Subject: Review: Doctor Who (1996)

From: Chris Casino <[email-masked]>
Date: 20 Jul 1997 15:44:06 GMT

DOCTOR WHO

A film review by Chris Casino

*** out of **** (worthwhile)

Directed by Geoffrey Sax, written by Matthew Jacobs, Produced by Peter V. Ware,
Co-Producers Matthew Jacobs and Alex Beaton. Executive producer: Phillip David
Segal.

Cast: Paul McGann (Doctor #8), Eric Roberts (the Master), Daphne Ashbrook (Dr. 
Grace Holloway), Yee Jee Tso (Chang Lee), Sylvester McCoy (Doctor #7).

"He's back, and it's about time." was the motto for this television series
pilot (I call it a pilot, I don't care what FOX network says) revival of the cult 
classic British TV show, DOCTOR WHO, that spawned no series, which means there are no 
smart network execs out there (not exactly news to a lot of people, I know). The
motto was well chosen.

The series was simple, it was about this Time Lord scientist called
the Doctor with thirteen lives who traveled around in a type forty
spaceship called a TARDIS outsmarting all kind of alien baddies,
including the evil Daleks, and the Master, who appears in this
feature, played very badly by Eric Roberts.

As good as this revival was, there is something missing from it to
make sure it was really DOCTOR WHO. Is it the acting?

Hell, no!

Paul McGann is just as good as any of the other seven guys who've
played the Doctor (including his predecessor and off-screen friend
Sylvester McCoy, who appears once more for the regeneration scene). He
looks right for the role, is a brilliant actor, and slips effortlessly
into the role, the way my two favorites Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker
would. Daphne Ashbrook brings class to her role as Dr. Grace Holloway,
the Doctor's first companion that he kisses on screen, she is not your
typical female companion who screams, and spends her free time making
coffee for the Doctor, she is a tough, spunky American, and Ashbrook
shows this well. Young Yee Jee Tso shows promise as Chang Lee, and
I've seen him in other stuff in which he usually plays the punk kid
who dies at the end (this film included), which, IMHO, wastes his
talent.

The only problem with the acting is Eric Roberts. One time he had to
say to McGann's Doctor,"I always dress for the occasion." But he broke
it up, and said it so slowly that it wounded up sounding like a song
lyric,"I always... Dress... For the occasion." You need an actor less
slow and less reliant on moving his hands to act, and who's also
British, like McGann is as the Doctor. Executive producer Phil Segal
said he was casted because FOX insisted on having one American star in
the role. I dunno who thought of casting him, but if they're reading
this: NEWS FLASH: Eric Roberts is *not* a star! He rides on his
sister's coattails, and any hit movie he makes has nothing to do with
him.

Is this problem the kisses to the past?

No.

They have references to the show so subtle that non fans would not
notice them, only Whovians would, and they're good.

Is it the script or the movie as a whole?

No.

The script is a classy piece of work, featuring a Master who can spit
slime out of his mouth and nice dialogue, and the movie as a whole is
one fans will love, and it is a good stand alone viewing for nonfans
to enjoy the series.

So what is it?

Simple: No plot. The Master, on his last legs, sends for the Doctor to
rescue him after the Daleks put him on trial on their planet Skaro and
exterminate him.  The Doctor attempts to take his remains back to
Gallifrey, but they accidentally land in San Francisco, 1999, December
31, where the Master, with young street hood Chang Lee's help, opens
the Eye of Harmony, which will suck the Earth through it at midnight
if the Doctor, with the help of female surgeon, Dr. Grace Holloway,
doesn't close it by then. Virtually no plot.

I was told the movie would've featured the Daleks on screen and
started with more of a courtroom drama between the Master and the
Daleks, but a lot of rewriting went on on the set. That shows how
smart people are, as it would have made the movie a hell of a lot more
interesting, and that would've gotten a four star rating out of me.