Doctor Who (Cinefantastique)

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• Publication: Cinefantastique
• Date: November 1996
• Author: Judith Harris
• Page: 124
• Language: English

Directed by Geoffrey Sax. Fox TV. Script by Matthew Jacobs. 5/14/96. 2 hours less commercials. With: Paul McGann, Erie Roberts, Daphne Ashhrook, Sylvester McCoy.

Unfortunately, the Doctor is DOA in the new Fox co-production with the BBC. One of the best conceits of the long-running BBC series was its serial format; a nice chunk of plot in 24 or so minutes, then a cliffhanger until next week. This formula has been abandoned and the first half hour of the new slick '90s version is nothing but filler (aiming to appeal more to fans of E.R. with its clinical medical details), setting up a cliched plot and lacking interesting dialogue. The old DOCTOR WHO used to have wonderfully clever repartee, especially when Tom Baker played the role.

The original series had the most wonderfully intricate clever plots and subplots, but this Americanized version (perhaps fearing that non-fans will not be able to get up to speed) timidly has the most minimal of plots--the Doctor needs to find an atomic clock before midnight or the world will end, and the Master needs to get the Doctor's body by the same deadline. In place of everything that made DOCTOR WHO watchable (including those endearingly tacky sets) we now have copious and boring CGI morphing effects.

Expanding on the mythology is the time rotor of the dear old TARDIS (now carted up like some kind of gentleman's club) and a look at the Eye of Harmony (the harnessed black hole that forms the basis of time travel). This time the Master has a companion of his own, which is also a nice touch. Eric Roberts makes a campy Master; at least part of the time he seems to be doing a Burgess Meredith impression. Paul McGann is hampered in his portrayal of the Doctor by the surprising and unwelcome revelation that the Doctor is half-human! The very thing that made the character so special was his unpredictable alienness. He has also developed the annoying habit of giving complete strangers hints about their potential futures, apparently now possessing either psychic ability or total recall, surprising in someone so recently recovered from amnesia.

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• APA 6th ed.: Harris, Judith (November 1996). Doctor Who (Cinefantastique). Cinefantastique p. 124.
• MLA 7th ed.: Harris, Judith. "Doctor Who (Cinefantastique)." Cinefantastique [add city] November 1996, 124. Print.
• Chicago 15th ed.: Harris, Judith. "Doctor Who (Cinefantastique)." Cinefantastique, edition, sec., November 1996
• Turabian: Harris, Judith. "Doctor Who (Cinefantastique)." Cinefantastique, November 1996, section, 124 edition.
• Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Doctor Who (Cinefantastique) | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Doctor_Who_(Cinefantastique) | work=Cinefantastique | pages=124 | date=November 1996 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=2 April 2025 }}</ref>
• Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Doctor Who (Cinefantastique) | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Doctor_Who_(Cinefantastique) | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=2 April 2025}}</ref>