a b s e n t i a

Eight's Beginning: The TV Movie

In May of 1996, Fox Broadcasting Company released a film-length Doctor Who pilot episode, first known as "The Enemy Within," but forever after known as "The Doctor Who TV Movie." Its premise was simple: to restart the beloved long-running British TV series in America, since the BBC had cancelled Doctor Who in 1989 due to sinking ratings (amid other problems). There would be a new actor in the role of The Doctor--Paul McGann, known then primarily for his work in Withnail & I and The Monocled Mutineer--and there would be a new set of adventures.

Philip Segal, a British expat living in America (and a longtime Doctor Who fan) fought for seven years to bring the show back in any form, eventually spearheading the TV Movie effort as executive producer by 1995, hoping to use the TV Movie as a back way to get a new TV series of Doctor Who going. It was his energy, as McGann would state years later, which propelled it finally onto the Fox network on that fateful Tuesday night.

The Production Team

Philip David Segal (executive producer, project spearhead)
Jo Wright (BBC)
Alex Beaton (Universal Pictures)
Geoffrey Sax (director)
John Debney (music)
Peter V. Ware (production duties)

Main Characters & Actors

The Doctor (Sylvester McCoy/Paul McGann)
Dr. Grace Holloway, a cultured cardiologist (Daphne Ashbrook)
Chang Lee, a street-smart teen (Yee Jee Tso)
The Master (Eric Roberts)

Plot in a Nutshell

Though the Doctor believes the Master dead as he carries his rival's remains home to Gallifrey, the Master manages to screw the TARDIS up enough that the Doctor has to land it on Earth on the night of December 30th, 1999, in San Francisco. The Doctor is then accidentally shot by gang members upon leaving the TARDIS, and despite medical attention, dies on the operating table and regenerates into his eighth incarnation in the morgue 3 hours later. However, upon regenerating, there's a problem--the Doctor does not remember who he is!

Meanwhile, the Master, having slithered in a ghostly form out of the TARDIS, takes over the paramedic who rescued the Doctor, and proceeds to recruit a teenager named Chang Lee to help him open the Eye of Harmony, the TARDIS' power source. (It doesn't hurt that Lee also stole the Doctor's belongings, including the key to the TARDIS and the sonic screwdriver). The Master plans to use the Eye to steal the Doctor's remaining lives and his body. But the open Eye also causes lots of problems for Earth itself, as its power starts disrupting the molecular makeup of the planet itself. If left unchecked, the Eye of Harmony will devour Earth.

To stop this catastrophe, the Doctor must remember who he is, get all his stuff back, find the TARDIS, defeat the Master, and close the Eye of Harmony, all before midnight on December 31st. Can he do it?

Super-Detailed Plot

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