I know the Who fandom isn’t all that keen on the BBC/Fox co-produced Doctor Who TV movie that gave us the Eighth Doctor, Paul McGann, even though they’ve embraced him thanks to the Big Finish productions and various comics and novels that fleshed him out as the Doctor. However, while I do agree with a number of the flaws listed I do like him as the Doctor, the altered TARDIS console room has been a staple since New Who changes it with every showrunner or sometimes regeneration, and I see more potential in “restoring the mystery” of the Doctor with “half human on my mother’s side” than any intended variation of the Cartmel Master Plan or “the question that must never be answered”, but it seems that’s just me. Maybe because I thought Lungbarrow‘s answer was kind of dumb and “Doctor….who?” will never be answered satisfactorily. And I guess I’m the only person NOT bothered by Eric Roberts’ Master, especially after seeing John Simm’s two variations on New Who. Granted Simms wasn’t as over the top as Roberts but imagine Anthony Ainley or Roger Delgado prancing around dancing to “I Can’t Decide” (“if you should live or die”) or absorbing people while blasting energy out of his hands to fly around like an armorless Iron Man. They should have kept Derek Jacobi around a while longer.
At any rate SF Debris just released a fascinating look at the TV Movie. He points out the flaws, but also connects it to lore and meta histories. There’s a second (well, first on the page) video chronicling the events of how the movie was made and why it started on a bad foot. Now in the past when I’ve tried to get permission to post videos here (after hearing that had been an issue in the reviewing community–long story) he instead would rather I link to his website, which I would do anyway since that’s how this feature works, rather than post them here. Assuming this to still be the case, here is the link to the review. And look around for his other Who reviews, other sci-fi work, anime, cartoons, and of course the Star Trek franchise reviews he’s most known for.
BW Media Spotlight 