Doctor Who (TV story)

Doctor Who was a 1996 Doctor Who made-for-TV movie. It was an attempt to relaunch the Doctor Who television franchise in the UK and abroad. Home video releases of the film from BBC Video are marketed under the title Doctor Who: The Movie.

The film was co-produced by the BBC and Fox networks. Filmed in Canada, the telemovie introduced Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor and was his only on-screen performance in the role. The telemovie won a in 1996 for best television presentation.

The film was broadcast on Fox in America on 14 May 1996 and on BBC1 on 27 May 1996. The week of its premiere, Jon Pertwee, who played the Third Doctor, passed away.

Synopsis
The Seventh Doctor is charged with transporting the remains of his fellow Time Lord, the Master, back to their home planet. But he is surprised to discover that his old enemy is not quite dead. The arrival of not only costs the Doctor a life, but it spells near disaster for the Earth. Only the new Doctor can stop the Master and save the planet.

Plot
The Master has been exterminated by the Daleks on Skaro for his terrible deeds. "As part of his final, and somewhat unusual, request", the Master asked that the Seventh Doctor escort his ashes back to Gallifrey for proper burial. Doing a voice-over of the opening scene, the Doctor explains that Time Lords have thirteen lives, but the Master used all his. As rules never matter much to his old foe, the Doctor knew that even in death, he cannot trust the Master; he locked the container holding his ashes in another box. Continuing on, the Doctor says that he grew to learn, especially near the end of his seventh life that he could not help but be too careful. After returning to the main control room, the Doctor sets the TARDIS coordinates for Gallifrey, the Rassilon Era. He then gets a cup of tea to continuing enjoying his book, H.G. Wells's The Time Machine, while eating a bowl of jelly babies. At the same time, the Doctor has "In a Dream" playing on his gramophone.

Meanwhile, the casket containing the Master's ashes shakes violently. A symbolic warning occurs as the record begins skipping; the Doctor simply fixes it and continues to remain unaware of the situation. The shaking grows worse until the casket breaks open; the Doctor's tea crashes to the ground as the record skips to a stop. Immediately suspicious of these omens, the Doctor begins wondering why they occurred. A snake housing the Master's consciousness slithers out of the box and, unseen by the Doctor, quickly slithers into the TARDIS console. The resulting effect is the console malfunctioning as sparks fly out. The Doctor tries to fix it, but is unsuccessful, seeing he cannot undo the damage or stay on the same coordinates; he is forced to make an emergency landing because of the timing malfunction. Concerned that the Master may have had a hand in this, the Doctor quickly returns to where he left the ashes, to see the box cracked open. The Doctor looks on with a shocked and worried expression, wondering what his old foe could be up to this time.

Meanwhile on Earth, San Francisco, December 30th, 1999, two local Chinese-American gangs are having a shoot-out, reducing one to just Chang Lee. When the other gangsters prepares to fire on him, the TARDIS materialization wind picks up and it appears in front of Lee. The gang fruitlessly fires at the TARDIS, emptying their guns. While they reload, the Doctor exits the TARDIS only to be shot by the gangsters, who flee upon hearing police sirens. Lee runs to the Doctor's side. The Doctor tries to warn Lee about the Master, who has slipped through the TARDIS keyhole. However, Lee doesn't turn around in time to see him. He quickly runs to get an ambulance and accompanies the Doctor 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 cause confusion for the medical team. They assume he is fibrillating and that the X-rays showing two hearts is a double exposure. A cardiologist, Dr. Grace Holloway, is summoned from her visit to the opera, and attempts to stabilise the Doctor's heartbeat. Regaining consciousness, the Doctor tries to stop the operation by explaining he has two hearts, but is anesthetised. The Doctor's anatomy confuses Grace, who accidentally causes damage to his circulatory system, killing him; the Doctor does not regenerate. When Grace tries to comfort Lee with the death of the Doctor, she realises he doesn't know him. Lee runs off with the Doctor's possessions. Around the same time, the Master has hitched a ride to the home of one of the ambulance workers, Bruce, by hiding in his jacket.

The Doctor is put in the morgue after the attendants make spa jokes to his seemingly dead body. Elsewhere, the Master has entered Bruce's body, killing him and taking it for himself. Later that night, as Pete, a morgue attendant, watches the 1931 film version of Frankenstein, the Doctor undergoes his seventh regeneration and begins banging on the door, attracting Pete's attention. When Pete arrives to see what is the source of the sound, the Eighth Doctor knocks the metal door off its hinges. He is clad in just a shroud, a sight mirrored by the image in the movie. Pete faints in shock while the Doctor stumbles into a deserted wing of the hospital where he sees himself in broken pieces of mirror and cries out, "Who am I?"

The next morning, the Doctor, after going through numerous hospital lockers, steals the Wild Bill Hickok costume that Pete's co-worker, Ted, intended to wear to the hospital's New Year's Eve costume party. Meanwhile, Chang Lee goes through the Doctor's possessions, finding his sonic screwdriver, pocket watch, jelly babies, a yo-yo, and TARDIS key. Elsewhere, Bruce's wife Miranda awakes to find, unbeknownst to her, the Master staring out the window. As the Master talks to himself about Bruce's body not lasting long and his need to find the Doctor, she asks him to come back to bed. However, after her failed attempts to be seductive, she realizes too late that the Master isn't Bruce when she sees the cat-like eyes the Master acquired in his time on Cheetah World; the Master strangles her.

At the hospital, the Doctor recognises Grace (who has quit her hospital job after an argument with the hospital administrator over covering up the surgery), and follows her to her car, asking for help as he believes she knows who he is. 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. She then drives off with the Doctor, at his request to prevent the hospital staff from killing him again.

"Bruce" goes to the hospital, where he learns that the Doctor died during surgery and that his body is missing, and Lee has taken his possessions. 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. He also explains that his has thirteen lives, going on to say Grace became a doctor because of her childish dream to hold back death; according to the Doctor, she'll do great things.

Elsewhere, Chang Lee uses the TARDIS key to enter the TARDIS. There he encounters the Master, who (through some unknown method) entered before him. The Master hypnotizes Lee into giving him the Doctor's possessions by staring with his in-human eyes. Searching through the bag, the Master demands to know where the Doctor is. Lee says that the items he stole are his now, and that the Doctor is dead. With a snarl, the Master informs Lee that the Doctor is not dead and that he will die unless he finds him. Wondering what he'll get out of assisting the Master, Lee is told he'll get to live. Elsewhere, Grace has given the Doctor a pair of shoes left behind by her boyfriend, letting him keep them; her attempts to examine the Doctor's blood fail. They decide to take a walk, during which, the Doctor remembers seeing a meteor storm on Gallifrey with his father during his initial incarnation.

Rummaging through some of the drawers, the Master withdraws some red pouches, going on to say the TARDIS and the Doctor's body were stolen from him. Lee once more says the Doctor died. The Master explains it's half true; that body died, but the Doctor regenerated into a new one. He goes on to lie that the Doctor used seven of his lives to commit terrible deeds as well-known villains. He then gives Lee the pouches, which contains $5,000,000 in gold dust, as payment for his help, promising a full billion once he gets "his" body back. The Master takes Lee to the Cloister Room, where he uses Lee's human eyes to open the Eye of Harmony, the TARDIS' power source. In the meantime, the Doctor regains his memories. In a fit of enthusiasm, the Doctor announces, "I am the Doctor!" and kisses Grace, who asks him to kiss her again. 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."

The Doctor becomes aware that the Master has opened the Eye of Harmony as he holds Grace; at the same time, the Master and Lee see her through the Doctor's vision. However, the Doctor shuts his eyes, preventing nothing more than audio to come through the Eye's projection. The Doctor explains the Master's plan: he hopes to force the Doctor to look into the Eye of Harmony, which destroy his soul and allow the Master to take over his body. The Master says the Doctor is lying again; however, Lee is worried Grace might believe him. At the same time, The Doctor asks Grace to help him find a beryllium atomic clock. However, Grace runs back to her house; the Doctor opens his again, but the visual doesn't return to the Eye. The Doctor tries talking to Grace, but she calls him insane and phones for an ambulance to take the Doctor to a mental institution.

To prove that the Eye is open and changing the physical structure of the planet, the Doctor presses against one of the windows, making it bend; he walks through it and into Grace's house. The Doctor explains that at Midnight, the entire Earth will be sucked through it unless he can close it in time. Collapsing in shock, Grace asks for two ambulances over the phone. Hearing this, the Master decides to use the identity of his stolen body to commandeer an ambulance, with Lee. The Doctor weighs himself on scale as Grace's television reports strange weather occurring around the world, which has been caused by the Eye's opening. The Doctor is even more shocked to see he has lost twenty pounds in just the same amount of minutes. Watching a news report, the Doctor hears that a beryllium atomic clock is being unveiled at ITAR. When the ambulance arrives, the EMT is the Master, and the unseen driver is Chang Lee; the Doctor doesn't see Lee or know it's the Master. The Doctor asks to be taken to ITAR. Grace is still skeptical, but indicates for the driver to play along.

As they are being driven, the Doctor questions Grace as to why she didn't tell him she had access to an atomic clock. Still playing along, Grace says she was more worried about what would happen to the Earth if the Eye isn't shut. Their conversation changes subject, in which the Doctor explains he met Sigmund Freud and Madame Curie. However, Lee slams on the brakes at a traffic jam, making the ambulance shake, causing the sunglasses the Master had been using to hide his inhuman eyes to fall off; the Doctor recognizes him. Putting his glasses back on, the Master has them pulled back off by the Doctor, who gets out of the way of a burning viscous substance spat by his foe; it lands on Grace's wrist. The Doctor temporarily blinds him with a fire extinguisher, while they flee. They flee into the blocked traffic as Lee cleans the foam off the Master.

A policeman tells them to go back to their vehicles, but the Doctor instead offers him a Jelly baby; skeptical about the sweet, the officer eats it. Grace explains that the Doctor is British to explain his odd habits just as he takes the officer's gun and points it at himself; he demands the officer hand over his motorcycle. The Doctor turns his attention to Grace, who he tells that he cannot make her dream to hold back death last forever, but he CAN make it come true tonight. Believing the Doctor, Grace takes the gun and shoots the radio, preventing the officer from calling for backup. They take the keys and drive off, leaving the gun behind. At the same time, the Master reminds Lee that they are in an ambulance, which can go past traffic jams if the sirens are on; Lee complies and takes a shortcut to ITAR. The Doctor and Grace arrive shortly after, finding the empty ambulance; the Master and Lee are already inside, waiting for them.

Grace, a board member of ITAR, gets herself and the Doctor inside the party; while looking around for a way to reach the clock, the Doctor explains that time travel is possible and that Time Lords who run out of regenerations, like the Master, are desperate in the fight for survival. She also gives him the alias "Dr Bowman" while introducing him 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, which he needs to repair the TARDIS. They spot the Master and Chang Lee in the crowd, which prompts them to head for the exit. They then find guards that the Master subdued by using the same substance; they are frozen in place, covered in goo. The Doctor activates the fire alarm to "liven things up" as he and Grace make their escape by lowering themselves from the roof with 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. While working under the console, the Doctor wonders why Grace is not helping as he instructed her to, looking up to see her eyes have turned black; Grace has been taken over by the Master's will. Grace knocks the Doctor out just as the Master and Lee enter the TARDIS.

The Doctor awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney in the Cloister Room. Chang Lee and the possessed Grace chain the Doctor to a balcony, under the supervision of the Master (who has decided to "dress for the occasion" in Gallifreyan robes). Lee explains he'll be rich once once the Master gets his body back. However, the Doctor tells him the Master neglected to mention Earth would be destroyed, making his payment pointless. Per the Doctor's slight manipulation, the Master inadvertently contradicts his earlier lies to Lee by claiming to have used all his lives. Lee now believes the Doctor and refuses to help the Master. Rather than waste more time by hypnotising Lee again, the Master breaks his neck. The Doctor comments that only Grace is left to open the Eye, but her eyes are not human. The Master taunts the Doctor and removes his influence on Grace as he kisses her, then forces her to look into the Eye. As the Master begins to absorb the Doctor's life energy, the Doctor implores Grace to return to the console room and jump-start the TARDIS.

Several disasters happen all around the Earth as lightning and heavy winds surround the TARDIS; Grace enters the control room as sparks fly out of the console. In the Cloister Room, the Master begins hearing the Doctor's memories and feeling his life force come into him, even briefly taking on his form several times. As the Earth celebrates the approaching new year, Grace manages to start the TARDIS one second before midnight, having remembered the Doctor told her piloting a TARDIS is like setting an alarm clock. The TARDIS enters a temporal orbit, something she needs the Doctor to explain. She returns to the Cloister Room and frees the Doctor, but the Master attacks them both. He throws her off the balcony, killing her. 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 before midnight. Energy travels from the Eye to the bodies of Grace and Chang Lee, reviving them, and the Eye closes. Amused by how sentimental his TARDIS is, the Doctor asks Grace how it felt to hold back death. He then congratulates them, as they've been somewhere he's never been (yet). Grace tells him there's nothing to be afraid of, but wonders if they've gone back far enough. The Doctor tells her that they have or he's talking to a bunch of ghosts, and he doesn't believe in them.

They return to the console room where, through a high-tech dome, the Doctor shows them alien galaxies and his home planet. Lee questions where the Master is just as a grumbling is heard from the TARDIS; "indigestion", the Doctor remarks. Deciding where to leave them, the Doctor asks if they wish to be deposited back on the 29th. While Grace would rather not live through the day again, Lee knows he won't survive it; instead, the Doctor takes them to exactly the first minute of 2000 in a city park.

The Doctor allows Lee to keep the bags of gold dust the Master originally bribed him with, and tells him not to be in San Francisco next Christmas; in exchange, Lee gives back the bag with the belongings of the Seventh Doctor in them. The Doctor asks Grace to travel with him, but she refuses and asks if the Doctor will stay with her. However, both know he won't and they kiss. Grace thanks the Doctor, but he retorts "No, thank you, doctor."

The Doctor leaves in the TARDIS, off to a new adventure. Conducting maintenance on the new part inside the console with his newly recovered sonic screwdriver, the Doctor asks his beloved time machine where it will be they're going this time. He settles back in his armchair in the TARDIS control room to continue reading H G Wells' novel: The Time Machine. The gramophone record that he is listening to suddenly starts skipping (again). As the TARDIS continues on its flight, all the Doctor says is "Oh no, not again!"

Cast

 * The Doctor - Paul McGann
 * ‘The Old Doctor’ - Sylvester McCoy
 * Bruce/ - Eric Roberts
 * Grace Holloway - Daphne Ashbrook
 * Chang Lee - Yee Jee Tso
 * Salinger - John Novak
 * Dr. Swift - Michael David Simms
 * Wheeler - Catherine Lough
 * Curtis - Dolores Drake
 * Pete - Will Sasso
 * Gareth - Jeremy Radick
 * Miranda - Eliza Roberts
 * Motorcycle Policeman - Bill Croft
 * Professor Wagg - Dave Hurtubise
 * Ted - Joel Wirkunnen
 * Security Guard - Dee Jay Jackson
 * The Old Master - Gordon Tipple
 * News Anchor - Mi-Jung Lee
 * News Anchor - Joanna Piros

Earliest form
After the show had first aired in the United States, American companies had worked hard to purchase the rights for an American version. In the early '80s, when The Walt Disney Company were on their spending sprees, they attempted to buy the rights to the show, meaning the entire franchise would belong to Disney, not just an American version of the show.

Steven Spielberg was their only choice to run the office. Spielberg was more than willing to do it, as he felt that Disney was the only American studio who could do such an amazing British show justice. He lost interest when he was told that the show would be released under their Touchstone Television banner; he felt that such an imaginative show needs to be released under their Disney banner.

British expatriate Philip Segal had been working since 1989 to forge a co-production deal between an American company and the BBC to make a new Doctor Who series even before the programme's twenty-sixth and final season, broadcast that year. At that time, Segal was working with Columbia Pictures, but little had come of his efforts by the time he left for a two-year stint at ABC. Subsequently, Segal went to work for Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment. Shortly thereafter he resumed his efforts to acquire the rights to Doctor Who.

By June 1992, he was joined by Peter Wagg, producer of the eclectic science-fiction series Max Headroom. There were several parties involved in the Doctor Who discussions: Amblin and the BBC, of course, but also Amblin's parent company, Universal Pictures, and the BBC's commercial arm, BBC Enterprises, which would shortly become BBC Worldwide. With each organisation trying to safeguard its own interests, negotiations stretched into 1993, and then 1994.

Despite the many difficulties the complex situation presented, on 13 January 1994, an agreement was reached. Philip Segal was, for all intents and purposes, Doctor Who's newest producer. The race was on to get a series ready to be pitched to the American networks in time for the Fall 1994 season, essentially giving Segal and Wagg less than two months.

One of Segal's first instructions from his superiors at Universal was to use a studio writer for the project, specifically John Leekley. Segal was hesitant, preferring to go outside Universal; former Doctor Who script editor Terrance Dicks was amongst the candidates he considered. However, aware that any fight with Universal would waste precious development time, Segal agreed to bring Leekley aboard.

As a TV series
With designer Richard Lewis, Segal and Leekley prepared an expensive and extensive series bible, The Chronicles Of Doctor Who?, to introduce Doctor Who in general, and the proposed new series in particular. Segal had envisioned this version as largely divorced from the original BBC series -- although the basic concepts of Doctor Who were adhered to, the programme's mythos would be completely rewritten. The bible was written from the perspective of Cardinal Barusa (a misspelling of Borusa, a character who had first appeared in Season Fourteen's The Deadly Assassin).

It introduced the Doctor and the Master, half-brothers and sons of the lost Time Lord explorer Ulysses, Borusa's son. When the evil Master becomes President of the Time Lords upon Borusa's death, the Doctor flees Gallifrey in a rickety old TARDIS to find Ulysses. Borusa's spirit becomes enmeshed in the TARDIS, enabling Borusa to advise his grandson. The Doctor takes the TARDIS to "the Blue Planet" to search for Ulysses, the native world of the Doctor's mother.

They soon searched for the man to play the Doctor. Many people were considered and auditioned, including Rowan Atkinson, Derek Jacobi, and Jim Carrey.

It was under this script that Paul McGann later would audition. His brother Mark would as well.

A third producer joined the Doctor Who team in March, much to the surprise and, at the time, the dismay of Segal. This was Jo Wright, assigned by the BBC to represent their interests. Around the end of March, Doctor Who was offered to the four American networks. NBC and ABC were completely uninterested. CBS president Peter Tortorici tentatively offered Segal a two-hour pilot and six one-hour episodes (presumably to serve as mid-season replacement series), but this was retracted by network head Howard Stringer in mid-May.

That left Fox, the youngest American network. Led by head of series Robert Greenblatt, Fox was interested in Doctor Who, but was only willing to commit to a two-hour movie with the possibility of a second. It appeared Segal's dreams of producing a new Doctor Who series were fast disappearing. Despite this, he agreed to an offer made by Doctor Who historian Jean-Marc Lofficier and his wife Randy to become unofficial consultants on the project.

The Lofficiers would advise the production team on continuity and act as liaisons with the fan community. On 28 June, Fox indicated they were interested in having the initial movie serve as a "backdoor pilot"; if ratings were good, the property might shift from their Movie of the Week department to the series department.

At the suggestion of Trevor Walton, Fox's vice president in charge of movies, Segal and Wagg met with Matthew Jacobs, who had written for The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. (Jacobs was the son of Anthony Jacobs, who had played Doc Holliday in The Gunfighters, and had been present on the set.) The selection was approved by the other interested parties and Jacobs set to work on 5th May Unlike the DeLaurentis iteration, it was decided to essentially discard all the work done to date, with Jacobs starting afresh on an entirely new script. Only the idea of the Doctor having a human mother would be retained.

By 19th May, Jacobs had composed a storyline; unlike the earlier Leekley and DeLaurentis versions, this continued from the end of the original series, starting by introducing Sylvester McCoy's Seventh Doctor. The Doctor arrives on modern-day Earth in either San Francisco or New Orleans.

However, the dying Master has transmogrified himself into a shape-shifting slick of DNA, and attacks the Doctor, mortally wounding him. The Doctor's body is found by a street kid named Jack. Jack brings the Doctor to the hospital, where he is operated on unsuccessfully by Dr Kelly Grace (an obvious play on the name of actress Grace Kelly). In the morgue, the Doctor regenerates; meanwhile, the Master acquires a temporary human host body. Jack has gained access to the TARDIS using gloves he has pilfered from the Doctor's body. The Master raises Jack's father from the dead and through him uses Jack to take over the TARDIS.

As Halloween approaches, the Master uses the TARDIS to unleash an army of the dead. With Kelly's help, the Doctor returns to the TARDIS and draws himself, the Master, Kelly, Jack and the dead into another dimension. He defeats the Master, returns Jack to Earth and leaves with Kelly.

Various changes were made by the time of the next draft, on June 27th. The date was shifted to the days leading up to New Year's Eve instead of Halloween, and San Francisco was specified as the location. After regenerating, the Doctor sees a vision of his mother. Jack uses the TARDIS key instead of a pair of gloves to enter the time machine. In addition to Jack's father, Kelly is also confronted by someone from her past, and an earlier suggestion made by Jacobs that Jack be killed only to be brought back to life via the power of the TARDIS was included. Kelly also reluctantly remained behind at the end of this version.

A movie is formed
Through mid-September, Leekley's script made the rounds of all the various organisations which had to approve it (Amblin, BBC Television, BBC Enterprises, the Fox network and Universal). Ironically, the death knell was sounded by Segal's own boss, Steven Spielberg. Spielberg was concerned that Leekley's script veered too closely to his own Indiana Jones franchise, and on 26th September asked Segal to start again with a new writer. This meant that principal photography would be delayed until at least February 1995.

The BBC, particularly BBC1 Controller and longtime Doctor Who supporter Alan Yentob and Tony Greenwood of BBC Enterprises were still enthusiastic about Doctor Who Around the start of October, at the instigation of Universal, Segal met with veteran writer/producer Robert DeLaurentis. DeLaurentis agreed to put together a new story proposal, using Leekley's script as a starting point, but wanted to accentuate its "fun" aspects.

On 7 October, DeLaurentis delivered a new draft of the storyline. This time, in the process of meeting Lizzie in World War II London, the Doctor also discovers that his father (no longer named Ulysses) was involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler. They travel forward to the United States in 1994, where the Doctor is reunited with his father. The Master lures the Doctor, his father and Lizzie to Skaro for a final confrontation. There, the Doctor destroys the Master's time-travelling warship, though the Master himself escapes with his Daleks. Other minor alterations included Castellan being renamed Casteloan (though this would subsequently be changed back), and giving Lizzie a bulldog companion named Winston, who stays with the Doctor at the story's conclusion.

At this stage some of the key crew positions started to be filled, most notably British director Geoffrey Sax, whose work included episodes of Bergerac and Lovejoy. Because the movie would be filmed in British Columbia, Canadian regulations meant that most of the rest of the crew would come from the country. This included production designer Richard Hudolin, who major task was a redesign of the TARDIS console room. Segal wanted to invoke the Jules Verne feel of the wooden version of the set used during Season Fourteen, but on a much grander scale.

Construction on the TARDIS sets began very early on, during September, before the project had even been officially green-lit. Around the start of October, Fox announced Doctor Who would air in mid-May 1996. May was one of three key "sweeps" periods for the American networks (the others falling in November and February), when ratings performance determines advertising rates for the next quarter. Consequently, expectations for Doctor Who would be fairly high.

The next step was to cast the major roles. Sylvester McCoy had already agreed to appear, fulfilling a promise he had made to himself in 1989 to hand off the role of the Doctor to a successor in proper fashion. Jo Wright, in fact, had wanted Fourth Doctor Tom Baker to appear instead, but Segal was adamant that the telefilm continue from where the original series had left off.

Segal also briefly considered the idea of including a role for Sophie Aldred as Ace, the Seventh Doctor's final companion. This, however, was quickly vetoed by the BBC. Segal did decide to give the Seventh Doctor a new wardrobe, having long disliked the umbrella and the question-mark pullover which were hallmarks of the original outfit. Costume designer Jori Woodman composed a new costume which echoed the earlier version but was much more refined; to Segal's delight, McCoy brought with him the hat he had worn throughout his time in Doctor Who.

With production just weeks away, Jacobs was working on fashioning his script into a finished form. The BBC was much more receptive to his November draft, but passed it along to an in-house script editor, Craig Dickson, for comment. From this came the decision to eliminate the Millennium Star concept, with the Master's focus now simply to take over the Doctor's body.

Jacobs' newest draft was ready by 29th December, and this was fundamentally the version which was recorded. Other small changes eventually made included changing Grace's surname from Wilson to Holloway; eliminating the Bill And Ted reference (which the BBC felt was out-of-date) by renaming the former Pete; having the Master break Bruce's wife's neck instead of shooting her; and excising a scene where the Master callously kills a hospital patient who resembles the Seventh Doctor. Much of Chang Lee's background had also been lost to timing issues by this stage, with all references to Sam and Jimmy Lee being dropped.

As 1996 dawned, numerous difficulties still remained to be overcome. Geoffrey Sax had originally been promised a luxurious thirty-day shoot, but Beaton subsequently curtailed this to twenty-five days to save money. Then Segal discovered that the BBC did not actually own the rights to the familiar Doctor Who theme music; this rested with Warner/Chappel Music, who wanted to charge a hefty fee for its use. Universal balked at this, but finally Segal convinced the BBC to pick up the cost. The new theme arrangement would be composed by John Sponsier and John Debney. Segal had not realised that McGann had recently cut his hair severely for another production until McGann arrived in Vancouver for a photo shoot on 7th January; this meant that hair stylist Julie McHaffire had to hastily put together a wig.

Filming begins
Location filming began on 15 January, and was interlaced with the studio work which started on the 31st. Sites around Vancouver were used, including a disused wing of the BC Children's Hospital, the Plaza of Nations and several street exteriors; no filming was actually carried out in San Francisco; for establishing shots, stock footage was employed. The studio itself was located in nearby Burnaby.

Some difficulty arose when Roberts found the wardrobe created for him by Woodman, which was largely in keeping with the Master's outfits from the original series, was too restrictive. He was also uncomfortable with the serpentine contact lenses he was supposed to wear and with the prosthetics which would have depicted his body's gradual disintegration over the course of the movie.

The result was that the effect of Bruce's body wearing out was essentially lost and it was decided to instead dress Roberts in dark sunglasses and a leather jacket for most of the film, unfortunately turning the Master into a silhouette of the Terminator from the two Arnold Schwarzenegger motion pictures. Elements of the Master's original costume would still be visible in the Time Lord outfit he wears in the latter stages of the movie.

Several other issues had to be confronted as the shoot went on. Some problems were found with the script such as the question of how the Master has gotten into the TARDIS when he first encounters Chang Lee, which had to be simply ignored. The final battle between the Doctor and the Master had been only briefly sketched and had to be quickly fleshed out for filming.

Sax had hoped to have all the Doctors appear in the Eye of Harmony, but could not get clearance on the images in time. Ultimately, the production went four days over schedule; even then some sequences were greatly simplified to save time, such as Chang Lee's death scene. Filming for Doctor Who was completed on 21 February.

Post-production saw trims to the material, such as the loss of the scene where the Master confronts the security guards who are later found "slimed". The Dalek voices were originally in keeping with the original series, but were changed over concerns they weren't audible enough. A new introductory voiceover by Paul McGann was written on 2nd April to replace earlier dialogue by the Master (voiced by Gordon Tipple) and the Daleks. The BBC expressed concerns the Master's snake form was too comical, but little could be done about it at this stage. Segal lent a rough cut of the movie to Los Angeles-based fan Shaun Lyon, organiser of the Gallifrey One conventions and editor of the Outpost Gallifrey website, to get his opinion. It was Lyon who caught several errors in the movie, most notably a reference to the Doctor having twelve lives. This was amended to the correct number, thirteen.

Segal also had to deal with various claims for credit from individuals who had worked on earlier stages of the project. Despite the protests of Fox and Universal, Segal won agreement for John and Ros Hubbard to be credited, as they had indeed been the first to bring McGann to his attention. John Leekley's case for a producer's credit was rejected, however, because virtually nothing remained of his work.

Meanwhile, the various cost overruns on recording, casting and even the theme music, all to the tune of roughly US$170,000 was creating animosity between the coproduction partners, souring the relationships before the would-be back-door pilot had even aired

After filming, the cast were never called again and most of the props were put in storage, including the main TARDIS console piece, which was later saved from destruction by Doctor Who fan Paul J. Salamoff, who reconstructed the colomn and currently lets fans and ex-actors alike visit it freely. Paul McGann, Daphne Ashbrook and Yee Jee Tso are three people to have been known to visit.

Foods and beverages

 * In the TARDIS the Seventh Doctor has a bowl of jelly babies, together with a cup of tea and The Time Machine by H. G. Wells. The Seventh Doctor is shown eating a jelly baby on screen for the only time in his history.
 * When Gareth asks for what's in the Doctor's hand, the Doctor presents him a jelly baby. He earlier offered jelly babies to a policeman, and had jelly babies amongst his possessions claimed at the hospital by Chang.
 * Grace takes a glass of champagne at Professor Wagg's party.

Gallifrey

 * "Rassilon Era" appears on the TARDIS' console and screen.
 * The Seal of Rassilon is featured extensively throughout the TARDIS.
 * The Master uses the Eye of Harmony to spy on the Doctor and to transfer his lives.
 * Both the Doctor (in his narration) and the Master reaffirm that Time Lords can regenerate twelve times.

Individuals

 * The Master, the Doctor and Grace name-drop throughout this story by referring to Marie Curie ("does she kiss as good as me?"), Sigmund Freud, and Genghis Khan. (The Master also corrects Grace's grammar to "as well as you").
 * Grace obviously likes Madame Butterfly, and the Doctor has met its composer.
 * The Seventh Doctor's x-ray reveals the presence of two hearts.

Technology

 * The Doctor reminisces about having his sonic screwdriver.
 * The Doctor also asks Grace for the neutron ram.
 * The Doctor describes the chameleon circuit to Grace as a cloaking device, but admits he likes the TARDIS as a police box.

The Doctor's TARDIS

 * The odd-shaped TARDIS key, glimpsed on previous occasions, appears. It is revealed that the Yale lock opening seen on the door is in fact a false front for the real keyhole underneath.
 * There is a small cubby-hole above the first 'P' in the 'POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX' sign above the doors, in which the Doctor keeps a spare key.
 * The Doctor states that his TARDIS is "a Type 40 TARDIS, able to take you to any planet in the universe, and to any point in that planet's existence."

Story notes

 * The telefilm features a redesigned console room with a library and gothic architecture. Although this attracted criticism from fandom, in TV: Time Crash, it would be established that the console room design can be changed like a desktop theme. The Tom Baker era previously also established that the TARDIS has more than one console room (TV: The Masque of Mandragora, et al) and that the interior can be reconfigured (TV: Logopolis). TV: The Eleventh Hour would later establish that the TARDIS herself can design a new control room while undergoing internal repairs, while TV: The Doctor's Wife revealed that all the past console rooms - including, presumably, this one - continue to exist within the TARDIS archive.
 * During production and 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. A wholly unofficial subtitle, Out of the Ashes, was given to the film by some fan groups; it subsequently was used in this capacity by the A Brief History of Time (Travel) website and by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in an online documentary promoting the 2005 series revival. The only on-screen title that appears is Doctor Who, making this technically the first story of the franchise to not carry an on-screen title; the 2005 Children in Need Special and 2009 Sarah Jane Adventures Comic Relief special, From Raxacoricofallapatorius With Love, are the only other examples to date of this.
 * British-born television producer Philip Segal had a longtime ambition to produce 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 arranged a co-production between Universal Pictures and the BBC. The script went through several different forms, including some which would have taken place on Gallifrey or during World War II.
 * The eventual script by Matthew Jacobs continued from the BBC series, including a substantial role for Sylvester McCoy, the previous player of the role of the Doctor.
 * Doctor Who: Regeneration details the development of this story (and many of the previous attempts).
 * For the 'international release' (i.e., everywhere outside of the UK) the opening sequence within the TARDIS has the caption "Based on the series originally broadcast on the BBC". It is standard practice for American productions to give screen credit to a series/character creator, so this title card is used in lieu of crediting Sydney Newman or any of the others involved in the creation of the original series. Contrary to later practice, Terry Nation does not receive screen credit for the Daleks, who are referenced and heard but not seen.
 * Ron Grainer, the late composer of the Doctor Who Theme, is not given screen credit for his work. Only John Debney, commissioned to arrange the theme and compose new incidental music, is given main credit; this led to the mistaken impression that Debney also composed the Doctor Who Theme. (It was reported that Debney wanted to create a new theme, but was overridden by Segal). There is also screen credit given for "additional music" by John Sponsler and Louis Serbe. Similarly, the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and Delia Derbyshire are uncredited for their creation of the TARDIS sound effect.
 * At the time of broadcast/release there was significant reaction to the Doctor kissing Grace as this was the first overtly romantic scene involving the Doctor. The later revival series, however, would incorporate more of these elements.
 * Promotional advertisements for the telefilm shown on the Fox network incorporated footage from the opening sequence of the first episode of The Trial of a Time Lord - specifically the TARDIS being drawn into the giant space station - even though this footage does not appear anywhere in the telefilm. The arrangement of the Doctor Who theme heard during these ads doesn't correspond with the Debney arrangement heard in the film, either.
 * Neither Paul McGann nor Sylvester McCoy are actually credited on screen next to any character name. However the press kit for the film gives the official credits as being as 'The Doctor' and 'The Old Doctor' respectively — and these are also the credits given in Radio Times. Although not used on screen, this is the last time the lead character is credited as 'The Doctor' until the 2006 season, as the 2005 revival reverts to the old 'Doctor Who' credit line.
 * The version of 1931's Frankenstein excerpted here is not the current restored version, but the earlier censored print that was commonly circulated on TV prior to the 1980s; this is evident from the fact Dr. Frankenstein's dialogue "Now I know what it feels like to be God" is not heard in the scene shown during the regeneration sequence. However, this portion of the film is still visible, just not audible.
 * Sylvester McCoy has in recent years been critical of aspects of this film, telling the premiere episode of Doctor Who Confidential that the film should not have featured him, but should have started with Paul McGann's Doctor and saved the story of how the regeneration occurred for an episode of the resulting series, if one had been commissioned.
 * This is the first televised Doctor Who to feature narration (one of the characters addressing the audience in voiceover) since TV: The Deadly Assassin — although William Hartnell's pre-credits sample from the The Dalek Invasion of Earth in The Five Doctors was re-contextualisd so that it could be read as bit of omniscient narration. In this instance, the Eighth Doctor sets the scene during the pre-credits sequence and immediately thereafter. This device would be used in the BBC Wales series in the following episodes: Father's Day, Army of Ghosts, The Family of Blood, Forest of the Dead, The End of Time, Cold Blood, A Town Called Mercy, and The Power of Three.
 * It was originally intended that the opening narration would be by the Old Master, in which he requested that the Doctor transport his remains back to Gallifrey, but although Gordon Tipple recorded this voice-over, it was never used in the final version of the TV Movie. Tipple retained an on-screen credit despite no longer having any lines.
 * Radio Times credits Bill Croft (Motorcycle Policeman) as 'Motorcycle Cop', Dee Jay Jackson (Security Guard) as 'Security Man', and Joanna Piros (News Anchor) as 'Co-anchor'.
 * According to press coverage at the time, the redesigned TARDIS console room set — clearly intended to have been an ongoing "standing set" in a series — cost $1 million to build.
 * Of the regenerations actually depicted on screen, this was the first to show the Doctor undergoing the change while completely alone. This would next occur with the Tenth Doctor's regeneration in TV: The End of Time. (Two other regenerations, that of the Second Doctor after TV: The War Games and the regeneration of the Eighth Doctor into the Ninth Doctor, were never shown on screen so it is not known if they occurred in the presence of others).
 * This is the only Doctor Who story to be entirely shot on 35mm.
 * The original script called for Bruce's body to start visibly decaying after the Master's possession; This was later dropped when the prosthetics caused Eric Roberts severe skin irritation.
 * In the original script, the Doctor's father was given a longer reference, and named "Ulysses", a plot element later taken up in some of Eighth Doctor Adventures novels, most notably PROSE: The Gallifrey Chronicles.
 * When the Eighth Doctor says he has thirteen lives he isn't really saying it as he in actual fact says 'twelve'. In an issue of Doctor Who Magazine it is revealed that Paul McGann had to redub the line to say thirteen rather than the incorrect twelve.

Ratings

 * BBC1: 9.08 million viewers.
 * Fox: 5.6 million viewers/9 share.

Awards

 * At the 1997 ceremony, Doctor Who took home a statuette for "Best Single Genre Television Presentation", and Paul McGann was nominated in the category of "Best Genre TV Actor".

Filming locations

 * The story was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from 15 January to 21 February 1996. This was the first Doctor Who production mounted completely outside of the UK, and the last to be mounted in a major way outside Europe until the production of Planet of the Dead in the Middle East in 2009.
 * Ogden Avenue (No 1998), Vancouver, Canada
 * Plaza of Nations, Vancouver, Canada
 * East Georgia Street (No 218, rear), Vancouver, Canada
 * Keefer Street (No 222), Vancouver, Canada
 * Carrall Street/Keefer Street, Vancouver, Canada
 * Waterfront Road, Vancouver, Canada
 * Hadden Park, Vancouver, Canada
 * British Columbia Children's Hospital, 4480 Oak Street, Vancouver, Canada
 * East Georgia Street (alley), Vancouver, Canada (Alley where the TARDIS materialises)
 * Golden Crown Centre (car park), 211 East Georgia Street, Vancouver
 * Andy Livingstone Park, Vancouver, Canada
 * Eastlake Drive (no 8651), Burnaby, Canada (Location of studio)

Continuity

 * The Doctor says that the anaesthetic almost killed him, similar to how aspirin would do the same. (TV: The Mind of Evil)
 * There are multiple prequels to this story:
 * PROSE: 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).
 * PROSE: The Eight Doctors also has a trail scene of the Master.
 * GAME: Destiny of the Doctors also appears to lead into the TV movie, with being imprisoned by a hostile force. He indicated that who ever has captured him was in the "game" he and The Graak had been playing, and one of the enemies in Destiny of the Doctors was a Dalek.
 * The Master previously attempted to use the Eye of Harmony (TV: The Deadly Assassin).
 * The Master's statement that the Doctor made him waste all his lives has some grounding in PROSE: The Dark Path.
 * The cloister room, last seen TV: Logopolis, makes a return appearance.
 * Pete is depicted watching the 1931 film version of Frankenstein as the Doctor undergoes his seventh regeneration. The First Doctor encountered an android version of Frankenstein's Monster at the Festival of Ghana in 1996. (TV: The Chase) Later in his eighth incarnation, the Doctor would meet Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, at the Villa Diodati near Lake Geneva in Switzerland in June 1816. She subsequently became his companion, travelling with him for years. (AUDIO: Mary's Story)
 * In an alternative timeline in which the Nazis won World War II, the Seventh Doctor regenerated for the same reason, only in Nazi Germany in 1955. His next incarnation was an alternative version of the Eighth Doctor who used the alias "Johann Schmidt." (AUDIO: Colditz, AUDIO: Klein's Story)
 * Several established events happen concurrently with this story:
 * The Sixth Doctor and his companion Melanie Bush saved the Earth from being taken over by Saraquazel, a being from the After-Universe, and his servant Ashley Chapel. (PROSE: Millennial Rites)
 * A younger version of the Seventh Doctor and an older version of Mel gate crashed the New Year's Eve party being thrown by Alisha Hammerson, the Auton head of Hammerson Plastic PLC, in London. They foiled her plan to replace her guests with Auton replicas so the Earth could be dominated and absorbed by severing her link to the Nestene Consciousness. (COMIC: Plastic Millennium)
 * Alex Hopkins, Team Leader of Torchwood Three in Cardiff, had a mental breakdown and massacred his team within the Torchwood Hub. The only survivor was Captain Jack Harkness, who was both out on a mission and, by this time, immortal. Alex told Jack that the 21st century was when everything would change, and that they would not be ready. Alex then committed suicide, leaving Jack in charge of Torchwood Three. (TV: Fragments)
 * During a visit to Haven in the 28th century, the Seventh Doctor experienced a premonition of hearing Puccini while unconscious. (PROSE: Companion Piece)
 * Death previously taunted the Doctor by telling him that his seventh incarnation will die without warning, without purpose, afraid and alone. (PROSE: So Vile a Sin)
 * An alternative version of the Doctor settled down in San Francisco and eventually married Grace. (PROSE: So Vile a Sin)

Home video and audio releases
Despite the fact that the 1996 tele-film was made for American broadcast, it was until recently the only non-missing story which had not received a North American home video release in any format. Joint BBC/Universal ownership was problematic for North American publication, because the BBC are obliged to use Warner Brothers, and not Universal, for their Doctor Who DVD distribution. In August 2010 it was announced by Dan Hall, the commissioning editor of the Classic Doctor Who DVD range, that Universal had agreed on the release of the TV Movie outside the UK (including North America). Release finally occurred on 8th February 2011.

Several of the featurettes on the 2001 UK DVD were produced specifically for US audiences, and provided British home audiences with a look into the way Doctor Who was marketed in America.

Some snippets of footage from the movie have made their way onto Region 1 DVDs. In 2003, a special 40th anniversary music video that included footage from the film was added to a number of classic-series DVDs. In July 2009, the Region 1 DVD release of Planet of the Dead included an unedited edition of Doctor Who Confidential that includes part of a dialogue scene from the film. The Next Doctor, also released to DVD in Region 1 in 2009, includes a short piece of footage from the film.

A special edition DVD release was released 2010 in the UK as part of the Revisitations box set, with additional special features. It is this version that was also released to North America/Region 1 in February 2011.

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

It was released:
 * Region 2 13 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- Hit left on the "Play Movie" option and the logo on the main menu page becomes illuminated. Hit select and you get a dedication caption to Jon Pertwee who died shortly before the UK TV premier of the 8th Doctor TV movie.
 * Commentary: Geoffrey Sax

Rear Credits:
 * By Matthew Jacobs
 * Executive Producers: Alex Beaton & Philip Segal
 * Executive Producer for the BBC: Jo Wright
 * Produced: Peter V. 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.
 * Editing for the DVD release was completed by the Doctor Who Restoration Team.

2010
A 2 disc version was released in October 2010 in the UK and on 8 February 2011 in North America. It includes the following extras:


 * Electronic Press Kit - Cast & crew interviews/behind the scenes footage/tour of the TARDIS set (from the 2001 release)
 * Alternate/Extended Scenes (from the 2001 release)
 * Audio commentary by director Geoffrey Sax.
 * Second audio commentary by Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann, moderated by Nicholas Briggs
 * Isolated music soundtrack.
 * Four musical tracks taken from the soundtrack, including the song heard on the Doctor's record player.
 * The Seven Year Hitch - detailing Philip Segal's efforts to get Doctor Who back on air (which began before production of Season 26 had concluded).
 * Paul McGann's audition video, featuring two takes of him performing a scene from the early, rejected script for the film, set on Gallifrey.
 * FX test reels, including early concepts for the opening credits and a proposed redesign of the Daleks.
 * The Wilderness Years - The world of Doctor Who in between Survival and the TV Movie, featuring footage from several BBV and Reeltime Pictures productions.
 * Who Peter part 2 - 1989-2009
 * Stripped for Action - the Eighth Doctor
 * Tomorrow's Times - the Eighth Doctor
 * The Doctor's Strange Love - fans discuss the film
 * BBC trailers promoting the film
 * Radio Times listings (PDF)

VHS releases
This story was released as Doctor Who.

It was released:
 * UK May 1996
 * PAL - BBC Video BBCV5882
 * Australia/NZ November 1996

Notes: This story was released in an edited form with the operating scene and gang gun battle trimmed; the latter was considered to be inappropriate in light of the shootings that had taken place at the primary school in Dunblane, Scotland, earlier that year.

Laserdisc
This story was released by Universal Home Video in Hong Kong in 1997.

Soundtrack

 * see: Doctor Who - Original Soundtrack Recording

Press kit
To promote the film among North American media, Fox issued a small, coil-bound press booklet detailing the film and also explaining a bit of the history of Doctor Who.

Contents

 * Introduction, a brief explanation of the film and the concept.
 * Main credits: This is the only place where Paul McGann and Sylvester McCoy are actually credited as The Doctor and The Old Doctor, respectively, or Eric Roberts as The Master, Daphne Ashbrook as Grace Holloway, and Yee Jee Tso as Chang Lee, as they are not credited with their character names in the televised film. As in the film, John Debney receives sole music credit, with no reference made to Ron Grainer. Also, although it is common practice for US productions to credit a creator(s) for the characters, no individuals are credited in this way for Doctor Who.
 * Production Notes: A primer on the concept of Doctor Who, including explanations of what regeneration is all about, what Time Lords are, The Master, etc., and includes actor comments on their characters.
 * About the Production: More on the making of the film, plus a discussion of the new TARDIS design, including a reference to the interior being covered by "round bells" (!).
 * History: Brief primer on the history of the series back to 1963.
 * Facts: Fast facts about the Doctor and the series. Interestingly, it makes reference to the Guinness Book of Records naming it the world's longest running SF series, even though official recognition of this would not occur until 2007. According to this section, the TV movie is the 696th instalment of the television series.
 * Biographies: cast and crew biographies for the main actors.