Doctor initially had only one on-screen appearance, his adventures were portrayed extensively in subsequent spin-off media, including more than 70 audio dramas starring McGann. In 2013, the actor reprised the role in the mini-episode "The Night of the Doctor", which depicts the Eighth Doctor's final adventure and his regeneration into the War Doctor (played by John Hurt). McGann subsequently reprised the role in a brief cameo alongside other past incarnations in "The Power of the Doctor" (2022), his first filmed appearance for a televised episode of Doctor Who.
Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old
His only companion in the television film is
Overview
The Eighth Doctor made his first television appearance in the
Although the film failed to spark a new television series, the Eighth Doctor's adventures continued in various licensed
The
Despite the fact the Eighth Doctor appeared on television only three times, he is the most prolific of all the Doctors (to date) in terms of number of individual stories published in novel, novella, short story and audio form.[5] In 2007, the Eighth Doctor finally made a second appearance (of sorts) within the television series' continuity. In the episode "Human Nature" he appears on-screen as a sketch (alongside other incarnations) in the book A Journal of Impossible Things by John Smith. In 2008 and 2010 he appeared again as a brief image in "The Next Doctor" and "The Eleventh Hour" along with every other incarnation up to that time. In 2010's "The Lodger", he is shown in a flashback with his first, second, third, fourth, ninth and tenth incarnations. In 2013's "Nightmare in Silver", he is shown in a flashback along with the Doctor's other incarnations; he is also fleetingly seen running past companion Clara Oswald in the following episode, "The Name of the Doctor", though his face is not shown. His likeness is shown in "The Timeless Children" (2020) when the Thirteenth Doctor breaks out of Gallifrey's matrix.
In 2013, McGann reprised the role for the mini-episode "The Night of the Doctor", a prelude to the show's 50th anniversary special. This appearance marked the Eighth Doctor's final adventure and his regeneration.[6] "The Night of the Doctor" proved popular with fans of the series, some of whom petitioned the BBC to make a spin-off series starring the Eighth Doctor.[7][8][9]
Personality
The BBC's official website describes the Eighth Doctor as an "effortlessly charming, romantic figure." It mentions that he is open about his own background and candid about the future of those he meets, highlighting the irony of an "open Doctor" who remains a closed book.[10]
The Big Finish Productions website describes the Eighth Doctor as "an enthusiastic figure who explores the universe for the sheer love of it", always surviving on the strength of his excellent improvisational skills rather than preparing elaborate plans. The site states that he is "passionate, direct, sympathetic and emotionally accessible", but notes that these traits are "balanced by occasional feelings of self-doubt and weariness of his endless battles against evil."[11]
Discussing "The Night of the Doctor", McGann said, "[Moffat's] instinctive take on the Eighth Doctor was exactly how I'd imagined this character to be, even way back, back in the 90s. You know, this... like a bruised nobility. I know it sounds wanky now, but... he's decent, but he's compromised. He's not a warrior, really, at all. There's a pacifist side to him, but he's a realist as well."[12]
Television appearances
TV movie (1996)
The Eighth Doctor debuts in the TV film
The TV film did not lead to the commissioning of a revived television series, and while Eighth Doctor stories continued in other media, Doctor Who did not air again on television until 2005. After this, footage and stills from the TV film would be used in later episodes "The Next Doctor" (2008), "The Eleventh Hour", "The Lodger" (both 2010), "Nightmare in Silver" (2013) and "The Timeless Children" (2020). Edited archive footage in "The Name of the Doctor" very briefly shows the Eighth Doctor sharing an adventure with the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton).[13]
The Night of the Doctor (2013)
McGann reprised the role for a
The Power of the Doctor (2022)
McGann reprised his role as the Eighth Doctor in the final Thirteenth Doctor special "The Power of the Doctor", as one of the “Guardians of the Edge” in an afterlife, inside the Doctor’s mind. He, along with the First, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Doctors, help the Thirteenth undo her forced regeneration by the Master. Unlike the other incarnations, he appears in his regular costume rather than special robes.
Costumes
Original TV Movie costume
The Eighth Doctor initially wore a
Costume during the Time War
By the time of "
Big Finish costume
In 2010, Paul McGann revealed a new costume and
Spin-off appearances
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Novels
Almost as soon as he'd left San Francisco, the Doctor had another brief attack of amnesia, caused by a final trap of the Master's. To regain his memories, the Doctor was forced to visit all seven of his past selves and help them out with some crisis or another, at the same time acknowledging the responsibility his role gave him. Having regained his memories, the Doctor met a late twentieth-century
For a time, the Doctor adventured with an
Faction Paradox
Eventually, three years after his departure and one hour after he left, the Doctor returned to the Greenpeace rally. With Sam collected, the pair spent a great period wandering together, facing dozens of adventures. During their travels, Sam and the Doctor became aware of a great war, looming in the future of Gallifrey, between the Time Lords and an as-yet-unidentified Enemy, with dramatic and disturbing consequences. While exploring the issue of the war, the Doctor discovered that his Sam was not the original Samantha Jones; rather, her biodata had been manipulated by an outside agency with the intent to mould her into a prosaic distraction for him (Alien Bodies). Ultimately this plan proved a failure, as Sam developed into a much more strongly-willed companion than intended; at one point she spent three years avoiding the Doctor, so as to cope with a crush she had developed on him, but managed to survive and make a good life for herself in the future until she rejoined the Doctor as she could make more of a difference with him.
The close dynamic between the pair was shifted with the introduction of
With both Sam and Fitz gone – Sam's origins established as a temporal paradox caused by exposure to a scar in reality created when the Doctor regenerated, which the 'original' Sam was only exposed to because the Doctor met blonde Sam – the Doctor continued his travels with the clone Fitz (although he was treated as the real one and generally thought of himself as such) and
Eventually, Compassion's implant, linked to the Doctor's TARDIS to prevent her being influenced by random local signals, triggered her unexpected mutation into a sentient Type 102 TARDIS, specifically the "mother" of the TARDISes that would be used in the pending War. With this knowledge, the Time Lords – led by Romana, now in her third incarnation – attempted to capture Compassion, intending to use her as breeding stock in preparation for the war. In response, and in light of the apparent destruction of his old TARDIS in a dimensional rift, the Doctor and Fitz retreated into Compassion and fled, the Doctor refusing to let his people enslave his friend in such a manner and resolving to keep on the run until he could find another way to deal with the issue of the War (The Shadows of Avalon).
The Doctor and Fitz travelled in Compassion for some time, until the machinations of Faction Paradox came to a head back on Gallifrey. As it turned out, in the new timeline triggered by the Doctor's infection, the Doctor was destined to become "
In a final confrontation with his future self, the Doctor resolved the timeline conflict by channelling the TARDIS's built-up energies through its weapon systems, thereby destroying both the Faction Paradox fleet and Gallifrey itself. In so doing, the TARDIS was able to rewrite the altered timeline with the original one that it "remembered"; no longer able to contain both timelines as a result of its energy drain, one reality had to become 'real'. As a side effect, however, the Doctor's entire memory was erased, apparently from the trauma of the event (The Ancestor Cell).
Amnesia on Earth
To give the Doctor time to recover and the TARDIS time to regenerate from the extensive damage it had suffered, Compassion dropped the Doctor off on Earth in the year 1889; she then delivered Fitz to 2001, with the intent that he waits for the Doctor to catch up to him. With that, Compassion departed for parts unknown. Back in 1889, meanwhile, the Doctor awoke in a railway carriage to discover no memory as to his real identity, and no possessions save a small, shapeless box– what was left of the TARDIS after its power loss— and a note, simply stating "Meet me in
Despite his amnesia, the Doctor retained a wide general knowledge. However, he also showed an uncharacteristic callous streak, easily allowing others to die if he felt that they 'deserved' to perish (
Unsure what "St Louis" was intended by the note, the Doctor created his own in London: the St Louis Bar and Restaurant. As 2001 rolled around, Fitz indeed turned up there to meet him. With the aid of new companion
With his freedom restored, the Doctor chose to counteract his extended exile by seeking as much non-human company as possible. During this period, the Doctor encountered all manner of unusual beings – from a species that at cursory glance resembled the Earth tiger (
Sabbath and parallel times
Only a few months after resuming his old lifestyle, the Doctor faced another radical change: the loss of his second heart. As it happened, the heart served as a bond with Gallifrey; with the planet gone, the heart had begun to fester within the Doctor's body, pumping it with poison.
A man named
Eventually, after a woman Sabbath loved sacrificed herself to save the Doctor from a malfunctioning time machine, Sabbath tore out the Doctor's second heart, allowing the Doctor to begin growing a new one.
Shortly after the restoration of his heart, the Doctor found himself locked in a desperate struggle with Sabbath as, along with his mysterious business associates, Sabbath hatched a plan to destroy all alternate realities. Sabbath believed that time travellers like the Doctor, every time they landed somewhere, created an alternate reality where they didn't show up, and that the universe was unable to support so many alternates without suffering damage; therefore, he attempted to trigger an explosion at Event One – the Big Bang – that would erase all alternate universes and leaving only one possible timeline. However, Sabbath's allies had been lying to him; in reality, Time would only split if absolutely necessary, and even then, it was nearly impossible to travel between alternate realities. In reality, Sabbath had been manipulated into creating a plan that would effectively wipe out free will itself, with the Doctor proving that Sabbath's perception was wrong when they found themselves in a situation that could only have occurred due to time travel in a single timeline.
The explosion at Event One was averted when the Doctor diverted the black light that would have triggered the explosion to 1898, but instead of reality collapsing into a single controllable timeline, what occurred was reality starting to 'slide' between histories, multiple parallel realities fighting to become the dominant one. Along with new companion
The Gallifrey Chronicles
Some while after this, the Doctor was captured by Marnal, one of the few surviving Gallifreyans, and accused of destroying Gallifrey. Although Gallifrey had been all but wiped from history by the Doctor's actions, Marnal was able to jury-rig a Time Space Visualiser to witness the Doctor actually push the button as he faced off against the Grandfather, although there were about three minutes between the Doctor firing the shot and Gallifrey's actual destruction where the Doctor's activities in the TARDIS were unaccounted for. Reflecting on his discoveries in the TARDIS, the Doctor, along with the aid of
Audio dramas
Paul McGann first returned to his role as the Eighth Doctor in
Big Finish released a 50th-anniversary story in 2013, The Light at the End, in which the Master (
Mary Shelley
The Eighth Doctor's earliest audio-released adventures were a trilogy, released from October to December 2011, in which the Doctor travels with Mary Shelley (
Saving Charley
In the Eighth Doctor's first audio adventure, Storm Warning, the Doctor lands on Earth in October 1930 aboard the doomed R101 airship. On the airship the Doctor meets Charley Pollard (India Fisher), a young adventuress. He saves Charley's life, and brings her aboard the TARDIS as his latest companion. The Doctor soon learns that Charley's rescue negatively affects the timestream.
Charley dies on the R101 in another story, and the Doctor cannot return her to preserve the timeline. Her existence forms a rough story arc over two seasons of audio adventures as the Doctor discovers a series of minor historical anomalies caused by damage to the timeline, such as the CIA's existence in 1933 or Benjamin Franklin being president. The Doctor eventually learns that, due to Charley's survival, the universe has become infected with "anti-time" leading to a conflict with the wraith-like Never People: individuals who were erased from history for crimes against reality, and now seek to unleash anti-time on the universe. The Doctor sacrifices himself and the TARDIS by absorbing anti-time energy, which seals the rift and preserves Charley's life but transforms him into the bogeyman Zagreus. Later restored to sanity but still infected with anti-time due to the actions of Charley, his old companions Leela and Romana, and recreations of his three previous incarnations, the Doctor again sacrifices himself for Charley and the universe by removing himself from space and time. He enters a divergent universe of which he has no prior knowledge (or frame of reference), and in which there is no linear time (Zagreus). Charley stows away on the TARDIS, negating the Doctor's sacrifice by again placing herself in danger.
Divergent Universe
For two more seasons, the Doctor, Charley, and a new companion named C'rizz explore the divergent universe. They gradually unravel a plot designed around the Doctor by
After this, which coincided with the end of the Big Finish "seasons" in light of the 2005 return of Doctor Who to television, the trio wanders freely. The only continuing plot element involves C'rizz, who exhibits unusual (and potentially destructive) psychological development. This culminates in C'rizz's death (
Lucie Miller
Dark Eyes
In November 2012 Big Finish released
Doom Coalition
The Eighth Doctor appeared in Doom Coalition, a four-CD, four-part miniseries. He, Liv and new companion Helen Sinclair (played by Hattie Morahan) hunt for the insane Time Lord known as the Eleven, all of whose past personalities are active in his mind at once. The Doctor interacts with River Song, the Eleventh Doctor's future wife (although she avoids interacting with the Eighth Doctor unless she is disguised), and confronts an alliance between the Monk and the Weeping Angels. Doom Coalition concludes with the Doctor thwarting the Doom Coalition, a group of Time Lords led by the Doctor's old schoolfriend Padrac. Padrac's latest consultations with the Matrix led him to the conclusion that the only way to save Gallifrey from prophecies of its destruction is to destroy the rest of the universe. The hunt for the Eleven is intended to manipulate the Doctor into gathering the equipment needed for Padrac's plan to succeed, but the Doctor and his companions disrupt Padrac's machines at the last minute. Big Finish began releasing two Eighth Doctor box sets in 2017: Ravenous and The Eighth Doctor: The Time War.
Ravenous
Ravenous is a series of four four-part box sets which are a sequel to Doom Coalition, initially exploring the Doctor and Liv's efforts to find Helen after she is trapped with the Eleven. It then narrates their efforts to oppose the Ravenous, an ancient race who are predators of the Time Lords; they evolved to feed on the energy released when Time Lords regenerate. The trio briefly ally with the Eleven against the Ravenous, but he betrays them when he learns that his condition makes him immune to the Ravenous' feeding habits (prompting him to assist the Ravenous in their campaign to turn the universe into their food. The series concludes with the Doctor working with three incarnations of the Master (the Master of the TV film, the War Master and Missy) to restore the Ravenous to their original state.
Stranded
Following the events of Ravenous, the next Eighth Doctor saga, Stranded, sees the Doctor, Liv and Helen crash land on Earth in 2020. The Ravenous' attack on the TARDIS has made it inoperable so the trio move into the Doctor's house on Baker Street, which has since been turned into flats and already occupied by several tenants, including Torchwood agent Tania Bell. The trio attempt to adapt to life in 2020 without alien invasion or other threats while the Doctor works on repairing the TARDIS. However, they soon become aware of Divine Intervention, a self-help organisation from the future whose machinations create a divergent timeline that culminates in the destruction of the human race. When the Doctor and his friends restore the timeline, they find themselves back on Earth in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic while waiting for the TARDIS repairs to be complete. On New Year's Day 2021, the Doctor, Liv and Helen set off once again for further adventures.
Further Adventures with Liv and Helen
After Big Finish brought the monthly range to a close in March 2021, the decision was made to transition all Doctor Who ranges to regular boxset releases.[15] Though The Eighth Doctor Adventures was already releasing as box sets, Big Finish decided to reformat the range further following the conclusion of Stranded, moving away from the four-part sagas and into standalone box sets, bringing it in line with the relaunched ranges of other Doctors. The first official releases under this relaunch were two box sets - What Lies Inside? and Connections - released in November and December 2022 respectively, and continue on from Stranded with Liv and Helen as the Eighth Doctor's companions.
The Time War
The Eighth Doctor: The Time War is another series of four four-part box sets set later in the Eighth Doctor's life, during the early days of the Time War. It describes his efforts to protect those caught in the crossfire with the aid of Bliss, his new companion, whose planet's history was undone when a Time Lord agent turned her planet into a weapons depot; her history is chaotic due to the Time War. In the third volume, the Doctor again faces the
Comic strips
Unfinished business
In the
Working out that the Threshold were using Fey as a spy, the Doctor and his old comrade Shayde faked a regeneration. The Threshold was conned into believing they were facing a vulnerable new Doctor (Shayde in disguise), allowing the real Doctor to infiltrate their base. While he and his friends were too late to stop the Threshold from destroying every single spacecraft in the universe, they were able to bring about the organisation's destruction before it could profit. Fey returned to her time, having also bonded with Shayde to save his life.
Unknowingly, the TARDIS had been taken over by the Master, who was manipulating events to gain the power of the omniversal Glory. The Doctor was specifically sent to times and places that would undermine him – discovering he had upset the course of Grace Holloway's life in 2001, encountering an alien race with motivations uncomfortably similar to his which caused death and horror in 17th Century Japan, and almost killing the benevolent
In 17th Century Japan, the Doctor's attempt to save the life of samurai Katsura Sato, a friend of Izzy, left the man inadvertently immortal and thus robbed of both an honourable death and any sense of empathy. The Master later came for Sato, when he was mentally vulnerable, and gave him a fake religion to focus his mind on; Earth's history was altered as Sato, renamed Lord Morningstar, and his Church of the Glorious Dead conquered the planet, creating a technological advanced, highly brutal planet of jihadists. The Doctor, Izzy and Kroton wandered into their invasion of the museum planet Paradost; while the Doctor faced the Master over the Glory, Izzy and Kroton spent weeks on the occupied world. The Doctor was defeated, only for the Master discover he was not able to access the Glory, as instead Kroton and Sato had been the ones prophesied to battle for it. Kroton won the Glory, the Master was purged from the TARDIS and history was reverted, and the Doctor and Izzy took a well-earned break.
Destrii
During a battle against the body-stealing Ophidians and their gigantic snake-shaped techno-organic warship, the Doctor and Izzy encountered a brash and adventurous fish-woman called Destrii. While seemingly friendly and bonding with Izzy, Destrii was secretly on the run and she swapped bodies with Izzy to cover her escape; when Destrii was seemingly killed, Izzy seemed trapped within an alien body. The Doctor's next few journeys were spent trying to help her in this situation, both in coming to terms with the change and finding out what her new body's abilities were. Frida Kahlo helped Izzy mentally deal with the change, but the attempt at testing Izzy's abilities led her and the Doctor into a turbulent encounter with the humanised Daleks he had created in his second incarnation. Unable to prevent their tragic end – self-destructing to escape the machinations of the malevolent psychic Kata-Phobus -, the two of them were distracted and caught off-guard when Helioth and Hassana, two of the energy-beings called the Horde, abducted Izzy thinking she was Destrii.
The Doctor went on a relentless search to rescue his friend, with the help of Fey/Shayde and by forcing co-operation from Destrii, still alive in her stolen body. His quest led him to the planet Oblivion, a surreal and brutal world ruled by Destrii's mother, the Matriax. Izzy was rescued and returned to her original form, while Oblivion's court system and the menace of the Horde were both destroyed, leaving Destrii free to leave her world and explore the universe with her roguish uncle Jodafra. However, Izzy had decided she wanted to return home to her family, and the Doctor was left alone.
Feeling slightly morose, the Doctor was cheered up by an unknowing encounter with his old companion
In 2007,
Doctor Who: TITAN Comics - The Eighth Doctor
In the Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor comic series, the Eighth Doctor – from a point shortly before the Time War, as he is shown in the clothing and hairstyle he wore in "The Night of the Doctor" – is visiting an old holiday house of his where he encounters a young painter named Josie Day. Intrigued at her presence, he invites her to accompany him while he checks off items on a 'To Do' list left behind in his last visit to the house. In the course of the storyline, it is revealed that Josie is actually a sentient painting given life by a wealthy woman in the future as part of the woman's plan to grant herself immortality by transferring her mind into Josie, but Josie was rescued by the Twelfth Doctor and taken into the past so that she could travel with the Eighth, the Twelfth Doctor feeling that his past self was better suited to help Josie learn how to be human.
See also
- History of Doctor Who – the 1990s
- Grandfather Paradox (Doctor Who)
References
- ^ "Google Groups". groups.google.com.
- ^ Data Extract, 121, July/August 1996, and see Doctor Who in Australia.
- ^ "Beginner's Guide to Doctor Who" (Flash required). Doctor Who website. BBC. Retrieved 8 February 2007.
- ^ Boies, Dominique. "Zagreus". Doctor Who Reference Guide. Archived from the original on 29 January 2007. Retrieved 8 February 2007.
- ^ Boies, Dominique (30 January 2007). "Doctor Who Reference Guide". Retrieved 8 February 2007.
- ^ "The Night of the Doctor". Archived from the original on 14 November 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
- ^ Graeme McMillan (18 November 2013). "Online Petition for New 'Doctor Who' Spin-Off Tops 9,000 Names". Heat-vision. HollywoodReporter.com. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
- ^ Ethan Lewis (27 November 2013). "Doctor Who: 8 Reasons Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor Deserves a Series". denofgeek.us. Archived from the original on 29 November 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
- ^ Bridget LaMonica (23 November 2013). "Doctor Who: Petition For Paul McGann Spinoff Passes 15,000 Signatures!". denofgeek.us. Archived from the original on 26 November 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
- ^ "The Eighth Doctor". BBC One. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
- ^ "DOCTOR WHO – EIGHTH DOCTOR ADVENTURES – RELEASED ITEMS". Big Finish. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
- ^ Cook, Benjamin (May 2014). "Physician, Heal Thyself...". Doctor Who Magazine (472): 19.
- ^ "The Name of the Doctor Past References". The Doctor Who Site News. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
- ^
News, Doctor Who. "New Eighth Doctor costume revealed".
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has generic name (help) - ^ "Revamped Doctor Who audio ranges from Big Finish". Big Finish Productions. Archived from the original on 26 May 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
- ISBN 978-1-905239-65-8.