Let's Discuss The 96 TV Movie

[The Wormhole]

It's been a while since we've had an acutal discussion devoted to the 96 movie, and since it's just been released on DVD in North America for the first time, now seems the most appropriate time.

Although I've been watching Doctor Who since its revival in 2005, I've only just begun watching classic era in the past year. But, consistently I've noticed the 96 movie is generally a source of debate in fandom circles. Although McGann is generally considered to have provided a solid performance as the Doctor, the movie itself has been the target of criticism and scorn, though it does seem to have vocal supporters.

After watching the movie for the first time, I have to ask: what was wrong with it? I found it to be a genuinely entertaining movie and enjoyed it quite a bit.

I'll admit, I have mixed feeling about how the Master is protrayed here. I enjoyed him during the first half when he was a smooth and cool villain, much in the same vein as the other Masters. But I found once the final fight comes around and he puts on the red Time Lord robe he quickly turns into a cliche cartoon supervillain. And the ending itself was confusing.

And while Paul McGann is excellent as the Eighth Doctor, it is rather unfortunate that his only televised performance as the Doctor has him saddled with an amnesia storyline. Also, Sylvester McCoy really is wasted here as well. I understand he never was meant to be integral to the movie, but couldn't they have had at least one line of dialogue that wasn't him mumbling to himself or screaming through gasps of breath?

Still, a fun and entertaining story that I actually consider among some of the better Doctor Who out there. While it would have been great to see more McGann, if this is the only filmed Eighth Doctor adventure, then at least it's a pretty damn good one.

So what say the rest of you? What are your thoughts on the 1996 Doctor Who telemovie?

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I liked this one a good deal, and I believe Davies acknowledged it as inspiration for some of his approach to DW - and that's all to the good.

The real shortcoming of the TV movie was perhaps toning the grandiosity and humor of the premise down too much in an effort to draw in a larger audience. The result was a rather prosaic DW story. NuWho has gone in the other direction, to the credit of the producers and writers.

I certainly enjoyed Daphne Ashbrook and the overtly romantic aspects of the story, which was long overdue for DW.

 

[captcalhoun]

it was a hugely missed oppurtunity.

in my opinion the mistakes it made were:

1. confusing the shit out of n00bs with a regeneration. Should've done what Rusty did and just started fresh with Doctor Eight.

2. pointless Dalek cameo. Seriously, wtf? they're completely extraneous to the plot and again, only serve to confuse the n00bs. plus why the hell are they 'executing' the Master any how?

3. the weird silver worm shit. wtf was that all about?

4. the Master going OTT camp at the end. ruins the tension.

5. as you say, saddling the Doctor with amnesia is a bad idea.

6. human mother. nuff said.

7. it feels ever so slightly 'off' to me, because it was filmed in north America, using American film/video whatever. there's a slight difference between how US shows look and how UK shows look - i dunno what it is, but i can usually tell a US shot show from a UK one just by the image quality and for me, it's off-putting. okay, it's not a 'mistake', but to me it's wrong.

McGann is a damned good actor though and does well in the role. he has a great deal of potential in that movie to be a good or even great Doctor. which is why many long-time fans would love him to come back and do one more story.

 

[Saga]

i hated how the 7th Doctor was disposed of. i think it would have been better if the movie opened with the 8th Doctor already established, then he gets amnesia. i didn't care much for the 'look' of the Master. he seemed more like a villain from Miami Vice or something.

that being said, i don't hate it. but yeah, it was a missed opportunity. it could have been better. but then again, it could have been much worse. i'm looking forward to picking up the dvd next week and listening to the commentary.

 

[The Wormhole]

plus why the hell are they 'executing' the Master any how?

Why they were executing him didn't bother me, so much as why were they being civilized about by giving him a trial? These are Daleks, for fuck sakes. Just exterminate and be done with it.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

4. the Master going OTT camp at the end. ruins the tension.

DW, camp and over the top? Say it ain't so.

 

[P0sitr0nic]

I actually like the 96 movie. It fits in with both old and new. Id love to see McGann in the 11th doctors series.

 

[Bishop76]

Been a while (actually, I think 96 was the last time I saw it) since I've seen it, but I remember it being fun enough. I'm not a big fan of Eric Roberts as the Master, but I liked McGann and remember hoping it'd make it to series. Though, a part of me is glad it didn't and got a new BBC series rather than a FOX series.

 

[Robert D. Robot]

It has always bothered me that -in one of the rare times that the Doctor visits the United States (up to that point)- he ends up with a bullet in him because of a pointless, accidental shooting, within seconds of him stepping out of the TARDIS! I am not sure whose idea this plot element was, but it seems to go along with the idea that many people hold that guns are out of control in this country.

I remember cringing when he got shot. I thought, "OH Great- the Doctor finally comes to visit us in the States, and we kill him!"


I did like the movie overall, though. Thought the SilverSlug-Master was a bit much and was a little annoyed about the concept of the Doctor's human Mom (for those of you who did not see the movie, a bit of a spoiler- her name was Amanda Grayson...), but I REALLY liked the Console Room/Library.

 

[Winterwind]

My issues with the movie have already been covered. Thanks Praetor Shinzon. The Master did indeed look like a bad guy from Miami Vice.

The human mother bit was indeed daft. So too the Daleks wanting to put the Master on trial.

Beyond that, the Tardis console room was brilliant and I really liked McGann as the Doctor.

Once I've got some spare cash I intend to pick it up. Whoever said for what you pay in rent, you may as well be paying a mortgage has obviously never done so. They're completely forgetting property taxes and bills for everything under the sun.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

It has always bothered me that -in one of the rare times that the Doctor visits the United States (up to that point)- he ends up with a bullet in him because of a pointless, accidental shooting, within seconds of him stepping out of the TARDIS!

That's just our way of saying "welcome to America!"

It really is some pretty dark humor when you put it that way - I wonder how much the writer thought about that?

 

[Atticus]

Good Things about the TVM:

1. Paul McGann. He just is the Doctor. Brilliant performance, and while the script in nearly every other aspect is pretty terrible it gets the characterisation of the Doctor spot on. This is a character both with his own quirks unique to this incarnation but also recognisable as the guy we all know. The "they fit perfectly!" scene is the best bit of the entire thing.

2. Sylv. Gives the best performance of his career as the Doctor.

3. The TARDIS console room. The cathedral motif is a bit overdone but the console room is gorgeous.

4. Daphne Ashbrook. She'd have made a perfectly fine companion.

5. The music. This gets a bit of a ribbing but I like the arrangement of the theme (although for me now Dave Arnold's version for BF is the Eighth Doctor theme for me.)


Bad Things about the TVM:

1. Eric Roberts. He looks bored, he sounds bored, and the camping up just doesn't work. Does anyone really believe he's an evil genius?

2. Yee Jee Tso. A nothing character and a subpar performance.

3. The story. It doesn't make any sense, it has an ultra silly climax which negates much of the show's lore, and as has already been said above for the not-wes it would make zero sense. Terrible. It's no wonder the thing wasn't picked up.

Sadly the last issue is the biggest problem, and scuppers much of the good stuff elsewhere. I'm terribly glad the TVM exists because without it we wouldn't have the McGann Doctor, and there are individual moments and scenes which are brilliant, but this is a perfect example of the thing being less than the sum of its parts.

 

[Starkers]

7. it feels ever so slightly 'off' to me, because it was filmed in north America, using American film/video whatever. there's a slight difference between how US shows look and how UK shows look - i dunno what it is, but i can usually tell a US shot show from a UK one just by the image quality and for me, it's off-putting. okay, it's not a 'mistake', but to me it's wrong.

This. It just feels wrong (in the same way I suspect Star Trek would feel wrong if filmed in the UK using UK video etc). I dunno, this is gonna sound odd given the budget of classic Who, but I've always thought it looks cheap somehow, just the picture quality, the titles, the sound...

Beyond this it's main failing is having McGann turn up far to late (RTD had it spot on with Eccleston being the Doctor from the first minute). It also throws in too much continuity (eye of harmony, the master, Skaro, Daleks, regeneration etc etc) whilst also too much new stuff (half human). It tries too hard to be all things to all people and fails.

Shame, as McGann makes an engaging Doctor. The Tardis console room is amazing (though in hindsight it's a little too much HG Wells and not alien time traveller enough, very Cushing)

I actually like Eric Roberts, and so he's camp...people have seen Anthony Ainley at times right?

Horrible thing to say, but really I'm glad it failed. I'd rather we had to wait another 9 years but got a more uniquly British Who, than some half and half show that wasn't completely comfortable in either camp.

 

[23skidoo]

The thing that has always got me about the TV movie is that while it's at times treated as the Enterprise of the Doctor Who franchise, the fact is it was SO MUCH better than it could have been.

There are at least two books out - Regeneration by Philip Segal and The Nth Doctor by Jean-Marc Lofficier, detailing the making of the film. And of course the DVD has a lot of featurette material on this. And the fact is I find it hard to really gripe about things like the "half-human" bit or the Master turning into a snake when you consider the film was originally going to be a total reboot/reimagining/start from scratch about a Time Lord from Gallifrey going in search of his long-lost father Ulysses while battling his brother, the Master.

I'm sorry - I'm willing to accept a few continuity burps (and the half-human thing was dispensed with in one line of dialogue in IDW's "The Forgotten" comic book anyway) in exchange for the fact that, missed opportunities or no, at least the 1996 TV movie continued the story that began in 1963. If it hadn't, I don't know we'd be continuing the story in 2011. We might be seeing a continuation of the Ulysses stuff instead.

Alex

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

The "half human thing" was clearly an unsuccessful stab at the kind of relatability that nuWho has addressed by requiring that every place in the Universe that the Doctor goes has some evident relationship to the human race.

 

[knine]

I should have bookmarked this, but years ago I remember reading all the options they were considering for the movie. Something about rebooting it for the USA, the Doctor and Master are brothers, and the Daleks were the Master's minions. It read terrible. It sounded terrible. Compared to that, I'm happy about what we finally got.

 

[Worf2DS9]

I also have a warm spot in my hearts for The TV Movie, and as everyone else has mentioned McGann was (and continues to be audio-wise) an excellent Doctor. I also liked Ashbrook as Grace - she worked well with McGann and had some good comic timing.

As others have mentioned the story is somewhat wibbly-wobbly, but the TARDIS looked great (inside and out), and it was fab seeing McCoy as Seven again, despite his unfortunate end.

My copy of the Special Edition DVD has shipped and I can't wait to watch it again and dive into those new extras.

 

[Kelso]

I liked it a lot.

 

[Photoman15]

it was a hugely missed oppurtunity.

in my opinion the mistakes it made were:



2. pointless Dalek cameo. Seriously, wtf? they're completely extraneous to the plot and again, only serve to confuse the n00bs. plus why the hell are they 'executing' the Master any how?

Well, since they were hoping to go to series with this, including the Daleks in the movie got the studio to put up the money to build them (so they'd have them to use in the future). It's like when Gene Roddenberry went back and wrote in a scene in Engineering in "Encounter at Farpoint" because if he didn't, Paramount would never have paid to build a full engineering set when the series started.

 

[Starkers]

The thing that has always got me about the TV movie is that while it's at times treated as the Enterprise of the Doctor Who franchise, the fact is it was SO MUCH better than it could have been.

Oh yeah I wouldn't disagree with that. It's better than it has any right to be really.