Do I like Doctor Who? Well...I'm British aren't I? ;)
(if only it were that simple, I'm dreadfully embarrassed by my friends who don't enjoy the show.)
But yes, I am a huge fan of Who. Unlike the majority of my dear peers in Generation Y and The Information Age, I was a fan BEFORE 2005. I used to sit and watch the Omnibuses on UKTV GOLD and grab VHS tapes where I could. I'm not going to claim to be an expert on classic Who - a lot of the serials are lost from my mind now and where watched through the eyes of an 8 year old.
But here we are, at the shows 50th anniversary! Hazzah!
I won't go too much into my feelings on the direction the shows been going in recent years or we really would be here all day (burn Moffat and hopefully RTD will rise from the ashes).
So yes, the BBC has started a wonderful season of Doctor Who related programming the air in the lead up to 23rd November, at which point we will get to see
The Day of the Doctor.
Very exciting point to note is that they'll be showing this in cinemas across UK and US, so do check your local Multiplex!
Aaaanyway, to kick us off we were given one HELL of a treat. I mean really, I squealed with delight at what we were given in the minisode
The Night of the Doctor. If you haven't seen it, WATCH IT NOW. WATCH IT FOR CHRIST'S SAKE! Spoilers in white after the link.
In case you weren't aware, that man was Paul McGann, the Eighth incarnation of The Doctor. His first and, until now, only live-action appearance was in a 1996 US funded adaptation of Doctor Who that was to serve as a pilot for a revival of the show, which had ceased production in 1989.
The made for TV movie was important in that it continued the continuity of the show before it, opening with the Seventh Doctor who soon regenerates into McGann's 8th. As such, the film is certainly canonical.
Alas, it's often overlooked in discussions of Doctor Who, partially because of poor home release, rare TV spots and in general...it wasn't great. Don't get me wrong, it was good! It really was the first time DW had been given this kind of cinematic treatment, with the show having been FAR more televisual - almost stagey - beforehand.
The true gem in the film, though, was McGann himself. I've always loved his performance which was, in my opinion, the greatest since T Baker. He captures the gleeful traveller who simply longs to experience the universe perfectly, and whose appreciation of life around him is superb. In fact, his performance was so great that despite the show not being picked up, his incarnation has been in countless (at least..I can't be bothered to count them) comics, audioplays and novels. In fact, in terms of continuous production of stories, he is the longest serving Doctor of all time!
And so it's been a dreadful shame that the revived series has totally ignored him, besides a couple of moments of archive footage. No information on how/why he regenerated, his presumed involvement in the Time War etc.
And so, The Night of the Doctor is incredible. It's a massive service to fans and to McGann, whose continual devotion to the role has been inspiring over the years. Not only does it bring back a fantastic Doctor (so good, I just want more of him!), but it ties up his story, confirms canonicity of his audiobook adventures AND leads nicely into The Day of the Doctor.
I also can't stress how much of a surprise it was. Doctors returning following the end of their tenure happens, yes, but it's by no means common. In TV show it's happened 4 times in main stories, plus a brief minisode for charity a few years ago. Whilst this one is a little different in that it doesn't involve Doctors meeting each other (as the Day of the Doctor will) it nonetheless brings back an old actor of the role. And with Paul McGann having denied any involvement, and then Colin Baker's bitter comments earlier this week about the treatment of Old-Doctors, it just seemed impossible. Oh, how wrong I was...
Now how about a prequel series with more McGann?
Yes. All of that is spoilers.