When the bbc brought dr who back why didnt they get paul McGann to reprise his role as the 8th doctor instead of the 9th doctor?,plus in the movie why did the regeneration of the doctor take so long when it normally happens quickly.
The 8th Doctor
- Thread starter Mr Pointy Ears
- Start date
My guess would be that RTD wanted a fresh start (without actual rebooting), so the idea of getting an actor back who already played the role in an earlier installment where his version of the Doctor had already been somewhat defined would have gone against that. Plus, back in 2005, RTD and Eccleston still liked each other very much, Eccleston had just starred in RTD's "The Second Coming" (which is awesome, btw, if you haven't seen it, put it on your must-see list).
Besides, with RTD's plan of the Time War as a backstory, it does make sense that the Doctor couldn't have survived that one without even a regeneration. And, look, in "Rose", the nineth Doctor sees his own reflection for the first time in a mirror in Rose's flat ("Look at those ears!"), so it indicates that the regeneration has happened quite recently.
It's true, Paul McGann didn't get much glory. Although the film he starred in was rubbish, I actually liked his performance. But, at least, he did get to do those audio plays.
Besides, with RTD's plan of the Time War as a backstory, it does make sense that the Doctor couldn't have survived that one without even a regeneration. And, look, in "Rose", the nineth Doctor sees his own reflection for the first time in a mirror in Rose's flat ("Look at those ears!"), so it indicates that the regeneration has happened quite recently.
It's true, Paul McGann didn't get much glory. Although the film he starred in was rubbish, I actually liked his performance. But, at least, he did get to do those audio plays.
As I understand it, mainly because Russell T. Davies had worked with Christopher Eccleston before and preferred him as the Doctor. He had his own ideas about the character and the series that were different from those of the people who'd cast McGann in the movie. Also, the movie wasn't very well-received, so it's not surprising that they wanted to make a fresh start (although McGann was the best thing about the movie).
The movie was a reinvention of the series produced by people who had no prior association with the franchise. Naturally they had their own spin on its concepts. Also, the movie was meant for new viewers who weren't already familiar with the series, so the regeneration was a bigger deal, a major part of what the story was about, rather than just something that happened at the end of one story or the beginning of the next like in the series. They probably also just wanted to make it flashier and more effects-driven than it had previously been.
In-universe, the explanation might be that when Grace tried to save the Doctor's life, she actually more or less "killed" him due to his alien anatomy, and that delayed the regeneration.
There was also the fact they wanted more of a serious name actor to get people's attention and bring some respectability back to the show. McGann's Doctor probably would have been seen as too fluffy and lightweight to relaunch a series.
Hard to say how recent though, considering we later see all those photos of him from different time periods (JFK's assassination, Titanic, etc) in the same episode.
Hard to say how recent though, considering we later see all those photos of him from different time periods (JFK's assassination, Titanic, etc) in the same episode.
Yup, once he dematerialized by himself, even if he came back a second later, there is no telling how much time passed for him in adventuring during Rose's second or two
The problem I have with that theory is that that's a very specific point to manage to return to after having some adventures abroad. And somehow, I don't think the Doctor could pull off something like that. After all, his attempt to return Rose twelve hours after she left resulted in twelve months. I hate to think how complex and difficult it would be after visiting JFK's assassination and the sinking of the Titanic and whatever else he was doing to make it to just a couple of seconds after he left Rose.
He could've locked in those Space/Time coordinates for that second as a return point. It would only fail if The TARDIS has somewhere more important to take him, and she'd likely respect that return destination at some point after taking him to more important places.
The TARDIS always takes him where he needs to be.
Problem?
/Troll face
Problem?
/Troll face
Well we did see the 10th Doctor do a similar thing with Martha in her first episode. He popped away for a few seconds, travelled back to say hi on the street, then popped back to prove that he could really time travel.
I doubt RTD really intended a similar thing to happen in Rose, though. More likely it was just a last minute addition or improvisation by Eccleston, and they didn't realize it conflicted with the photo thing later on in the story.
The bit about the renegaration was explained in the movie - the Doctor comments that the anesthetic almost destroyed the regeration process (or something along those lines).
I don't see why the 9th Doctor and Rose couldn't have split up for awhile during their time together. The Doctor could have been visiting the Titanic while Rose was at a Beetles concert.
Maybe the 9th Doctor had wanted to come back straight away but accidentally ended up on the Titanic and had lots of other adventures as he tried to get back to Rose one more time.
There's a really nice moment in the series where Rose mentions getting a bicycle for Christmas as a child and the 9th Doctor saying something to the effect that it was actually him that gave her that. So i'm sure the 9th Doctor had all sorts of adventures including the 50th anniversary special
There's a really nice moment in the series where Rose mentions getting a bicycle for Christmas as a child and the 9th Doctor saying something to the effect that it was actually him that gave her that. So i'm sure the 9th Doctor had all sorts of adventures including the 50th anniversary special
Nice points, all.
But, let's not turn this thread, which is titled "The 8th Doctor" into a thread about the 9th Doctor's adventures without Rose (btw, those pictures of 9 could have been from adventures with Rose, ever thought of that?).
So, the 8th Doctor had a lame movie. I've just gotten into the audio plays mentioned in my previous post, having listened to the first episode "Blood of the Daleks, Part I". It's quite good, actually, and the idea of the new companion having just appeared out of nowhere on the TARDIS kinda rings a bell. I also love the cliffhanger of that episode, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the episodes.
So, what other adventures did the 8th Doctor have aside from the movie and the audio plays? I think I heard something about novels and comics about him? Anyone read those?
But, let's not turn this thread, which is titled "The 8th Doctor" into a thread about the 9th Doctor's adventures without Rose (btw, those pictures of 9 could have been from adventures with Rose, ever thought of that?).
So, the 8th Doctor had a lame movie. I've just gotten into the audio plays mentioned in my previous post, having listened to the first episode "Blood of the Daleks, Part I". It's quite good, actually, and the idea of the new companion having just appeared out of nowhere on the TARDIS kinda rings a bell. I also love the cliffhanger of that episode, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the episodes.
So, what other adventures did the 8th Doctor have aside from the movie and the audio plays? I think I heard something about novels and comics about him? Anyone read those?
I keep hoping that for the 50th anniversary they'll do a multi-Doctor crossover and bring McGann back. After all, we never saw his regeneration, so we don't know how long he lived before "dying" in the Time War. So he could plausibly be much older than he was in the movie, just as the Seventh Doctor was notably older in the movie than he was in "Survival." (And of course the original series never cared much about past Doctors being much older when they were brought back.)
There's a really nice moment in the series where Rose mentions getting a bicycle for Christmas as a child and the 9th Doctor saying something to the effect that it was actually him that gave her that. So i'm sure the 9th Doctor had all sorts of adventures including the 50th anniversary special
I swear 9,10 and 11 have some sort of fascination with visiting young Rose
9-Bicycle
10-January 1st 2005
11- "I can go back and help Rose Tyler with her homework"
Then Captain Jack watched her grow up.
^ Why did they want to see young Rose?
Because we want to! Because we want to!
Because we want to! Because we want to!
Someone had to take those photos, right? Why not Rose? Problem solved!
As for McGann, if I remember, nuWho was like The Next Generation in that it was definitely a continuation but took some time to find its own feet and then slowly brought in references to the past. Having McGann would automatically tie it to the previous show.
And count me as another person who'd love to see McGann in some sort of anniversary adventure.
Similar threads
