00:00I think that number eight, Paul McGann, was very sensitive, very gentle, and fun.
00:25Just a lot of fun.
00:26It was the 1990s.
00:31TV was ruled by Mulder and Scully, but for one night only, Doctor Who came back.
00:38Trapped in San Francisco in an exploding TARDIS, the Eighth Doctor had little more than a sonic
00:43screwdriver and a frock coat, but he was still more than ready to save the Earth.
00:50The Eighth Doctor arrives in a very particular way, which sort of explains what kind of Doctor
00:54he is.
00:55We haven't seen the Doctor for ages.
00:58Most of us had written off the series, and the idea was he was coming back.
01:02We all thought Doctor Who was gone.
01:04I mean, it was seven, eight years since it had been on BBC One.
01:08So there was a huge amount of anticipation, and everybody saw this as a possibility of
01:12the show returning.
01:14what Paul McGann very beautifully gives us is a sort of a reset Doctor, very much a reset
01:19Doctor, sort of reminding you this is what he's like.
01:22What if people broadly sketched the Doctor Who's fundamental costume to be, it would be
01:27sort of like that.
01:28This beautiful green velvet coat that was just fabulous on him.
01:35The Eighth Doctor, Paul McGann's Doctor was, I think he brought something new to Doctor Who.
01:45I think Paul McGann brought a quirkiness to performance.
01:48And a really good example is the scene where he kind of gets past the police officer by distracting
01:55him with the jelly baby, then stealing his gun and threatening himself.
01:57Hey, just keep that!
01:58Right there, sir.
01:59Ma'am, go back to your vehicle.
02:00What?
02:01Stop!
02:02He's, um, he's British.
02:03Which I suppose I am.
02:04Jelly baby, officer?
02:05Jelly baby?
02:06Just take it.
02:07Now would you stand aside before I shoot myself?
02:22That is very definitely a Doctor thing to do.
02:26Cracked me up when I read that.
02:29I just thought, and the way he played it was brilliant.
02:31A perfectly Doctor-ish solution to the problem.
02:34I've got a gun.
02:35I need to get my way.
02:36I'll shoot myself.
02:37Perfect.
02:38Viewers were also treated to one last glimpse of the Seventh Doctor, as the story saw his
02:46dramatic exit in a hail of gunfire.
02:49One of the nice things about the way the telefilm was developed, it's very respectful.
02:55of the heritage.
02:56To start the journey with Sylvester McCoy's Doctor is a lovely thing.
03:02The demise of the Seventh Doctor.
03:05Well, um, yes, it was quite violent, because it was set in San Francisco, I think, yeah.
03:12And there was, um, a gang warfare going on.
03:15I see your prayers, Lee.
03:16I see your prayers, Lee.
03:22I just happened to walk into the middle of it and get shot.
03:23I just happened to walk into the middle of it and get shot.
03:24I just happened to walk into the middle of it and get shot.
03:47What's that mean?
03:48He steps out of the TARDIS and is shot.
04:02And it's actually quite shocking.
04:04He says, oh my God, that can happen too.
04:11I mean malfunction.
04:17I'm getting you an ambulance.
04:21So the doctor immediately is, you know, in a bad way.
04:25And when they take him to the hospital, they've got him under anesthetic and he's, he's, um,
04:30general anesthetic, you know, and he's, he's going through an operation.
04:33And it's actually the operation that kills him, not the, because the doctor, Grace Holloway,
04:37doesn't know that he has two hearts, for example.
04:40So she gets completely, uh, befuddled working on this guy.
04:43That's strange.
04:45What?
04:46Dejavel, where am I?
04:49Uh, subclavian.
04:51I should be in the barriocephalic.
04:53It was the two hearts that made it so complicated because the surgeon, the wonderful Daphne,
04:59was, you know, being the surgeon, you know, she kind of freaked out when she found this thing
05:04with two hearts.
05:05Let me try something.
05:10Massive seizures.
05:11Get that problem out of there.
05:12I'm trying.
05:13Picture's in.
05:14Dammit.
05:15We're dropping off fast.
05:16Just pull it out.
05:17Get it out of there, Grace.
05:18No wood.
05:19I can't get it out of there.
05:20Unfortunately, uh, the doctor's not quite made the way human beings are.
05:27So she's confused by the fact that he's got two hearts.
05:31I just wasn't getting it at that point.
05:33It was just a bridge too far for me at that point.
05:36So unfortunately, unfortunately, Grace did end up killing him.
05:45Clear!
05:46No good.
05:47Time to death.
05:4810.03.
05:49I think that's probably a first as well where, um, a companion to the doctor starts the show
06:07off by, um, by killing him.
06:08I've lost him.
06:09I want to see his x-rays now.
06:10Grace!
06:11Luckily, he's a Time Lord and he can regenerate.
06:14He regenerates into this, um, beautiful palm again.
06:21I think it's lovely that there's a proper handover from the old series to the new.
06:29It was really nice to start the journey with him.
06:31You felt like you were properly, properly kind of laying the past to rest and then being
06:36able to move on with palm again.
06:38The doctor and Grace may have had a world to save, but they still had time to make history,
06:43by showing the world the doctor's first on-screen kiss.
06:47At the time, it was a controversy.
06:49It was huge.
06:50It was on the internet while they were filming that.
06:54And we were all going, oh my God this is wrong, they got the doctor wrong.
06:59Grace is an incredibly well-rounded character.
07:01She's a very modern companion.
07:03She's a very modern companion.
07:05So she's a great companion, and the full name, and the full name is,
07:09the full name of the Doctor, who has been displayed in the new novel.
07:14incredibly well-rounded character she's a very modern companion she has a skill set of her own
07:19we see her clearly established as a very capable surgeon there are a lot of facets to grace and
07:25she can give as good as she gets with the doctor dr grace holloway was the best heart surgeon in
07:31all of san francisco and she lost her heart to a handsome stranger with two of them new year's eve
07:381999 would be a night she would never forget full of danger excitement and passion i had
07:47read the script obviously and loved the story and was intrigued by that alone and i loved my
07:55character being an educated woman and a cardiologist and all the crazy things we got to go through it
08:01was just a beautiful story and a great role when the eighth doctor encounters grace he doesn't know
08:07who he is and she doesn't know who he is and so together they they find the character and they
08:12build a relationship together it's really confusing for her so their relationship doesn't there's none
08:19of this kind of i'm the doctor hello here's my tardis i do this and you're going to be my friend
08:24you know it's more he's in a terrible state very confused it takes a lot of work for the eighth
08:30doctor to convince her that he is who he says he is listen why don't you just have a seat and open
08:36your shirt i want to listen to your heart what's cool right right i think she probably thinks she's
08:45seriously losing the plot in her life when she ends up with this guy in her house who's talking
08:51about having strange experiences in the past with historical figures maybe you have selective amnesia
08:57brought on by shock maybe i can't remember once he regenerates he starts having slow memories and sort
09:05of is curious because he's remembering uh da vinci he had a cold when he drew that you're still
09:12fibrillating badly no i'm not here as time progresses he's uh remembering puccini and all these things start
09:22to trigger his memory i was with puccini before he died name drop i was i was i was that sort of
09:33forces the issue for her to start to rethink all this but it's she it's creeping up on her anyway
09:38she's definitely realizing he's got two hearts and does not have blood uh the way we know it oh my god
09:46you see that's no echo he died before he could finish tuando alfano finished it based on his notes
09:52it was so sad you have two hearts
09:56at that point she starts to listen to him a little more and i think that's when
10:03she definitely gets on board all the way it's not until the whole crisis
10:07of the situation of the earth about to be destroyed of course kicks in that she starts
10:13just by default to assume the role the traditional role of the companion because they have to work
10:19together to solve stuff and to make everything turn out right in the end the doctor and grace may
10:25have had a world to save but they still had time to make history by showing the world the doctor's
10:31first on-screen kiss at the time it was a controversy it was huge it was on the internet
10:41while they were filming that it was released that uh that the doctor had kissed grace and we were all
10:47going oh my god this is wrong they've got the doctor wrong it wasn't until several years later that i
10:53was actually reading a book um about the reaction by the fans in the uk and i was on my way
11:00to the uk and i suddenly was very nervous because they weren't too happy about that there were a few
11:07things that we did that sort of uh i think upset some people although i was perhaps predictably
11:12among the counseling saying where does it say in doctor who that he doesn't do that he never
11:16actually says that he's not he doesn't like that sort of thing he just generally speaking doesn't
11:21do it it all comes together when he suddenly realizes that his shoes fit and he's out there in
11:28the park uh with daphne ashbrook um and uh yeah and he does all this running on the spot and this all
11:35leads into the kiss and everything i remember i i i'm with my father we're lying back in the grass it's
11:40a warm gallifreyan gallifreyan gallifrey yes this must be where i live now where is that i've never heard
11:46of it what do you remember a meteor storm that the sky above us was dancing with lights purple green
11:54brilliant yellow yes what these shoes they fit perfectly yes
12:03his recollection comes to full and um he was hilarious in that scene we were running around and
12:10we had our first doctor companion kiss at that moment so that was pretty cool i know who i am
12:25i am the doctor god who could not get themselves to wrap their heads around the fact that the doctor was
12:32going to um be like that with with with uh with anyone now do that again it's a good kisser
12:46the doctors traveled with plenty of troubled teenagers but chang li was something different
12:51a gang member who was out for his own ends and wasn't afraid to break the law if it suited him
12:57so he was a great character in terms of he he stood as a very kind of an alternative to grace he was
13:06a more streetwise younger kid you know who would maybe switch back and forth between you know the
13:12side of the law he was on and also his relationship with the doctor when he finds out that the doctor
13:17didn't make it you know i mean he's not he's not thrilled about that but also he's seen a lot of
13:23people die um in his recent history and and the doctors you know he didn't really know the doctor
13:29all that well so he kind of shifts into survival mode he's like well you know i've got to get what
13:33i can get out of this and that's the doctor's things i'll tell his family he'll do these things
13:39yeah i'll take them um maybe we should contact the family ourselves no miss this will hit him really
13:46hard i'll tell them you don't know this man at all do you yeah i do then tell me his real name
13:51he's trying to get away with all the goods and um and i start to realize that he's maybe not
13:59a good guy i gotta go wait
14:06he's up to no good in certain ways but he's got a big heart the master was able to use his seductive
14:12powers of persuasion to convince chang li that the doctor was evil and had actually stolen his body
14:20king ghast khan what about that was him no way yes way
14:29the master's a rival time lord so the the master has at his disposal similar sort of powers and
14:37abilities and so forth as the doctor um but he's he's pure evil previous incarnations of the master had
14:45been suave and confident but now the evil time lord was in trouble his stolen body falling apart he
14:52was desperate for the doctor's future lives yet he still managed to find the time to do it stylishly
14:59the master is an old sparring partner of the doctors from his home planet gallifrey the implication is
15:06they they knew each other when they were younger and they both wanted to get away from the stifling
15:11atmosphere of time lord society so they're opposites really they're like sherlock holmes and moriarty
15:18you know they're both fiercely clever um but one's good one's bad there's a previously unseen power
15:26that the master has we don't know where he acquires it from but uh why should we uh he uh he becomes
15:32after death he sort of becomes sort of gooey snake thing that escapes like a sort of primal time
15:38or something presumably something that the master had got hold of before he was executed as indeed
15:43i entirely believe he would and then jumps down the throat of a poor ambulance driver uh who then
15:55becomes the new receptacle of all the master's evil he like jumps into bruce's mouth and and takes over
16:13his soul that way or whatever he takes over his body that way his wife actually is not realizing that
16:24it's now the master and not bruce i must find the doctor this body won't last long
16:34i need the doctor's body sense of humor no more snoring you don't need a doctor come back to bed honey
16:46my name is not honey oh well what would you like me to call you then and when the master turns around
16:53there's this real horror show scene right master will do well come back to bed master
17:12he turns out to be the most evil person in the universe you know
17:16the idea that he could very callously you know kill somebody within seconds of taking possession
17:22of a body really established him from the get-go as the arch villain he needs a henchman really the
17:30master and that's what chang li becomes you know and he sort of takes control of him chang li is still
17:36seen as as a companion to the doctor um but he was technically the master's companion
17:46the master was able to use his seductive powers of persuasion to convince chang li that the doctor
17:52was evil and had actually stolen his body the master uh ends up um lying to chang about the body situation
18:02you know this is all mine until he stole it from me he should never have been allowed to be here
18:10you know i was told he was dead that body had died but now he's regenerated into another one
18:15you know my body can do this 12 times but he's taken most of my regenerations at this point now now that
18:22he's met the master in the tardis the the master you know fills him full of this false information or
18:27whatever and chang li switches sides what do you do with them unspeakable crimes like what
18:36gingas khan what about him that was him no way yes way and then at the end when he realizes what
18:44the master is really all about um and that and there's a sense of betrayal there because the master
18:48is not you know he finds out the master is not telling the truth he um he again becomes you know a
18:54companion to the doctor the doctor wins him over and he and he goes to the good side very clearly
18:59uh the beginning of um uh of a companion relationship he's used all his life now he wants mine
19:06like i told you this is my tardis this is my body don't believe it open the eye
19:15he said it himself he's wasted his life all of them
19:18open the eye no you lied to me eric's got this unique opportunity to play a kind of like a zombie
19:29master almost right if you can be more dark in your pure evil than than other um iterations of
19:36pure evil then i think eric managed to pull that off december 29th do you want to get off here
19:42again i don't think i could live through that again uh i definitely wouldn't live through that
19:47again reason enough the eighth doctor was a a fantastic start and then and that's the feeling
19:55you come away from you felt like you'd seen the start of a great story
19:59you could get excited about this guy because he loved clearly loved what he was doing
20:24and i think that was you know that was reflected in the people around him you know his relationship
20:29with grace was very sparky very funny the more i see of the newer doctor series i i i realized that
20:38and and the more i see of the older stuff i can see that there's some sort of a bridge that it it did
20:43gap you were seeing a much more dynamic a much more physical doctor and that's definitely been carried
20:48forward into the into the new series and i think that number eight um brought his own um elements to
20:57the doctor's uh personality you've not been yourself sorry honey i guess the music just took me away
21:07we do die but we can return we're just here to shepherd you
21:12this life is not theirs what goes around
21:23comes around intruders series premiere saturday at 10 only on bbc america
Comments