Tag: Paul McGann

Eighth’s Had Enough. | Who at 50.


In anticipation of the upcoming 50th anniversary special, ten days away, Stephen Moffat offers up a lost tale of Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor — who only appeared once, in the 1996 Fox movie — and the origins of John Hurt’s new ninth incarnation. Which makes Nine (Christopher Eccleston) Ten, Ten (David Tennant) Eleven, Eleven (Matt Smith) Twelve, and Capaldi a (potentially retconned) Thirteen. In any event, giving McGann some more run is a classy and well-done bit of fan service — here’s hoping they’ve found a way to get the other living doctors involved as well.

Update: To paraphrase Montgomery Scott, I like this show — It’s exciting! Moffat clearly brought his A-game to a very satisfying 50th anniversary special, which included some quality Ten/Eleven repartee, a welcome glimpse of Thirteen and (tho’ I’ll always be fond of Pertwee also) a curtain call for the definitive doctor, Tom Baker.

And if you disagree with that latter assessment, BBC also offered up An Adventure in Space and Time for the Hartnell-minded and Peter Davison’s very wry The Five-ish Doctors for 5, 6, and 7 fans. All in all, very well-played, and now I’m very much looking forward to Dr. Capaldi. Here’s to the next fifty, Doctor.