Doctor Who (TV story)

Synopsis
New Years Eve 1999. Earth is about to run out of time... Returning home to Gallifrey with the remains of his arch enemy, the Master, the TARDIS is forced off course, returning the Doctor into the middle of a street gang's gun battle in downtown San Francisco.

Critically wounded in the shoot out, the Doctor has to regenerate to save his own life. And he's not the only one - the Master too has a new body with which to wreak havoc, and his ultimate goal is to take the Doctor's own existence.

As the clock counts down to the start of a new millennium, the Doctor has to stop the Master destroying all life on Earth. But at what cost...?

Plot
The Master has apparently been executed on Skaro, and the Seventh Doctor is bringing his remains back to Gallifrey. However, the Master is not really dead, but transformed into a snake-like morphant creature. He causes a timing malfunction in the TARDIS, and the Doctor is forced to make an emergency landing on Earth: specifically, in San Francisco on December 30, 1999. As soon as the Doctor leaves the TARDIS, he is caught in the cross-fire between two Chinese-American gangs. One of the gang members, Chang Lee, accompanies the wounded Doctor in an ambulance to Walker General Hospital. Unseen, the Master stows away in the ambulance.

At the hospital, a surgeon removes the bullets, but the Doctor's two hearts confuse the medical team. They assume he is fibrillating and that the X-rays showing two hearts must be a double exposure. A cardiologist, Dr. Grace Holloway, is summoned from a date at the opera and attempts to stabilize the Doctor's hearts. He attempts to stop the operation, but is anesthetized. The Doctor's anatomy confuses Grace, and he appears to die under anaesthesia.

The Doctor's body is placed in the morgue, where he regenerates. Around the same time, the morphant Master takes over the sleeping body of the ambulance driver Bruce. As Pete, the morgue attendant watches the 1931 film version of Frankenstein, the newly-regenerated Doctor bursts out of the morgue, clad in only a shroud. Pete takes afright. The Doctor stumbles into a deserted wing of the hospital where he sees himself in a broken mirror and cries out, "Who am I?"

The next morning, the Doctor finds a Wild Bill Hickok Hallowe'en costume and dresses in it, while Chang Lee goes through the Doctor's possessions (which he had pilfered from Grace at the hospital). Meanwhile, the Master realizes that his occupation of Bruce's body will not last; he needs the Doctor's body. He kills Bruce's wife. At the hospital, the Doctor recognizes Grace (who has quit her hospital job after an argument with the hospital administrator over the surgery), and follows her to the parking lot. In her car, he removes the surgical probe which Grace had left in him the previous night, a sight which convinces her that this strange man is in fact her supposedly dead patient.

"Bruce" goes to the hospital, where he learns that the Doctor died during surgery and that his body is missing. Grace takes the Doctor to her house, where she discovers that her boyfriend has left her and taken some of her furniture to boot. She listens to the Doctor's hearts and takes a sample of his blood, while the Doctor's spotty memory begins to return with anecdotes about Puccini and Leonardo da Vinci. Chang Lee uses the TARDIS key to enter the TARDIS. There he encounters the Master, who lies to him and convinces him that he has been wronged by the Doctor. The Master and Chang Lee go to the TARDIS's Cloister Room, where the Master uses Chang Lee's human eyes to open the Eye of Harmony, the TARDIS's power source. As the eye opens, the Doctor's memories come flooding back. In a fit of enthusiasm, the Doctor announces, "I am the Doctor!" and kisses Grace. In the Cloister Room, the Master sees a series of images: the old Doctor, the new Doctor, and a human retina. The last causes him to assert, "The Doctor is half-human." Just as the Master sees an image of Grace, the Doctor becomes aware of the Master's actions, and shuts his own eyes, blocking the images in the Eye of Harmony.

The Doctor explains the Master's plan: he hopes to force the Doctor to look into the Eye of Harmony, which will allow him to take over the Doctor's body. However, if the Eye is not closed by midnight the entire planet will be sucked into it. The Doctor will need a beryllium atomic clock to fix the TARDIS before then. Grace finds all this quite improbable, and calls an ambulance for the Doctor (who she now suspects to be insane). A television news report informs the Doctor of strange weather phenomena, and of a beryllium atomic clock about to be inaugurated at the Institute for Technological Advancement and Research (ITAR).

When the ambulance arrives, the EMT is the Master, and the unseen driver is Chang Lee. The Doctor asks to be taken to ITAR. Grace is still skeptical, but indicates for the driver to play along. However, a sudden stop at a traffic jam reveals the Master's inhuman eyes, and the Doctor recognizes him. His identity revealed, the Master spits a burning viscous substance on Grace's arm, but the Doctor temporarily blinds him with a fire extinguisher. He and Grace escape into the stopped traffic, and the Doctor bluffs a policeman into giving him his motorcycle. On the motorcycle, Grace realizes that the Doctor's improbable story is true. Chang Lee and the Master pursue the Doctor and Grace, but Chang Lee takes a shortcut and arrives at ITAR before the Doctor does.

Grace, a board member of ITAR, introduces the Doctor to Professor Wagg, creator of the clock. As the Doctor tells Professor Wagg "a secret" ("I'm half-human on my mother's side"), he surreptitiously removes Wagg's security pass. Grace and the Doctor steal a small component from the clock. They spot the Master and Chang Lee in the crowd, but escape by lowering themselves from a fire hose. They flee on the motorcycle, and arrive at the TARDIS, where the Doctor remembers that he keeps a spare key in the cubbyhole above the letter "P" in "Police box". They enter the TARDIS, where the cloister bell is ringing. The Doctor is able to close the Eye of Harmony; however, a quick temporal scan confirms that the Eye has been open too long, and the Earth is still in danger. The only solution is to take the TARDIS back to a time before the Eye was opened — but since the Eye was open so long, the TARDIS now has no power. The Doctor attempts to jump-start the TARDIS by drawing energy directly from the eye. Suddenly Grace's eyes turn black, and she knocks the Doctor out with the neutron ram.

Grace has been taken over by the Master's will, infected when he spat on her in the ambulance. The Doctor awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney in the Cloister Room. The possessed Grace and Chang Lee chain the Doctor to a balcony, under the supervision of the Master. Taunting the Doctor, the Master inadvertently contradicts his earlier lies to Chang Lee, who attempts to help the Doctor. The Master breaks Chang Lee's neck. He then removes his control over Grace so that her human eyes will be able to open the Eye; this he does quickly, while Grace is disoriented. As the Master begins to absorb the Doctor's life-energy, the Doctor asks Grace to return to the console room and jump-start the TARDIS.

As the Earth celebrates the approaching new year, Grace manages to start the TARDIS one second before midnight. The TARDIS enters a temporal orbit. She returns to the cloister room and frees the Doctor, but the Master attacks them both. He throws her off the balcony, and she appears to die. The Doctor and the Master struggle over the open Eye, and the Master falls in; the Doctor attempts to save him, but the Master rejects his hand and is sucked into the Eye.

The TARDIS slips back in time from midnight. Energy travels from the Eye to the bodies of Grace and Chang Lee, reviving them, and the Eye closes. The Doctor takes Grace and Chang Lee back to San Francisco on New Year's Eve. The Doctor gives Chang Lee a bag of gold dust, and tells him not to be in San Francisco next Christmas. The Doctor asks Grace to come with him, and she asks him to stay with her. They kiss and say their farewells. The Doctor leaves in the TARDIS, off to a new adventure.

Cast
The Doctor — Paul McGann

The Seventh Doctor — Sylvester McCoy (credited as "The Old Doctor")

The Master — Eric Roberts

Dr. Grace Holloway — Daphne Ashbrook

Chang Lee — Yee Jee Tso

Salinger — John Novak

Dr. Swift — Michael David Simms

Wheeler — Catherine Lough

Curtis — Dolores Drake

Pete — William Sasso

Gareth — Jeremy Radick

Bruce — Eric Roberts

Miranda — Eliza Roberts

Motorcycle Policeman — Bill Croft

Professor Wagg — Dave Hurtubise

Ted — Joel Wirkunnen

Security Guard — Dee Jay Jackson

The Old Master — Gordon Tipple

KKBE News Anchor — Mi-Jung Lee

KKBE News Anchor — Joanna Piros

Crew
to be added

Story Notes

 * Doctor Who: The TV Movie was a 1996 co-production between the BBC and Universal Pictures. Its executive producer, Philip Segal, had hoped that it might be a "back-door pilot" for a new series of Doctor Who, but poor ratings in the United States prevented this.


 * The TV Movie was broadcast on Fox Television in America on 14 May, 1996, and on BBC1 on 27 May, 1996. Both during production and during its airing, it was referred to only as "Doctor Who". Philip Segal later told a convention audience that if fans wanted a distinct title for the TV Movie, they could call it "Enemy Within", but this name was never used in any official capacity.


 * British-born television producer Philip Segal had a longtime ambition to create Doctor Who. While working at various American production companies, including Steven Spielberg's Amblin, he attempted to develop a Doctor Who series or film. Eventually he was able to arrange a coproduction between Universal Pictures and the BBC. The script went through several different forms, including some which would have started Doctor Who continuity over again.


 * The eventual script by Matthew Jacobs continued from the BBC series, including a substantial role for Sylvester McCoy, the last occupant of the role of the Doctor.

Ratings
to be added

Myths

 * Many fan rumours surrounded the production, including one which suggested that a futuristically-redesigned version of the Daleks may appear. With more than a passing nod to 'wishful thinking' on the part of those fans, the Doctors' arch-enemies failed to appear.
 * Michael Crawford, Tim Curry, Eric Idle, Billy Connolly, Trevor Eve, Michael Palin, Robert Lindsay and Jonathan Pryce were all considered for the role of the Eighth Doctor. Steve Martin badly wanted the part.

Location Filming
The story was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from 15 January to 21 February 1996.

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * How is Grace supposed to know what a Neutron Ram is?

Continuity

 * Lungbarrow sets up events for this story (including why the TARDIS interior looks the way it does, why the Doctor now has a sonic screwdriver and why the Doctor was rescuing the Master).


 * Several aspects of this story appear to be at variance with established Doctor Who continuity, most notably the assertion that the Doctor is half-human. Several BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures deal with this issue, notably Unnatural History, which also deals with the consequences of this adventure.


 * The Big Finish audio adventure "The Apocalypse Element" attempts to explain why the Eye of Harmony, Gallifreyan technology, could be opened only by a human eye.

DVD, Video, and Other Releases
DVD Releases

Released as Doctor Who: The Movie, this release was the fourth release of 2001.

Released:
 * Region 2 13th August 2001
 * PAL - BBC DVD BBCDVD1043

Contents:
 * Philip Segal - Talks about the making of the telemovie.
 * Electronic Press Kit - Cast & crew interviews/behind the scenes footage/tour of the TARDIS set.
 * Alternate/Extended Scenes
 * Music Feature - Songs from the story.
 * Music-only Option
 * Trailers
 * Photo Gallery
 * Production Subtitles
 * Easter Egg (The dedication to Jon Pertwee that preceeded the UK broadcast.)
 * Commentary: Geoffrey Sax

Rear Credits:
 * By Matthew Jacobs
 * Executive Producers: Alex Beaton & Philip Segal
 * Executive Producer for the BBC: Jo Wright
 * Produced: Peter Ware
 * Co-Producer: Matthew Jacobs
 * Director: Geoffrey Sax
 * Incidental Music: John Debney, John Sponsler & Louis Febre

Notes: The 'Based on the BBC Television series' caption used for the US broadcast has been removed from the DVD.

Video Releases

Released as Doctor Who.

Released:
 * UK May 1996
 * PAL - BBC Video BBCV5882


 * Australia/NZ November 1996

Notes: Released in an edited form with the operating scene and gang gun battle trimmed.

BBC Novelisations

 * Published by BBC Books in 1996 by Gary Russell, according to the inner pages it was written from the script (without seeing the final production). It is simply entitled Doctor Who, on the spine however it says Doctor Who - The Novel of the Film.