I would love to have a couple seasons where we see his adventures. If they did it right then it won’t clash with the continuity and would honestly be interesting to look back at the Doctor before the Time War
@@Kairamek It'll hurt like an alien bursting out of your chest. It'll hurt like having your wand shop burn down. It'll hurt like being an Elephant Man....
I read that the time war was 400 years and the doctor fought in the last stretch of it. From my understanding, about 100 or so years, which is why he is old when we see him.
I also read somewhere that this was intended to be a pre-title sequence for DOTD but had to be released separately,and earlier, because rumours of it's existence had been leaked. Is there any truth in this..?
Got to agree. And the more times I watch this, I more I realise how tight and well written it is. Not a single word out of place or a moment wasted....
After listening the audiodramas, the mention of Charley, C'rizz, Lucie, Tamsin, Molly... bring chills. Wonderful companions all of them, although I miss Liv Chenka and Helen Sinclair that came after this minisode.
"I really like Paul's portrayal of the Doctor" That's it, I'm taking Jess through the journey of Big Finish because those were the stories that made Paul's Doctor my third of all time :D
I've always steered clear of Big Finish cos basically we already have more potentially and actually contradictory back history than enough. But I am getting tempted
I may be wrong, but as far as I can remember, this was as much a shock to the rest of us when we saw this as it was to you - Paul McGann's turn in this was not announced or expected.
Dave F I'm not even sure they announced the minisodes. It just showed up on RU-vid and BBC website. At this point there was still a huge argument which Doctor William Hurt was even playing. Some thought it was an older version of 8. My goodness did the speculation run!
This was just dropped on BBC Red Button about a week before the 50th anniversary with little or no warning, +Michael Lukash Sir John Hurt. I've no idea who William Hurt is.
Paul McGann kinda actively lied about not being involved too. More a lie of omission - he said he wasn't involved in the 50th Special specifically - since this was a minisode that wasn't actually the special itself, he was technically telling the truth.
DeadPolymers well done to the team who came up with Jess’s watch list, very nicely done, and without tipping her off as to why the TV movie had to be seen.
Two interesting points to mention here. 1: This minisode was kind of a sequel to the 4th Doctor story "The Brain of Morbius" which is the one and only time before this that the Doctor visited the planet Karn (On-Screen, I should say, as there was a Big Finish 8th Doctor story where he goes back to Karn) and met with the Sisterhood. (Sarah Jane Smith was the companion in "The Brain of Morbius" btw.) And 2: This minisode delighted the fans of Paul McGann's Big Finish audio adventures, because it made the Big Finish 8th Doctor stories Canon! The 8th Doctor lists out the names of all his Big Finish audio adventure companions right before he drinks the elixir and regenerates into the War Doctor.
I distinctly remember another story... Think it was Davidson. The master ends up standing in the flame to undo being shrunk by his matter compression eliminator
The Eighth Doctor was on Karn in series two of The Eighth Doctor Adventures called The Sisters of The Flame where the sisterhood tried to kill The Doctor and his companion at the time Lucie Miller. Combined with his experience in The Brain of Morbius, you can understand the line "you were never big on gratitude"
This was the only second time Paul McGann played The Doctor in live action. He has mostly done the audio stories. Before he regenerated in this, he named his audio companions which means all those stories are canon. This minisode did a great job of showing how horrible the consequences of the time war were. Also, the 8th doctor regenerated into a younger John Hurt. When we saw him in Name of the Doctor, he was much older. Since timelords age slower than humans, it hints to how long the time war lasted for.
It was such an unexpected thrill to have Paul McGann back for this taster for the 50th anniversary episode. You looked every bit as surprised and excited as I was back then ....roll on Day of the Doctor!!!!
Yeah, they just dropped this on BBC Red Button about a week before the 50th Anniversary. No warning apart from the press red pop-up. I think it found its way online shortly afterwards.
Blood hell McGann's actor presence is phenomenal (I.e. "Get out!! GET OUTTTT!!!!) He needs more. The right writer can bring this man back for a spin-off. Hope he/8,9,10,11,12 are in the 60th Anniversary!!!
I remember how floored I was to see Paul McGann in this minisode. As another pointed out, it had been 20 years, so it was very impactful for some of us old Whovians. LOL LOL I am glad you got to see the Doctor Who movie before this. Gave you real perspective. But none of us really understood what was coming up in the 50th. When we started watching that, the minisode made it all icing on the cake.
They did a clever thing. At the end you see a reflection. They used a image of John hurt from older movies when he was younger for that shot. Also all the names the eighth doctor meantioned were companions from audio adventures.
@@Android-zh9pk I've seen the argument occasionally that it only confirms companions with those names as canon. But honestly, yeah, the line is definitely meant to make the audio stories canon
This story serves as the Doctor's hard check in the timeline that being even a carefree Time Lord and having the TARDIS to run around in was no longer enough. He had to face the Time War in one way or another, and even if he didn't agree with it, he could no longer run away from it.
YEEESSS! I was so ready when this came out. Eight's regeneration! And not just that, but the day Doctor Who established Big Finish as canon! This was a fantastic way to end Eight's run. And it came out on Paul McGann's birthday too :D
Liam Catterson established at least some of it as cannon, pretty sure some bits contradict stuff in the show, or the show uses big finish stuff. So it hasn’t necessarily made it all canon.
Well, technically it's always been canon, as far as the BBC were concerned, but yeah, it's good that it got proven without a shadow of a doubt to the TV-only fans.
StormWolf it operates under canon until proven non canon, which isn’t quite the same as actually being canon, it means you can change it at a moments notice and just declare it non canon consequence free, which is still the case, all it has done is confirm that the 8th doctor had more companions, who were in big finish. But until the show says so none of their stories are truly canon, only the characters existences are.
Liam Catterson at this point it’s established that not even The Doctor knows his age, and that he just makes it up, I can’t remember which Doctor said that, one of the Classic ones.
I absolutely loved this prologue to the Day of the Doctor. I almost fell off my chair when that flash dispersed to reveal Paul's face. He most certainly was 'not the one I was expecting'! I bet everyone here can remember how they felt when they first saw it too. And speaking as a spoilerphobe, I pity those that seek and sniff out spoilers, plot lines, etc. when this amount of excitement and surprise can happen with _every_ episode.
I was really pleased Paul McGann got to give more indications of how good he could have been and even happier that they got John Hurt to be The War Doctor instead cos nobody does moral agonising like he did (except possibly Jacobi and he'd done his bit). They could easily have gone for a more physically imposing actor but of course that's not the kind of warrior the universe needed. I also liked the way they made him seem a good bit younger in that reflection - it accentuates the toll that the War takes out of him and that he does run out of choices. Oh and I also enjoyed Claire Higgins milking that role as head of the sisterhood for all it was worth.
WolfGratz well I will give you another Big Finish plug, as Sir John did twelve stories as the War Doctor, and they are frankly brilliant. He is wonderful as usual, but it is clear that the Big Finish team absolutely wanted to do him justice and had some great writing and acting. He only really did it because he was too ill for film work, but gave a great performance. Somewhat like McGann, the fact that he had limited tv time as the Doctor gave them the ability to flesh out his character in the audio plays without ever contradicting what we had seen on screen.
Great little episode! Paul McGann is superb as usual. Biggest surprise for me was the return of the Sisterhood of Karn. And it was such a treat to see the Eighth Doctor regenerate into the War Doctor as played by the magnificent Sir John Hurt, RIP. Fun and engaging reaction as always, Jess. Thank you ☺
This recently popped up on my feed. I"m glad to see some else's reaction to this clip. It's definitely one of the best Doctor Who I've ever seen. I remember when I saw it for the first time and saw McGann in the ship, I threw my hands up into the air and said "Yes!" We could definitely have used more of him. =)
When the Doctor lists his companions, that confirms that the Big Finish Audio adventures are now canon! Also, in case you're wondering, the Sisterhood of Karn are from a Tom Baker story 'The Brain of Morbius' from 1976.
The audios were always canon. "To ensure that the plays remain faithful to the Doctor Who TV series in terms of style and content, BBC Worldwide has understandably insisted the right to approve all storylines and scripts. To this end, Stephen Cole - consultant to the Doctor Who book and video ranges at Worldwide - has been appointed executive producer for the BBC for Big Finish’s Doctor Who output. ‘Cole commented: “As far as the BBC is concerned, these new stories are seen as part of the official Doctor Who canon. A great deal of responsibility comes with that status, and Worldwide did not assign this license without careful thought.”’ - from Doctor Who Magazine’s original announcement of Big Finish being licensed to produce Who audios, which was subtitled ‘EXCLUSIVE! Doctors unite for “canonical” drama’
+Michael Lukash yes,I agree. To me,the quote from BBC Worldwide (reading between the lines,of course) seems to be saying "so that these audio adventures stay true to the spirit of the TV series",rather than actually being canonical. I've only listened to a few BF's,and those tended to be the ones regarded as 'landmarks';so I'm certainly prepared to believe that SOME are...but every single one?
I lost my mind when 8 showed up. He is one of my favorite Doctors. The Big Finish audios are amazing and really have done a great job of letting 8 shine. I lost my mind again when he rattled off the names of a bunch of his companions before regeneration. Lucy! Charley! If you ever want to know the 8th Doctor, listen to his stories from Big Finish. They’re great when you’re in the car, doing things around the house, etc. A bunch of them are available on Spotify, Google Play Music etc. so you can listen to them free! The other classic Doctors get great stories too but just listening to 8’s stories is a great way to fill in his history.
This minisode could've easily been turned into a full one-off episode, just further proof that we could enjoy a 8th Doctor live action season or something
Do you see now why we were all so excited to see your reaction to this? I swear I punched the air, laughed, and wept more times in that seven minutes... "Who can tell the difference any more?" "I don't suppose there's any need for a Doctor any more..." Those two lines especially still bring tears to my eyes.
After seeing how easily McGann resumed the role of the Doctor I would have loved to see him in a prequel series, just one. It was fascinating to see him become Eight just like that. He deserves more than just the audios. He deserves a series. And throw in Christmas special while you're at it!
I've been waiting for this. That was absolutely delightful! It was so much fun to see how absolutely stunned you were by this. It's so intense! I love The Night of the Doctor. I think it's one of the best pieces of Who that's been written recently, despite its length. Moffat nailed it - and it's so intense from beginning to end. Paul is absolutely wonderful, "Bring me knitting!". I'm so glad you liked him. He's one of my favorites - mostly through his extensive work of Big Finish audio dramas, but I just think he's the best part of the TV movie, he makes me so happy in that, and in this one he's phenomenal. I remember that when this one aired, it was just a bit after I'd gotten into the audio dramas, and the moment I heard his voice saying "I'm a doctor" - I paused and actually shouted out loud. It was such an amazing feeling. But I think that even if your connection to Eighth isn't big, this is still a really emotional short, and it sets up his character and the horror of the time war really well, without showing very much. So glad you enjoyed. I'm gonna rewatch that. Doctor Who December is continuing to be a highlight for me, every day. :D
Eighth doctor! Sisterhood of Karn! Timelord potions! cool stuff. I'm glad folks enjoyed this surprise and I enjoyed finally seeing an eighth doctor exit regeneration scene.
all of the names he saluted before drinking the concoction were the names of his companions in the audio adventures featuring Paul Mcgann - making them canon to the main Doctor Who timeline
As is shown in several of the Big Finish Audio Stories, where the vast majority of the 8th Doctor’s life is, the 8th Doctor spends his last several years in emotional pain and agony as the Time War builds and rages, devastating planets that he’s never able to save.
Excellent Reaction!! 2 things to notice from this: 1) The Level of Terror Cass had to the Doctor as a time lord emphasizes what the 10th Doctor said in The end of Time about the War becoming Hell to the point that the Time Lords were seen as just as bad as the Daleks by the lesser races caught in the middle. 2) Look How young The War Doctor looks in the reflection vs how he looked in the Name of The Doctor. That should tell you that the War Lasted for a LONG time, long enough for the War Doctor to Age into his form in the Name of the Doctor which, given how slow the Doctor Ages, should tell you a Lot about his state going into the Day of the Doctor.
The War Doctor were from the beggining young but then.. for years of fighting.. he get old. The Director propably just used some young photo version of John Hurt from his ''young age of cinematography''. PS: I'm not English and that means that my english is not correct sometimes... - I'm sorry.
I am so excited for you to meet Capaldi's Doctor, just don't give up on him after his first series! SOO many fans have done this and missed series 9 and 10 and they are amazing!
Yes, that is the correct reaction to Paul Mcgann's appearance... and the BBC managed to keep it under wraps until it came out. It was such an amazing moment when it first came out.
YAY!! Thanks so much for this one! I bet everyone was biting their tongues when you posted the TV movie, knowing that this was coming! When I saw this at the time it blew me away, but it did make me wish for a full 8th Doctor series.
I really liked Paul as the Doctor and there were so many who didn't want him to be part of the cannon and I think that made me an even bigger supporter of Paul as the 8th Doctor. While the show finally did recognize Paul as the Doctor... (and I was giddy with every reference) I was not prepared for this. When Paul appeared at the start of this episode, the raw screaming of absolute, excited joy made me miss the next few minutes... had to stop and go back because I was so overwhelmed with giddy delight!! I would love for a multi-Doctor story with Paul in it in the future.... But this was so good... even if it was just a short mini-sode. The references to older Doctor Who with the sisters and his salute to his companions from the audio dramas was just frosting on this cake of awesome! So glad you got to see it!! This meant almost as much to me as the 50th anniversary episode.
So happy to see your reaction to this. :) It's completely mind-bending to think that Paul McGann only had two on-screen appearances as the Doctor and they were 17 years apart. He did a ton of Big Finish audio stories (after all, we had to have someone to keep Doctor Who alive between the 1996 movie and the 2005 revival) but yeah, apart from this, no other appearances apart from stock footage, like in The Eleventh Hour.
The head priestess of the sisterhood! What a phenomenal performance. I am always just enthralled by her in this. The 8th Doctor's performance as well. Shame the 90's movie didn't capture this side of him. That steaming pile of poop just missed opportunities and instead gave us "the Doctor is half human" and we are stuck with that as canon even when it makes no sense at all!
Jess, your reaction is priceless on this big reveal, I loved it! You have been my favorite Doctor Who reactor, and thank you for allowing us to share on this amazing journey with you.🤗
One thing that no one mentioned: he was made canon twice over in two 10th Doctor episodes. In "Human Nature" while John Smith (10) was writing in his Journal of Impossible Things he had drawn the 8th Doctor and then again in "The Next Doctor" when he was showing Jackson Lake the faces of his past selves stored in the 'info-stamps' one of them was the 8th Doctor. Now I can see some people saying about the Journal 'oh well that could have been anyone' ok, fine even though it is included in the drawings of other Doctors but the info-stamps show the faces of all who came before 10 and 8 is there. Hmmm....did I just hear a gunshot? No, I think it was a CANON!! :-)
So glad to finally see this reaction! It was definitely worth the wait! It was great that you watched the TV movie a couple of weeks back. The reveal of Paul McGann at the start of the minisode wouldn't have had half as much impact, otherwise. Oh, and I'm also glad to see that this minisode didn't get spoiled for you, as the surprise on your face was fantastic! I'm not gonna lie, I have a huge soft spot for The Night of the Doctor. 17 years since his previous TV appearance, seeing "my" Doctor on TV again was a huge shock, I can tell ya. And it was so great to FINALLY get his regeneration story, at long last. Tying into his audios by mentioning his companions was just the icing on the cake. Genuinely one of my favourite regeneration stories.
AIUI in a later prose story Ohila and the Doctor discuss what happened here, and Ohila reveals to him that the "potion" she gave him was only lemonade (= American Sprite/7UP) with dry ice in it. In other words, the "warrior"/War Doctor was entirely the Doctor's creation all along. That revelation cuts deep - and ties into all the building hurt and loss the 8th was feeling.
This released like a week before the 50th because it was about to get leaked and the BBC had to scramble to pre-empt it. I assume it was originally going to be released the day before, but imo how it actually happened was better because we got a whole week for the hype train to kick into overdrive.
That takes care of question #1 on your FAQ. Loved your reaction. Thank you for every day this month. I have been looking forward to today, and it did not disappoint.
+sea pea I was away on business at the time and had a lousy internet connection.With all the buffering it took me nearly 20 minutes to watch the whole thing,lol; but it did give me plenty of time to digest everything that was being said
Paul's fantastic and his humor is amazing. I love that you loved it, and I loved that you were happy to see him. For those of us who watched the Fox movie originally it's crazy to think that it had been SO MANY YEARS since we'd seen him as the Doctor, it made me curious so see how you would react having just "met" him. Thank you for watching this. Love all of your reactions!
Been really excited for this, like everyone else. Seven of the best Doctor Who minutes ever. This is what got me listening to the Big Finish DW audio dramas, and after listening to most of the Paul McGann audio adventures, i realised that this minisode is perfect for the 8th Doctor. A little darker, pretty weird and a powerhouse performance. It must have been so much fun for McGann to film this, since he had honed his portrayal of the Doctor at Big Finish for about 12 years when Night was released. "Will it (John) Hurt?" is just such a cheeky fun line to throw in. "Bring me knitting." Glorious. And for once, for one shining moment, everyone agreed Moffat had done something utterly brilliant. Now i'm going to watch this reaction about five more times.
As always: Brightly awesome, Jess! Ahhh ... John Hurt. Brought so much to DW in such limited time. And it is a crime the tremendous Paul McGann hasn't been used more!
Charley Pollard is a Edwardian Adventuress. C’Rizz -a humanoid chameleon from a different universe Lucie - Lucie Miller, think s1 Rose with the mouth of Donna from present day Tamsin- present day actress Molly O Sullivan -Irish VAD from WW1 He’s also had Liv Chenka a medical tec from the future, Helen Sinclair a museum worker from 1963, River Song & Bliss a student from the future who’s class got destroyed in a effect from the Time War
I'm really pleased that his reappearance was as much a surprise to you as it was to us in the run-up to the 50th special. McGann was still technically the Doctor when I got into the show before it came back (his Doctor having adventures in novels, comic strips and audio dramas - the latter which feature the companions he names here). When I first saw him, I leaped up and shouted "YES!" because I knew what it meant - that we would finally find out how he regenerated.
Some people thought that Paul McGann got a raw deal from the movie. However, the character he portrays here is from many years of audio dramas (Published by Big Finish) and he has a well polished and stable persona as the Doctor in this minisode as a result. I was totally overjoyed to see him as part of the 50 years celebrations If you do ever get your hands on any of his audio books, they are brilliant and showcase a unique Doctor.
Richard Ashton I'm glad the guy who produced the McGann movie wasn't allowed to continue. For one, he thought the original series was silly. Two, he claimed Anthony Ansley turned down an appearance, when he never made the offer. Three, he purposely killed a 7 Doctor special because it would interfere with his show. He also had a horrible backstory and Motive for the Doctor. However McGann himself was brilliant and some of the "updating" actually were incorporated into the New Who.
even if it didnt make the list for doctor who december, please watch (even if you dont react to it) the fiveish doctors reboot. seeing as youre a fan of mcgann (hes in it) and also its a companion to the main special with a classic and comedic leaning, yet still emotional and heartwarming
i would recommend looking up a fanfilm called "seasons of war" as a sort of continuation of this. it's so good that it doesn't feel like a fanfilm, but like a real minisode
"Oh my God! OH MY GOD!" I know same 😂 Seriously that was my reaction when this first came out 😅❤ I was one of them who actually liked the TV film and wanted more Eight on screen 😁❤
Second the Big Finish stories with Paul McGann. The large majority of them are wonderful, touching stories and McGann delivers the dialogue perfectly. He is one of my favorite doctors. It's almost too bad they are audio only since that format doesn't fit the 'reaction' format.
