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[[WMG:[[center:[-''[[Series/DoctorWho Doctor Who]]'' [[Recap/DoctorWho recap index]]\\
'''Eighth Doctor Era'''\\
'''The TV Movie'''\\
'''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E1Battlefield <<< Season 26]]''' | '''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E1Rose Series 1 >>>]]''']]-]]]
!Doctor Who




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->Written by Matthew Jacobs\\
Directed by Geoffrey Sax\\
'''Production code:''' [=50/LDX071Y/01X=]\\
'''Air date:''' 27 May 1996[[note]]12 May 1996 [[ShortRunInPeru in Canada]], 14 May 1996 [[ShortRunInPeru in the United States]][[/note]]



'''Production code:''' [=50/LDX071Y/01X=]




Written by Matthew Jacobs. This movie first aired May 27, 1996 ([[ShortRunInPeru May 14 in the United States]]).
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Back at the hospital, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E12HellBent as the man himself would later state]], [[TheNthDoctor death is Time Lord for man flu]], so the Doctor's not totally dead just yet. But thanks to the anesthetic, he came close to clocking out permanently. Thankfully, hours later, the Doctor starts to regenerate in the morgue. His bone structure crackles as it transforms, and energies fling out of his body. His face does a lot of wicked contorting and changes into someone looking like Creator/PaulMcGann. Meet the Eighth Doctor. Right off the bat, Eight is confused and suffering from a bad case of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E1Castrovalva post-regenerative amnesia]]. But his regeneration has boosted his strength. He starts pounding on the cold storage door several times until it falls down with a heavy thump. The Doctor scares [[FatComicRelief Pete the morgue worker]] half to death by appearing right when the guy is watching ''Film/{{Frankenstein|1931}}''. Wandering around the hospital in a daze, the Doctor ends up in the run-down "broken mirrors and creepy dolls" wing where he takes to a moment to [[ChewingTheScenery scream "WHO AM I?!" dramatically]], while wrapped in that white shroud and showing off his half-naked torso. The fact that he LooksLikeJesus is neatly paired with shots of the satanic Master looking very serious.

The Doctor swipes a Wild Bill Hickok costume from the employee locker room, explained as being there in preparation for the hospital's New Year's Eve fancy dress party, thus creating a new Whovian IconicOutfit (the screenwriters needn't have bothered with an explanation -- being dressed up as an old Western hero around town is, by [[QuirkyTown San Francisco standards]], only mildly eccentric). True to his character, the Doctor sees no need for the costume's gun-belt accessory and therefore leaves it behind.

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Back at the hospital, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E12HellBent as the man himself would later state]], [[TheNthDoctor death is Time Lord for man flu]], so the Doctor's not totally dead just yet. But thanks to the anesthetic, he came close to clocking out permanently. Thankfully, hours later, the Doctor starts to regenerate in the morgue. His bone structure crackles as it transforms, and energies fling out of his body. His face does a lot of wicked contorting and changes into someone looking like Creator/PaulMcGann. Meet the Eighth Doctor. Right off the bat, Eight is confused and suffering from a bad case of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E1Castrovalva post-regenerative amnesia]]. But his regeneration has boosted his strength. He starts pounding on the cold storage door several times until it falls down with a heavy thump. The Doctor scares [[FatComicRelief Pete the morgue worker]] half to death by appearing right when the guy is watching ''Film/{{Frankenstein|1931}}''. Wandering around the hospital in a daze, the Doctor ends up in the run-down "broken mirrors and creepy dolls" wing where he takes to a moment to [[ChewingTheScenery scream "WHO AM I?!" dramatically]], while wrapped in that white shroud and showing off his half-naked torso. The fact that he LooksLikeJesus is neatly paired with shots a faded shot of the satanic satanical Master looking very serious.

The
serious [[{{Narm}} (and very drooly)]]. FadeToBlack for that sweet, sweet commercial break!

As we return from our non-existent commercial break, the
Doctor swipes manages to swipe a Wild Bill Hickok costume from the employee locker room, explained room (explained as being there in preparation for the hospital's New Year's Eve fancy dress party, party), thus creating a new Whovian IconicOutfit (the screenwriters needn't have bothered with an explanation -- being dressed up as an old Western hero around town is, by [[QuirkyTown San Francisco standards]], only mildly eccentric). True to his character, the Doctor sees no need for the costume's gun-belt accessory and therefore leaves it behind.
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-->''No! Timing malfunction! The Master; he's out there! I've got to stop... him!''
-->-- (JustForFun/FamousLastWords of '''the Seventh Doctor''', not counting his painful screams on the operating table...)
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-->''No! -->''[[JustForFun/FamousLastWords No! Timing malfunction! The Master; he's out there! I've got to stop... him!''
-->-- (JustForFun/FamousLastWords of '''the Seventh Doctor''', not counting his painful screams on the operating table...)
----
him!]]''
----
-->''Who am I...? Who am I??'' ''[[LargeHam WHO?!]]'' ''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis AM?!]]'' '''''[[ChewingTheScenery IIIIIIIIIIIIIII...?!?!?!]]'''''
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-->-- (FamousLastWords of '''the Seventh Doctor''', not counting his painful screams on the operating table...)

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-->-- (FamousLastWords (JustForFun/FamousLastWords of '''the Seventh Doctor''', not counting his painful screams on the operating table...)
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-->-- (FamousLastWords of '''the Seventh Doctor''', not counting his painful screams on the operating table...)

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* DigitalDestruction: Both the NTSC DVD and Blu-ray use the 4% sped up PAL version, messing up the timing and causing VocalDissonance as it makes Paul [=McGann=]'s voice noticeably higher-pitched than the lovely deep voice he uses for the Eighth Doctor in the audio dramas. An EnforcedTrope for the PAL DVD and UK broadcast, but totally avoidable elsewhere.

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* DigitalDestruction: Both DigitalDestruction:
**Both
the NTSC DVD and Blu-ray use the 4% sped up PAL version, messing up the timing and causing VocalDissonance as it makes Paul [=McGann=]'s voice noticeably higher-pitched than the lovely deep voice he uses for the Eighth Doctor in the audio dramas. An EnforcedTrope for the PAL DVD and UK broadcast, but totally avoidable elsewhere.elsewhere.
**The HD remaster used for the Blu-ray is a cheap and simple upscale from standard definition, and as mentioned above, the 4% PAL speedup is still present.

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** The doctors operate on the Doctor even though he begs them not to. In real life, it would be a huge breach of ethics to force a medical treatment on a patient who was refusing it, even if the patient's life was in danger.



* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Fans of the established series were left wondering what had happened to Ace between the show's cancellation and the movie. This never has been addressed within the show, though the ExpandedUniverse has given her several different fates. According to ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'', she became a charity worker when she returned to Earth, though the circumstances behind it weren't stated.

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* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Fans of the established series were left wondering what had happened to Ace between the show's cancellation and the movie. This never has been wasn't addressed within the show, show for many years, though the ExpandedUniverse has given her several different fates. According to ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'', she became a charity worker when she returned to Earth, though the circumstances behind it weren't stated. Finally, Ace [[Recap/DoctorWho2022CENThePowerOfTheDoctor reappeared on the show in 2022]], and it was revealed that she left the Doctor due to an [[NoodleIncident unspecified argument]] between them.
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Trope was cut/disambiguated due to cleanup


%%* HeroesWantRedheads: As traveling companions, anyway.

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From this point, the show launches into the revival series, jumping ahead to a whole new Doctor. If you are wondering how the Eighth Doctor's life panned out, the journey continues [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho016StormWarning HERE]]. And [[Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures HERE]]. And [[Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine HERE]]. And, for a short time, even [[Magazine/RadioTimes HERE]].

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From this point, the show launches into the revival series, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E1Rose jumping ahead to a whole new Doctor.Doctor]]. If you are wondering how the Eighth Doctor's life panned out, the journey continues [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho016StormWarning HERE]]. And [[Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures HERE]]. And [[Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine HERE]]. And, for a short time, even [[Magazine/RadioTimes HERE]].



->''No! Timing malfunction! The Master; he's out there! I've got to stop... him!''

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->''No! -->''No! Timing malfunction! The Master; he's out there! I've got to stop... him!''him!''
----
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Recap page spoiler policy


One of the gang members, Chang Lee, is nice enough to call an ambulance. The ambulance arrives, with EMT Bruce. Bruce, Chang Lee, and "John Smith" are whisked away to the hospital, where the Doctor's physiology is sufficiently different from the human norm to cause a few raised eyebrows. Trauma surgeon Dr. Grace Holloway is called in (from a performance of ''Theatre/MadameButterfly'', where she was [[TenderTears weeping tenderly]], while on call) to check out why the man seems to have a double-speed heart beat. And to see why every scan keeps showing two hearts. As such, cue the {{Irony}}: the Seventh Doctor, the master manipulator, is now failing at the task of manipulating the continuance of his own life. He grows panicky, desperate to warn these surgeons '''not''' to operate on him; they are now assuming he is a human, having never seen an alien at all, and since he looks human, the difference doesn't register. He fights the anesthetic ''[[MadeOfIron two times]]'' to beg them not to take a peek inside him, but his pleas are written off as sedative-induced irrationality. He's put under each time. Even though the bullet wound is OnlyAFleshWound and pretty much harmless, Grace inadvertently does more harm than good when she starts poking inside the Doctor's arteries. The surgery takes a turn for the worse when Grace gets a probe stuck in the Doctor's unfamiliar physiology and it [[BodyHorror snaps off]] inside his body. Seven wakes up from the shock a third and final time. But he's not got any words left in him. Just a huge ''scream''. The painful last gasp of the seventh incarnation of our Time Lord protagonist drowns out the sound of the music [[NiceJobBreakingItHero and the Doctor flatlines]] on the operating table. From exploratory surgery. Congratulations, Grace! You're the first (and surprisingly [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E8LetsKillHitler not the last]]) companion to successfully ''kill the Doctor''! The Daleks could take lessons from this woman!

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One of the gang members, Chang Lee, is nice enough to call an ambulance. The ambulance arrives, with EMT Bruce. Bruce, Chang Lee, and "John Smith" are whisked away to the hospital, where the Doctor's physiology is sufficiently different from the human norm to cause a few raised eyebrows. Trauma surgeon Dr. Grace Holloway is called in (from a performance of ''Theatre/MadameButterfly'', where she was [[TenderTears weeping tenderly]], while on call) to check out why the man seems to have a double-speed heart beat. And to see why every scan keeps showing two hearts. As such, cue the {{Irony}}: the Seventh Doctor, the master manipulator, is now failing at the task of manipulating the continuance of his own life. He grows panicky, desperate to warn these surgeons '''not''' to operate on him; they are now assuming he is a human, having never seen an alien at all, and since he looks human, the difference doesn't register. He fights the anesthetic ''[[MadeOfIron two times]]'' to beg them not to take a peek inside him, but his pleas are written off as sedative-induced irrationality. He's put under each time. Even though the bullet wound is OnlyAFleshWound and pretty much harmless, Grace inadvertently does more harm than good when she starts poking inside the Doctor's arteries. The surgery takes a turn for the worse when Grace gets a probe stuck in the Doctor's unfamiliar physiology and it [[BodyHorror snaps off]] inside his body. Seven wakes up from the shock a third and final time. But he's not got any words left in him. Just a huge ''scream''. The painful last gasp of the seventh incarnation of our Time Lord protagonist drowns out the sound of the music [[NiceJobBreakingItHero and the Doctor flatlines]] on the operating table. From exploratory surgery. Congratulations, Grace! You're the first (and surprisingly [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E8LetsKillHitler not the last]]) companion to successfully ''kill the Doctor''! The Daleks could take lessons from this woman!

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* PutOnABus: Grace Holloway and Chang Lee. Rights issues between Creator/TheBBC and [[Creator/{{Universal}} NBCUniversal]] currently prevents the two characters from reappearing anywhere in the Franchise/{{Whoniverse}} (and that includes the ExpandedUniverse). If they do get mentioned at all, it's through a very oblique reference. While both are excluded from Creator/BigFinish audios (though both of their actors have returned in other roles in some stories) and the novels, Grace has appeared in at least four separate comic stories, with significant roles in both ''The Fallen'' and the Eighth Doctor's chapter of ''Prisoners of Time''. Chang Lee, however, has yet to reappear.

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* PutOnABus: PutOnABus:
**
Grace Holloway and Chang Lee. Rights issues between Creator/TheBBC and [[Creator/{{Universal}} NBCUniversal]] currently prevents the two characters from reappearing anywhere in the Franchise/{{Whoniverse}} (and that includes the ExpandedUniverse). If they do get mentioned at all, it's through a very oblique reference. While both are excluded from Creator/BigFinish audios (though both of their actors have returned in other roles in some stories) and the novels, Grace has appeared in at least four separate comic stories, with significant roles in both ''The Fallen'' and the Eighth Doctor's chapter of ''Prisoners of Time''. Chang Lee, however, has yet to reappear.reappear.
** Downplayed, but Ace in the interim since [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E4Survival "Survival"]]. The Doctor is no longer traveling with his (or any) Companion and there's no acknowledgment or explanation for Ace's absence. [[Recap/DoctorWho2022CENThePowerOfTheDoctor "The Power of the Doctor"]] in 2022 finally filled in the gap, revealing Ace and Seven had had a falling out during that interim and had parted ways.
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In 1996, seven years after its cancellation, there was a near-Herculean effort to return ''Series/DoctorWho'' to the small screen. The lone fruit was a BackdoorPilot TV special on Creator/{{Fox}} that sadly never got developed into a series. The finished product was notably ''very'' different from the original script, but we'll explain more about that later.

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In 1996, seven years after its cancellation, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E4Survival cancellation]], there was a near-Herculean effort to return ''Series/DoctorWho'' to the small screen. The lone fruit was a BackdoorPilot TV special on Creator/{{Fox}} that sadly never got developed into a series. The finished product was notably ''very'' different from the original script, but we'll explain more about that later.
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* ThanatosGambit: The Master let himself be executed by the Daleks, having arranged for his essence to survive the death of his body. He then makes his last will and testament that the Doctor take his remains inside his TARDIS (in order to bring them back to Gallifrey), planning to rise from the dead once there and highjack the TARDIS's power source to steal the Doctor's remaining lives.

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* ThanatosGambit: The Master let himself be executed by the Daleks, having arranged for his essence to survive the death of his body. He then makes his last will and testament that the Doctor take his remains inside his TARDIS (in order to bring them back to Gallifrey), planning to rise from the dead once there and highjack hijack the TARDIS's power source to steal the Doctor's remaining lives.
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'''Production code:''' 50/LDX071Y/01X

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'''Production code:''' 50/LDX071Y/01X
[=50/LDX071Y/01X=]
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'''Production code:''' 50/LDX071Y/01X

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*** As if the ''regeneration'' was bad enough, in order to prove to Grace he's the same person she operated on the previous night, Eight ''[[ChekhovsGun pulls the remains of the heart probe out of his chest]]''.



* PrettyBoy

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* PrettyBoyPrettyBoy: Almost as if to compensate for the fact the Seventh Doctor almost out and out ''died on the operating table'', the ''Eighth'' Doctor looks downright gorgeous.
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* FiveSecondForeshadowing: While it alludes to a thing that has since been [[{{Retcon}} swept under the rug]], the fact that the Master managed to use ''a human's'' eyes to open the Eye of Harmony winds up being a clue towards [[WhamLine a certain reveal]].
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* CoveredInGunge: Near the atomic clock, several security guards, frozen in place, are covered in some more of the Master's orally projected transparent goo.
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* KeyUnderTheDoormat: Apparently the Doctor keeps a spare key to the TARDIS hidden behind the "P" in the "Police Box" sign above the door.
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Removed malformed wicks to GCPTR per TRS thread


%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.
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* AdvertisedExtra: John Novak and Michael David Simms are listed as part of the main cast, but both only appear during the hospital scenes, which end roughly half an hour in.

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