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The New Doctor Who (1996)

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From out of the TARDIS strides a regenerated Time Lord named Paul McGann.


At last, the TARDIS has landed. After being missing in action for years, floating through unknown dimensions of time and space, it has finally been sighted, at an unlikely location. Namely, the corner of a drafty film soundstage in the Canadian city of Burnaby, British Columbia. In the form of an English Police box, the TARDIS doesn't seem in very good shape. The door is open and there's nothing inside. It's weatherbeaten and old. For those who know the 33-year history of Doctor Who, that's just the way it's supposed to be.

A TARDIS, of course, is an alien vehicle that pays no heed to the laws of time or space, traveling wherever and whenever. TARDIS is an acronym for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space.

And its sole occupant, known only as the Doctor, is nowhere in sight.

It has been seven years since new adventures of Doctor Who unspooled on television. Now, thanks to a joint venture between the BBC Worldwide, BBC-1, Universal Television and Fox, Doctor Who returns to the airwaves. Fox is scheduled to air it as a two-hour TV movie this month. If ratings merit, it may spawn further TV films or a weekly series.

Back in 1989, the Doctor was last seen wearing the face of British actor Sylvester McCoy. The line-up of actors who have essayed the role include: William Hartnell (1963-65), Patrick Troughton (1966-69), Jon Pertwee (197074), Tom Baker (1974-81), Peter Davison (1982-85), Colin Baker (1985-86) and McCoy (1987-89). Peter Cushing played him in two mid-60s movies.

New Time Lord

Today, the Doctor has a new visage—Paul McGann, a 36-year-old British actor noted for performances in Withnail and I, Empire of the Sun, ALIENS and The Three Musketeers (1993).

Portraying the Doctor's latest companion, Dr. Grace Holloway, is Daphne Ashbrook (Deep Space Nine's "Melora"). Following Roger Delgado and Anthony Ainley as the villainous Master is Eric (Best of the Best) Roberts. The TV movie was assembled by a troika of Britishers: writer/co-producer Matthew Jacobs, executive producer Philip Segal and director Geoffrey Sax.

STARLOG's first sight of McGann is, appropriately, inside the TARDIS. He's wearing an elegant grey suit with a vest, looking quite Victorian, and he's twiddling and twisting dials and levers on a wooden control console. Fully lit, the TARDIS' inner splendor is revealed. Although it seems a small, ordinary police box from the outside, the vast interior amply showcases its ability to displace time and space.

Imagine a very large circular library, ringed with tall, exquisite, gold-flecked curtains. Lamp torches illuminate the arena. Age-old books and shelves surround the room and serve as the walls. Hanging plants are strategically placed. Even a mirror with a coat hanger stands by one of the many Roman pillars that circle the room's perimeter. In one corner, two large marble and oak doors serve as the entrance to the TARDIS. There are two scanners, a holographic one and an authentic 1947 TV set. Jules Verne would feel right at home here. And so does this newest Doctor.

McGann leans forward, manipulating the console dials as he stares steadily and intently into the still photographer's camera. He's beginning a role that, thanks to the SF convention circuit, he could be playing for life.

"I'll stay with it, I've got to. I've signed a piece of paper that says I will," the easygoing McGann notes later. In fact, he has a five-year contract to play the role in a potential series. Already a full month into shooting this Doctor's premier adventure, McGann remains a bit nonplussed as to what he's stumbled into. "It's still dawning on me now," he admits.

The announcement of the Doctor's new identity prompted a media frenzy of sorts. "I was on the news at 10! My mum was ringing me up saying, 'You're on tonight!' It's like being an ambassador," says McGann. "That's what it feels like for a Brit. It's an honor, but a responsibility as well, which is the part that's beginning to dawn on me."

In portraying the Doctor, McGann's approach is to bring out the "eighth incarnation of the same character. The story is simply, 'Would you believe he has 12 lives?" According to Who experts, that's actually 12 regenerations from the original, making a total of 13 lives.

Whether :emphasizing dramatic death, scientific adventure or light-hearted action, Doctor Who ,has never taken itself seriously. "No, it never did," McGann agrees. "That's the thing, in the playing of it. It just tends to happen—the way we kicked it off, it is as much the director's fault as anybody's. He says this isn't serious. If you play it to the hilt, it's going to work and be funny and whatever. But it isn't like Shakespeare. So, that's how we're doing it and that's how they always did it: with tongue firmly in cheek."

Musing over the character, McGann says that he isn't utilizing characterizations presented by previous actors. "I'm certainly not trying. You can't," offers McGann. "However, there are elements like the jelly babies [a favorite of Tom Baker's incarnation]. There are little bits that have been carried over that have survived. I can't help thinking of Patrick Troughton or Bill Hartnell, but certainly, I'm doing it my way. That's easy. It's the only way I can do it. It's funny, because someone was saying, 'There are shades of Tom Baker coming out,' and I didn't know how to take that. I'm still feeling my way around it."

Perhaps the reason why "shades" of previous Doctors haunt this production is that McCoy, the Seventh Doctor, has a cameo in the film's beginning. It is, of course, the traditional "regeneration" sequence employed throughout the saga whenever the lead actor changed.

As it happens, McCoy and McGann are friends. "He was the first person on the phone," says McGann. "Since he was in on this, he was the first to give me the lowdown."

In this TV movie, the Doctor is traveling through space, carrying the remains of his old foe, the Master, back to his home planet Gallifrey. One of those dreadful spatial anomalies so prevalent in recent SF television strikes the TARDIS and forces the Doctor to crash on Earth, in San Francisco, in 1999. Naturally, the Master escapes and the Doctor must find him before he destroys Earth. An injured Doctor is wheeled into an emergency room ward and there, thanks to the chemicals injected into him, he regenerates into another incarnation.

Another Companion

That's when and where the Doctor encounters his newest companion—a lovely lady. "I'm Dr. Grace Holloway, a cardiologist who meets this crazy guy," remarks Ash-brook. "And I end up believing that he's telling the truth; that he is what he says he is!"

Ashbrook confesses to no prior knowledge of Doctor Who. She made no special effort to learn about the mythology, although some British friends clued her in on the elementary stuff. A Doctor Who bible provided further insights. "As an actor, I'm not sure it would help me [to do the research]," says Ashbrook. "I'm impressed, to a degree, but I've never seen the old shows. I will—after we're done here."

Although this is only Ashbrook's third foray into SF as an actress, she is a fan.

"I love it! The first film I ever saw that got me going was ALIEN. It scared the heck out of me and I loved it! But I didn't really read SF. It wasn't until 1992 when I did Intruders [a CBS TV mini-series] which was about alien abductees—then. I went nuts. I started reading up on all the alien things, and I don't believe it's all fiction. There's definitely real stuff happening.

Like McGann, Ashbrook learned quickly that a role in Doctor Who brings with it intense fan interest. "I wasn't aware at all. I had no idea. Sylvester McCoy was up here, telling Paul about it all, and I happened to be sitting there. 'You have no idea what you're


embarking on. You will be remembered forever as the next Doctor Who!' " laughs Ash-brook. "There's a huge phenomenon, a very cultish following. The people are fanatical. They just love it so much."

Unlike. McGann, Ashbrook's contract makes her appearance a one-shot, guest-star effort. "When I auditioned and we were talking about the deal, we were discussing 13 episodes," notes Ashbrook. "Then, a month went by, and at the last second, they told me the deal was changed and I was a guest star. 'Still interested?' I said, 'Absolutely!' I don't necessarily like getting tied down to a series. But I didn't know how much fun this was going to be! It's a total delight."

There's a new aspect to the relationship between this latest companion and Doctor: he falls in love with her. "I'm a '90s woman. It's cute," Ashbrook grins. "Really, it's not that cliched. It's done in a clever way, accidental at first but then...whoa! There's a lot of tit-for-tat arguing. Much of it is like a ping-pong game. It has been great to be naturally, really working with an actor."

McGann's performance made for an easy and enjoyable collaboration. "It's so much fun! There's an entire universe we're trying to create here. We ease right into all this stuff," says Ashbrook. "We have so many scenes together. We've worked long hours, mostly night shoots. You get a little strange when you have 18 hours of shooting at night and try to sleep in the day, and you can't."

Future Master

On this day, near the production's end, Ashbrook has just completed some makeup work on her hands for the next scene.

"What I'm going to shoot is [a scene where] the Master has spit on me, and hit me with weird acid stuff," laughs Ashbrook. "And it's taking over my body. We get inside the TARDIS, and are trying to close the Eye of Harmony, which in fact we do, but we have to do more to save the world. I end up smashing the Doctor over the head."

McGann recalls the moment with the quip, "Grace bonks the Doctor. Classic stuff!"

The Eye of Harmony is a Black Hole that serves as a power source for the TARDIS. It's also the set where Roberts performs as the Master. Dressed in a jet black suit and coat with dark sunglasses, Roberts works with Yee Jee Tso, who plays a gang punk. The Harmony set is an underground chamber, a massive, black Gothic cathedral with stained glass windows, and an elaborate staircase. At the very center of this chamber is a large square hole. Emitting from within, a blue strobe light pulsates wildly.

Spotlights just outside the stage simulate a sundown through the stained glass, and the inside smoke generated by the crew helps creating an unusual, moody aura.

The crew and director Sax are rehearsing with a camera crane, practicing elaborate swoops and dives towards the two actors. Roberts and Tso stand together, glowing in the pulsating light, say a few lines and turn 180 degrees. They clasp each other on the shoulders and leave the room. They are colleagues in villainy.

But it's the hero who really matters and, before McGann is whisked off for further rehearsals, he reveals his most basic fear about winning this plum role: appearing at conventions and meeting fans. "I read a lovely, open letter in The Independent [a British newspaper] that I would have to take a crash course on astrophysics," grins McGann. "You know, things that I'm going to have to talk with some authority about, off the top of my head, for the next X number of years at these conventions.

"It fills me with absolute dread, to be honest with you. I know I'll do it. I just know I'll end up doing it at least once, because I like to scare myself. That's very Catholic. I know McCoy does the circuit. But he's very gifted. He can simply stand on a stage and entertain 2,000 people for an hour. I'm nervous—the thought of standing there—I won't even do theater for the same reason. I'm too scared. I suggested to McCoy that I go along with him in disguise, incognito, to see what it's like and he said there's no such thing anymore. He said, 'You would be eaten alive! They can smell you! You don't stand a chance!' "

Nevertheless, Paul McGann has no regrets about becoming the new Doctor. "In my own terms, I want to stay sane. It's funny, because the last job I did, I was playing Jesus and McCoy said, 'Well, it's a little like that, in a sense. When you do this role, you can't win, you can't lose either. Some people are going to love you—some people are going to hate you. It's as simple as that.' "


FRANK GARCIA, Canadian writer, profiled Rob Bowman in STARLOG #220.


Captions: New Doctor, same old TARDIS. Maybe some day he'll fix that gizmo which is supposed to allow it to change into any appearance.

Paul McGann takes over the role of the Doctor in the Fox TV movie revival of Doctor Who. Daphne Ashbrook is at his side as Dr. Grace Holloway.

One good regeneration deserves another, so these days the Master looks like Eric Roberts.

"It's an honor, but a responsibility as well," says McGann, who is only beginning to understand the extent of the Who phenomenon.

Disclaimer: These citations are created on-the-fly using primitive parsing techniques. You should double-check all citations. Send feedback to whovian@cuttingsarchive.org

  • APA 6th ed.: Garcia, Frank (number 227 (June 1996)). The New Doctor Who (1996). Starlog p. 44.
  • MLA 7th ed.: Garcia, Frank. "The New Doctor Who (1996)." Starlog [add city] number 227 (June 1996), 44. Print.
  • Chicago 15th ed.: Garcia, Frank. "The New Doctor Who (1996)." Starlog, edition, sec., number 227 (June 1996)
  • Turabian: Garcia, Frank. "The New Doctor Who (1996)." Starlog, number 227 (June 1996), section, 44 edition.
  • Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=The New Doctor Who (1996) | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/The_New_Doctor_Who_(1996) | work=Starlog | pages=44 | date=number 227 (June 1996) | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=18 November 2024 }}</ref>
  • Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=The New Doctor Who (1996) | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/The_New_Doctor_Who_(1996) | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=18 November 2024}}</ref>


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