Doctor Who - The Tv Movie

[Due to starting a new job, I'm going to start posting these updates at nine instead of six]

Here's a bit of fanboy blasphemy.  I don't hate the doctor who movie.  I know I made that joke about it earlier, but in all honesty, it really could have been much worse.


So here's the thing.  An american Doctor Who will almost certainly never work.  The show is pretty quintessentially british, it's just hard to see it's mannerism converting to American Culture well.  And the idea of keeping him the same wouldn't either, he wouldn't work as the one british guy in the american show.

I think the Americans would have a hard time dealing with the idea of it being a family show.  That's what Who is over here, no doubt almost every british person will have memories of gathering around with their families to watch it.  Over in the states, it's too wierd to be a family show.  But taking it out of that setting puts a limit on the stories you can tell.  Who needs to be able to do stories like the adipose one for instance, but that would never fly in America.

So the movie then.  There are huge flaws sure.  The master's performance is particularly devouring of scenery and his brand new line of superpowers are a pretty unwelcome addition to the character (also, is the movie implying that all proper timelords have snake powers and the doctor doesn't because he's half human?)

But lots of things work too.  Paul Mcgann is an amazing doctor and it's more than a little tragic he never got the chance to do more with the role onscreen.  The scene's where he's recovering his memory are fantastic, wonderfully acted, with him getting less human and more wonderous by the moment. 

The sets are also great, in particular the tardis itself getting a fantastic redesign that occupies a wonderful halfway point between the designs of the old series and the new.

The plot itself, once you disgard issues with continuity, also has a nice feel.  While the show is unable to quite match the tone of the original, the adventure to get the atomic clock comes close and could feel like a Russell T Davies script. 

So does it deserve all the hate?  I don't think so.  Who has certainly been worse (love and monsters anyone?) so I think it gets a halfway pass.

Posted in: Doctor Who, Movie Review, The TV Movie, TV Review