Image courtesy of BBC America.

To the people at the BBC:

Tonight I just watched the DOCTOR WHO: THE DOCTOR’S REVISITED featuring the Eighth Doctor Paul McGann.

I know the 1996 movie has its quirks, but universally McGann’s portrayal of the Eighth Doctor is praised and loved. However, it was his ONLY televised performance. Add to the fact it took 14 years to get the movie out on DVD and he has not been seen since (sure flashbacks – woo hoo!).

Simply, McGann deserves another televised outing as the Doctor.

For years people prayed that “Maybe the Eighth Doctor will pop up in the 50th Anniversary” but clearly that will not happen.

And now I ask, on behalf of millions and millions fans, please give the Eighth Doctor another special. Let him get back in the TARDIS one more time. Though I am not a fan of the leather coat, short hair look that McGann has sporting on recent Big Finish Audio covers, I would even accept that version of the Eighth Doctor. 

The second costume for the Eighth Doctor.

Heck, could we see Peter Capaldi/12th Doctor pop back for an episode with him?

That would be great too.

The point of it all is this – McGann was the rallying point for Doctor Who fans for a decade. He made the appearances and he helped Whovians and Who-ters alike keep up the hope that one day, the sound of the swirling air and a mysterious blue box would return.

Fans held out hope and he kept the dream of the TARDIS alive until Christopher Eccleston stepped in as the Ninth Doctor. This paved the way for David Tennant and Matt Smith to be the focal points of what has become a worldwide money-making juggernaut for the BBC.

Paul McGann, the Eighth Doctor.

And for that alone, McGann DESERVES one more ride in the TARDIS.

If it is a money thing?

I think 77 million people across the world would donate a dollar.

Is it age?

McGann is a handsome man and still looks great in his early 50s!

Is it the lack of 1996 movie TARDIS console?

I know for a fact someone in California has it and can broker the use of it.

Is it plot holes or continuity issues?

Like that has ever stopped a good writer from working through that.

I am not going to say, “Do this or we will do something violent” or “Do this or we stop watching Doctor Who”, what I am going to say is this –

– please.

Please give the world Paul McGann one more time in the TARDIS in a televised way.

We would appreciate it.

Thanks for your time.

Regards,

Don E. Smith Jr.,

Doctor Who fan, comic book writer

All image credits to their respected sites.

 

27 thoughts on “Doctor Who Rant: A Plea to the BBC for the Eighth Doctor”
  1. The movie was a flop, but McGann did his job brilliantly!! I loved him as the Doctor, would be great to see him back on my TV rather than in my head with the audiobooks!!

  2. Yes, please allow Paul McGann another televised adventure as the Doctor. As much as I love his the Big Finish audios, the ‘dream theatre’ just isn’t the same. And I like the idea of McGann and Capaldi working together, maybe sometime in the upcoming series… with the Ice Warriros… pretty please?

  3. While I agree that the 8th Doctor needs another outing, this horrible, teenage-level article hardly gives him justice, either. Comic book writer? Don’t make me laugh? Your analysis is so one dimensional that point thinks you’re shallow. I wish I could get my life back from reading this to now…..

  4. Please don’t ever use the word “Who-ters” again, it’s not cool. We prefer the name “Whovians” or “Time Meddlers,” thank you!

    I completely agree. Paul McGann deserves another shot at playing The Doctor and getting back in the TARDIS. It didn’t seem fair that he only got one 90 minute movie, whereas, all of the other Doctors got one series or more. He also deserves a chance to regenerate into John Hurt (since we all know he was the one in the Time War), and a chance to tell the audience what happened, and what led to the Time War.

    As much as I love Big Finish Audio, and his work on the radio dramas, I just don’t feel that those are enough. One two hour movie, or maybe, a mini series with him in it tying up some loose ends would be great.

    1. I’ve heard the rumors, but if he is, he is not being used as a draw the way David Tennant and John Hurt are. I wish McGann was if he is a part of it.

  5. I think the best way at this time to bring him back as the eighth Doctor would be to do a special mini-series centered on Torchwood and the eighth doctor working with Captain Jack and company.

  6. At the very least – just animate the audio adventures. I listened to Series 1 awhile ago and they were awesome. I’m VERY sure fans would buy DVDs/Blu-rays of his shows animated – all of the audio (including cast, music and f/x) are done. I’m also very sure you would have 100s (if not more) of Doctor Who fans who would volunteer to animate them. It would be one of the most inexpensive Doctor Who endeavors ever. I don’t know how many series he did in audio, or if any are non-canonical, but I know series 1 of his audio had no such issues that I recall just great stories.

    1. I second this, the audio adventures were really quite good, I think providing some animation or some screen time for this man would be a boon for the franchise.

  7. I really do hope he is involved somehow in the 50th, but it would be great to see him as the Doctor again in a new special!

  8. Paul McGann made an awesome Doctor. The audio books are fantastic because he puts so much into the part. Honestly much better than the novels, mainly because those who write them really don’t have a blueprint to go by. While the 8th Doctor, so many of them don’t have the continuity of his characters personality etc. We need a good 8th Doctor adventure, so that we Whovians can get another look at a very good Doctor, as well as so that the writers of the novels will have a better idea of how to write him.

  9. I’m with you. had it not been for America trying it’s hardest to keep the Doctor Who fans happy after Sly McCoy’s last televised episode the dear doctor would not of had a stepping stone back to where he is today.

    Please BBC bring him back and maybe someone from Torchwood too.

  10. The biggest problem with the 8th doctor from BBC point of View is Rights issues.. They half sold him to fox, Now Big finnish has audio rights and that was probobly a lot less expensive, but as for full out tv, they don’t sole own him as they do everything else doctor who. hes a hybid. I strongly wonder if john hurt is suposed to be a form of recast of mcghan under some other name.,..

    1. As JRS says, the rights revered back to the BBC years ago. If memory serves, FOX ceded broadcast rights when they failed to re-air the TV Movie before 2001. By the time 2009-10 rolled around, the BBC had also re-acquired home-video rights to it in the states, and a DVD release in the US was finally made possible and subsequently released.

      As such, to my knowledge there are no further rights issues that would preclude Mcgann appearing in “Nu-Who”

  11. Agreed on all points. McGann was fab, and younger than Capaldi. (Although the age thing doesn’t bother me at all.)

    Anything for Eight on TV would work. Heck, do a live version of one of the Big Finish stories. ANYTHING!

  12. I think bringing paul back would excite the entire WHO fandom, and even to those who don’t like him, maybe it will give them another chance to like him. He deserves it! Whether its just one episode, a collaboration of doctors or an entire series!

  13. What I want and need is a clean NTSC Region 1 copy of The Doctor Who Movie, either disc or digital — and not a PAL transfer!!! P.S. One disc please; I don’t need three discs of rubbish!

  14. Why wasn’t he involved in the commentary for Doctor Who Revisited? That alone says something about what’s going on. Unless they’re purposely creating a smokescreen around who else is involved in the 50th Anniversary Special. I really wish Russell T Davies was involved to some degree…oops have I said something too controversial?
    Paul McGann is in Luther and other projects, but he’s a really good 8th Doctor…

  15. The 12th Doctor could have the 8th Doctor for a companion! The back and forth of that for an entire series would be absolutely amazing.

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