Eighth Doctor

Eighth Doctor
Main aliases:	Doctor John Bowman John Smith Perdix Dave Bowman Old Doctor
Place of origin:	Gallifrey
Appearances:	Full List of Appearances
Main actor:	[[actor::Paul McGann India Fisher (CC:Solitaire) (Ventriloquist Dummy)|Paul McGann India Fisher (CC:Solitaire

Incarnations of the Doctor
Widely accepted
Others / unplaced incarnations
More ambiguous

The Eighth Doctor was the eighth incarnation of the Doctor. Unlike many of his predecessors, particularly his First and Seventh, this Doctor expressed a more human and emotional side, with a love and respect for all life. His own life was a temporally complex one, which so frequently involved time paradoxes and parallel universes that it was impossible to know with authority how the major epochs of his existence fit together. Complicating the matter even further was his possible involvement in the Last Great Time War.

Biography

Birth Cry

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The newly regenerated Eighth Doctor

This incarnation's life began when the Doctor regenerated for a seventh time after being caught in the crossfire of a shootout between rival Chinese-American youth gangs in 1999 San Francisco's Chinatown and dying on the operating table while being attended by Dr. Grace Holloway, who was unaware of, and thus unfamiliar with, the Doctor's alien physiology. Almost immediately, he was caught up in yet another battle with the Master, whose essence had survived his execution on Skaro and entered the body of a human ambulance driver named Bruce. Knowing this human body would not last, the Master plotted to use the Eye of Harmony to steal the Doctor's remaining lives.

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The Doctor with Lee and Grace (DW: Doctor Who)

The Doctor's defeat of the Master involved a temporal orbit, travelling back into his own timestream to undo events in which he had been involved. (DW: Doctor Who) This paradox was this Doctor's 'birth cry' (EDA: Unnatural History), heralding a life of considerable complexity. Those attempting to view this incarnation's time-stream would find it not a neat line (EDA: The Gallifrey Chronicles) but rather a chaos of paradoxes (EDA: Interference - Book One, Interference - Book Two, BFA: Storm Warning) and parallel timelines. (BFA: Zagreus, EDA: Time Zero)

Life, Death and Amnesia

Leaving San Francisco, the Doctor was attacked by the Master causing yet another case of amnesia. He found himself travelling to different past points in his own timeline, encountering his previous incarnations and one point securing the release of his old teacher Borusa from the Tomb of Rassilon. At the end of this journey, the Doctor regained his memories and acquired his newest companion, Sam Jones, a young woman from the same Shoreditch neighborhood where the Doctor stayed in I.M. Foreman's junkyard with his granddaughter Susan Foreman. (EDA: The Eight Doctors)

The Doctor left Sam Jones at a Greenpeace rally and went adventuring alone for three years. (EDA: Vampire Science) This extended side trip saw him reunite with Bernice Summerfield to save Britain from the Ice Warriors (NA: The Dying Days) and travel with Stacy Townsend and Ssard. (EDA: Placebo Effect)

Izzy and Destrii

On a trip to Stockbridge the Doctor encounters his old enemy the Celestial Toymaker. As it turned out, the only two normal people left in Stockbridge were his old friend Maxwell Edison and his companion, "comic geek" Izzy. As it turned out, the Toymaker was on the lookout for an alien piece of weaponry, the Imagineum, capable of warping reality, and had imprisoned Stockbridge into a snowglobe while replacing the whole town with a trap-filled facsimile. The Toymaker managed to find the activation key for the Imagineum and use it to summon a toy Doctor which he hoped would kill the original. However, after a few moments of discourse, the real Doctor convinced his toy counterpart he was only a gnat in the Toymaker's eyes and that he would have a better chance if he chose to rebel. Joining forces, the Doctor reached the Imagineum and summoned a toy Toymaker to battle the original. With the Toymaker's castle in the clouds shattering with the destruction of the Imagineum, Maxwell, Izzy and the Doctor escaped with the snowglobe containing Stockbridge. After restoring the city to normalcy, the Doctor again offers Max the opportunity to travel with him in the TARDIS; he refuses yet again. He invites Izzy, and she decides to accept, joining him on his travels.

First they departed to the distant future of Earth in the 51st century, where they managed to traverse a pirate-infested wasteland and reach the Keep, a mysterious source of power in the middle of nowhere. Within, they found a genius, Crivello, who had solved the problem of the dwindling energy Earth received from the Sun - the major source of any power on Earth at the time, by creating a second sun capable of providing enough energy. The Doctor fended off the pirates as Crivello launched the device and allowed it to detonate in space, creating the secondary sun in the Crab Nebula to provide humanity with a new home as Sol went nova.

While leaving Crivello, the Doctor and Izzy awoke in a celestial staircase, apparently having died in their departure. With classic villains damning the Doctor's exploits, both he and Izzy were sentenced to Hell - only to discover that, in fact, they were in a simulated environment. With the aid of a figure in white, they destroyed the parasite threatening the TARDIS' datascape and recovered, with the Doctor realizing the figure was, in fact, the representation of the TARDIS' own soul...

They materialized in a small satelloid orbiting Crivello's sun, and witnessed an attack on it by Daleks. Captured, the Doctor was taken away to the Daleks' ship, who hoped to twist Crivello's invention into a controlled rift capable of rending the fabric of reality and allowing them access to other Universes, with the single intention of wiping out the "impure" indigenous Daleks; a freak storm sent a small battallion to the Magellan Cluster, Dalek territory. The native Daleks found them to be utterly insulting and disgusting, and launched a crusade to destroy all other versions of themselves, using the Doctor to control the detonation of the star. Meanwhile, Izzy was captured herself by another of the Doctor's deadliest enemies - the megacorp known as the Threshold.

The Threshold was hired to destroy the Daleks, and already had a plan in motion - to use the Doctor's own plan to seal him and the Dalek Hive in the collapsing gravity well of Crivello's Cauldron. However, the plan was implemented too late, and armies of alternate Daleks swarmed out of the rift. While the Special Weapons Dalek battalions held them off, Izzy escaped with the Threshold's payment and a portal-generating Threshold ring. She warped to the Doctor's location, and he was informed of the Threshold's mission, and knew who hired them. After all, the box containing their payment was embossed with the Seal of Rassilon...

They managed to collapse the rift using a symbiote born of the Cauldron's own substance, convincing him to go nova, and escaped as the TARDIS materializes and the Threshold agent fights to retrieve the box. As they witness the Cauldron's restoration, the agent returns, to remind the Doctor the Threshold is not down yet.

After that, they appeared on a touristic planet, and the Doctor unwittingly careened into a crime scene and inadvertently framed himself for a series of murders. It took Izzy's yet-to-be-written touristic log to send an anonymous tip to the police to arrest the true culprit and ensure the Doctor's liberation.

After that, they had a brief meeting with an old enemy in a parallel universe - one where the adventures of the Doctor were nothing more than televised programmes and sceince fiction. Dragged by an escaping ship's slipstream into the universe of the "Real World", the Doctor landed near the BBC building and fought hundreds of hypnotized actors and staff as Izzy instead wandered and found an ally of sorts in the sets. Ultimately captured by the hordes of brainwashed people, the Doctor was taken to see the tyrant - none other than Beep the Meep, who did not recognize the Doctor, having seen him last in his fourth incarnation. Ignoring the Doctor's claims of identity, he turned his black star radiation wave upon him and slaved him to his will. To his utter horror, though, Izzy then arrived with her ally - Fourth Doctor actor Tom Baker, who scared the Meep as Izzy sabotaged his machinery and freed all in the building. Confused by the oddities of the universe, the Doctor and Izzy departed.

Travels with Sam and Fitz

Resuming his travels with Sam after picking her up at the Greenpeace rally, the Doctor came to encounter evidence of the Time Lords' future war with the nameless Enemy in the East Indies ReVit Zone late in the 21st century where an auction was taking place. (EDA: Alien Bodies)

At this auction he met several players who came to play roles both in the Doctor's own timeline and the War with the Enemy. They included: the Faction Paradox and the Celestis. This is one of the first (but not the last) paradoxical events in the Doctor's eighth incarnation, as he finds out about the war "too early" as Homunculette declared. The Doctor saw more than a glimpse of his own future with the focus of the auction being "The Relic", in reality the Doctor's own corpse. (EDA: Alien Bodies)

The Doctor's companion Sam Jones also experienced a revelation about herself (EDA: Alien Bodies) though these revelations had a far greater impact on him personally when he detected a dimensional scar in San Francisco 2002. Sam Jones fell into the scar and her history and personality changed, back to its original state, before her timeline had been altered. The Doctor placed his TARDIS in the dimensional scar to contain the energies and sought out this changed (or rather, restored) Sam Jones. (EDA: Unnatural History)

The Doctor acquired another companion; Fitz Kreiner (EDA: The Taint) and then with the departure of Sam Jones gained another companion: Compassion. (EDA: Interference - Book Two) Both Sam Jones and Fitz played pivotal roles in the Doctor's battles with various enemies, including the Faction Paradox, it was this such battle which would change both companions and the Doctor. The Doctor then travelled alone for a time. (EDA: Interference - Book Two)

Following this battle another important event changed the Doctor's view of Gallifrey and changed the lives of his companions in ways that would be felt for a long time. (EDA: The Shadows of Avalon)

Many of these changes and battles culminated in a destruction of Gallifrey and its system. (EDA: The Ancestor Cell) The shock and pain of launching this attack prompted his friend and companion Compassion to deliver him to Earth with his own TARDIS to recover for 100 years.

Eventually the Doctor learned that just prior to the destruction of Gallifrey, the sum total of the Matrix was placed within his mind, providing a means to rebuild Gallifrey and restore the Time Lords. The Doctor set out to do just this with the assistance of the Time Lord Marnal. (EDA: The Gallifrey Chronicles)

Presumably he succeeded and it was this new Gallifrey that was destroyed in the Last Great Time War. This being the case, any of his other documented adventures occured after this point.

Travels with Charley

The Doctor returned to Earth (at an indeterminate point in the future) and gained two companions brother and sister Gemma Griffin and Samson Griffin, they traveled with him for a time until they encountered a Nekkistani time vessel in the vortex. Whilst aboard, Gemma was captured by Davros and forced to do his bidding; aboard the TARDIS she (under Davros's instruction) altered the Doctor's memories and forced him to take Davros to Earth. (BFA: Terror Firma)

The Doctor was left within the vortex (without prior memory of those events with Samson and Gemma). He narrowly avoided contact with a Vortisaur and materialised his TARDIS within the ballast tanks of the R101. On board the R101, he met Charley Pollard. (BFA: Storm Warning)

During his travels with Charley, the Doctor was transformed into a Ventriloquist's dummy by The Celestial Toymaker. Although he was able to communicate via Charley when she used him as a doll, she was suffering from amnesia at the time, and had to outsmart the Toymaker herself. The Doctor then reverted back to normal as they travelled away from the Toymaker's Toyshop. (CC:Solitaire)

Saving Charley had unforeseen consequences, and the Doctor and Charley were pursued by the Time Lords until being captured by the CIA. (BFA: Embrace the Darkness, The Time of the Daleks, Neverland)

It was revealed to the Doctor that Charley's surviving the destruction of the R101 had caused a crack in the Web of Time, but that she is also (because of this) the portal into the world of Anti-Time. The Doctor, along with Lady President Romana traveled to a universe of anti-time. (BFA: Neverland)

More detail to be added

Travels with Lucie

Lucie Miller appeared in the TARDIS suddenly, much to the consternation of the Eighth Doctor. Immediately the Doctor tried to return her to her correct era but found he was unable to do so. He accidentally arrived in Red Rocket Rising and gradually earning Lucie's trust he eliminated two rival factions of Daleks. (BFA/BBCR: Blood of the Daleks) Over the course of his journeys the Doctor grew fond of Lucie and the two mellowed to a mildly antagonistic friendship. He learned she was mistakenly made part of a Time Lord witness protection scheme. (BFA/BBCR: Human Resources) The two continue to explore the universe together defeating old foes such as Morbius and Zygons until the a dark secret the Doctor has been keeping regarding Lucie's Auntie Pat forces them apart. (BFA: Death in Blackpool).

The Last Great Time War

Eventually, the Doctor decided to join the conflict between the Daleks and the Time Lords after he witnesses the death of a child at the hands of a Dalek. (ST: Museum Peace)

During the Last Great Time War the Doctor fought on the front lines at the Fall of Arcadia, and was held prisoner for over a month on an unknown planet. With the help of a Malmooth named Chantir he managed to overpower the fortress' guards and escape. He then managed to obtain the Key of Rassilon which he claimed to be the reason why he didn't attempt to escape earlier. The Doctor planned to use the key as a De-Mat Gun that would lock the Medusa Cascade and bring an end to the war (IDW: The Forgotten). This weapon may have been related to the Moment in some way, though precise details were unknown. (DW: The End of Time)

Regeneration

The circumstances of the Eighth Doctor's regeneration into his ninth incarnation were unknown, although the Tenth Doctor once said that the Eighth Doctor had been alone when he died. He further implied that his eighth self's death was caused by the events of the Last Great Time War. (IDW: The Forgotten)

Characteristics

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The Doctor at the controls.

This Doctor was more romantic than his predecessors, and much more open in his admiration for humans. While earlier Doctors, especially the First and Seventh, would be visibly exasperated by human failings and quirks, this Doctor was more likely to be quietly amused. This may be due to his being half-human on his mother's side, a secret that his previous incarnations never revealed (though this was later proclaimed false due to the Doctor using various items to disguise himself). There have been hints that Leela may be the Human ancestor. Some think that DW: Journey's End establishes that the Doctor is not half-human as Human/Time Lord metacrisis hybrids were incapable of regenerating and only have one heart. This is incorrect since a regeneration metacrisis is not the same thing a true hybrid, and since the Curse of Pythia was lifted for Leela's marriage's sake he may very well be half or part Human. Epochs of technology can easily solve any such difficulties; however, the point may well be moot since the Eighth Doctor has admitted in a flashback to have used half-functional Chameleon Arch technology to pass himself as a half-human (see below).

Personality

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The Doctor giving Gareth advice about his future and offers him a jellybaby (DW: Doctor Who)

The Eighth Doctor behaves in a more human manner than his predecessors, perhaps tying in to the "revelation" that he is half-human; this is most clearly seen in his willingness to entertain romantic notions with Grace Holloway, albeit in an innocent, almost childlike manner. DW: Journey's End suggests that the Doctor might not be half-human as Human/Time Lord hybrids are incapable of regenerating and only have one heart. However, it is not definite, as this may only be true for Human/TimeLord Metacrises. (of course, if the Doctor were half-human, then the Meta-Crisis Tenth Doctor would have been a quarter-Time Lord, and three-quarters human. However, he specifically states that he is half-Time Lord, half-human.) If it is true that he is not then it is unknown if his claim to be half-human was a result of his amnesia or just a part of an elaborate plot to fool the Master. This last possibility is the most likely, as he once claimed to a Malmooth named Chantir he had once fooled "his worst enemy" into believing he was half-human "with nothing more than a half-functioning Chameleon Arch and a wide-eyed expression". Like the Fifth Doctor, he exhibits an endearing vulnerability, but this is contrasted by a sense of urgency and decisiveness. He also demonstrates a flippant sense of humour reminiscent of, though not identical to, the Second and Fourth Doctors. The Eighth Doctor was largely an open pallet early in his life; however as he began to experience life and the universe for himself he soon matured into a fully developed individual.

The Doctor became a darker and angrier person with the loss of his TARDIS and home in the dimensional barrier between Earth and Avalon, and his then reliance on Compassion as a means of travel.

Following his exile on Earth and particularly the loss of his second heart he became a much darker, though passionate person. (EDA: The Adventuress of Henrietta Street, History 101) Though said second heart was returned, its long absence still left a changed Doctor. (EDA: Camera Obscura)

Habits and Quirks

The Eighth Doctor had a penchant for late 19th century style clothing, beginning with a Wild West costume he stole from a hospital worker's locker shortly after his regeneration. He also exhibited a habit of giving people, even strangers, hints about their future while not expressing outright the nature of that future (with one exception). This Doctor also had a tendency to repeat someone's name when he was trying to make a point (or when he got excited); "Sam, Sam, Sam, Sam, Sam...".

The Doctor, a captive of The Master.

The Doctor also had quite a bit of experience in pick-pocketing, something unseen from any other incarnation.

He was also very afraid of heights.

Mysteries and Discrepancies

• The Doctor said that he is half-human on his mother's side. (DW: Doctor Who) A later adventure has the eighth Doctor describing a ruse where he tricked the Master into believing he was half-human, using a Chameleon Arch. This does not fit the events of the TV movie, during which the Doctor had neither opportunity nor motive for deceiving the Master about his biology. The Doctor was suffering from amnesia when the Master observed at a distance that the Doctor was half-human. This reference can likely be explained as a reference to an untold story that took place before the telefilm. (IDW: The Forgotten)
• We do not know the circumstances of this incarnation's regeneration. This may or may not have had to do with the Last Great Time War. Given his next incarnation's reaction to his own ears when seeing himself in the mirror, his regeneration seems to have happened not very long before he met Rose Tyler, though this remains ambiguous. It may be due to the lack time to acclimatise during the war. He needed to travel a bit before to justify the photos of him in Rose (though it is also possible those photos may have been taken in later, unchronicled adventures - however the plot lines leave little time for this, but there is a gap when the Ninth Doctor leaves at the end of "Rose" and before he returns, as we do not know how long it has been for him), so his appearance may just be an ongoing niggling annoyance. However, some historical records depict the Ninth Doctor with longer hair; perhaps he's commenting that the haircut made his ears more prominent. (DW: Rose)
• The Tenth Doctor states that the Last Great Time War was the cause of this incarnation's regeneration. (IDW: The Forgotten)

Key Life Events

• Regeneration and "final battle" with the Master. Grace Holloway declines an invitation to travel with him. (DW: Doctor Who)
• First meeting with companion Sam Jones (EDA: The Eight Doctors)
• Re-visits his earlier incarnations and fights the Master. (EDA: The Eight Doctors)
• The Doctor leaves Sam at a Greenpeace rally. (ST: Bounty)
• This incarnation meets former companion Bernice Summerfield and the Brigadier as they battle the Ice Warriors. (NA: The Dying Days)
• The Doctor begins to travel with Stacy whom he meets while fighting the Cybermen. (RT: Dreadnought)
• The Doctor and Stacy meet an Ice Warrior named Ssard, who joins them on their travels. (RT: Ascendance, Descendance)
• Stacy and Ssard develop a relationship and leave the Doctor. (after the events of RT: Coda)
• Meets "comic-geek" Izzy and together they defeat the Celestial Toymaker. The Doctor invites Izzy to travel with him, and she accepts. (DWM: Endgame)
• The Doctor and Izzy battle the Daleks. (DWM: Fire and Brimstone)
• Defeats the Threshold by faking his regeneration with the help of Shayde. (DWM: Wormwood)
• The Doctor and Izzy meet an amphibious alien named Destrii, who tricks Izzy into switching bodies and flees, leaving Izzy with an alien body. (DWM: Ophidius)
• The Doctor and Izzy catch up with Destrii on her home planet of Oblivion and Izzy and Destrii swap bodies back. Izzy then decides to leave the Doctor and he takes her back to her home town of Stockbridge. (DWM: Oblivion)
• The Doctor picks up Sam at the train rally seconds after he left for Sam, but 3 years later for him. (EDA: Vampire Science)
• The loss of Sam Jones sparks the Doctor to search for her (EDA: Longest Day), leading him to his incarceration. (EDA: Seeing I)
• First meets Iris Wildthyme in this incarnation. He also witnesses her regeneration. (EDA: The Scarlet Empress)
• Meets companion Fitz Kreiner. (EDA: The Taint)
• Meets "the original" Sam Jones. (EDA: Unnatural History)
• Revelation of the events of Dust remembered and talked about, the Faction Virus is starting to take effect. (EDA: Interference - Book One, Interference - Book Two)
• A second encounter with Iris Wildthyme, and an encounter in the Obverse makes the Doctor question his trust in Iris. (DW: The Blue Angel)
• The (apparent) destruction of his TARDIS and the 'birth' of Compassion, a TARDIS in "human" form. (EDA: The Shadows of Avalon)
• Gallifrey is destroyed in a conflict with The Enemy, the Faction Paradox and the Time Lords (which may have been part of The War) along with its star system. The Doctor partially recovers the TARDIS and loses his memory. (EDA: The Ancestor Cell)
• Begins a long exile on Earth. (EDA: The Ancestor Cell)
• Adopts a daughter, Miranda Dawkins (EDA: Father Time)
• Reunited with Fitz and meets Anji Kapoor and the TARDIS fully recovers. (EDA: Escape Velocity)
• The Doctor's second heart is removed. He first meets Sabbath. (EDA: The Adventuress of Henrietta Street)
• Meets The Master, who has also survived The War. The Doctor does not regonise him due to his amnesia. (EDA: The Adventuress of Henrietta Street)
• Meets with Iris Wildthyme, although due to his amnesia the Doctor does not recognise her. The Doctor does however discover she has a TARDIS proving that he isn't the last Time Lord. (EDA: Mad Dogs and Englishmen)
• Gains a new second heart. (EDA: Camera Obscura)
• Witnesses the death of his adopted daughter Miranda. (EDA: Sometime Never...)
• Defeats Sabbath and the Council of Eight. (EDA: Sometime Never...)
• Finds a way to resurrect the Time Lords with the help of the Time Lord Marnal. (EDA: The Gallifrey Chronicles)
• Restores Gallifrey and the Time Lords to time and space. (After the events of EDA: The Gallifrey Chronicles)
• Regains his memory and a memory of what happened prior to his exile. (After the events of EDA: The Gallifrey Chronicles)
• Meets siblings Samson and Gemma Griffin who travel with him. (BFA: Terror Firma)
• At an unknown point he leaves Samson and Gemma at a carnival and meets Mary Shelley and his future self, Mary becomes his companion. (BFA: The Company of Friends)
• At an unknown point, the Doctor leaves Mary and resumes his travels with Samson and Gemma. (Prior to the events of BFA: Terror Firma)
• The Doctor is ambushed by Davros and he is wiped of his memories of Samson and Gemma and they are taken to Earth for Davros' next trap. (BFA: Terror Firma)
• The Doctor meets Charley Pollard aboard the R101 airship and the duo begin to travel with each other. (BFA: Storm Warning)
• The Doctor becomes infected by a virus named Anti-Time and exiles himself and Charley to the universe of Anti-Time. (BFA: Zagreus)
• Meets a native called C'rizz in the other universe, the Doctor invites him along in his travels. (BFA: The Creed of the Kromon)
• The Doctor and his companions return to the native universe, and straight into a trap laid by Davros. (BFA: Terror Firma)
• The Doctor regains his memory of previous companions Samson and Gemma, the Doctor tricks Davros and his Daleks into leaving Earth. (BFA: Terror Firma)
• Witnesses the death of C'rizz. (BFA: Absolution)
• The death of C'rizz strains his relationship with Charley, after the duo defeat the Cybermen Charley decides that she no longer wishes to travel with the Doctor and the Doctor leaves her. (BFA: The Girl Who Never Was)
• Attempts to find the Master after as he escapes from the Eye of Harmony for the second time, however the Master escapes the TARDIS' detection. (ST: Forgotten)
• The Time Lords send Lucie Miller into the Doctor's TARDIS as part of a "Time Lord witness protection programme", the Doctor is forced to travel with Lucie as the Time Lords prevent the Doctor from taking her home. (BFA: Blood of the Daleks)
• The "Time Lord witness protection programme" is ended when the Time Lords realise they sent the wrong person, after defeating the Cybermen the Doctor decides not to take Lucie home, but instead asks her if she would like to continue travelling with him. Lucie accepts and they travel off for new adventures. (BFA: Human Resources)
• Ends the "second coming" of Morbius. (BFA: The Vengeance of Morbius)
• Spends 600 years stranded on the planet Orbis before being rescued by Lucie Miller. (BFA: Orbis)
• Re-encounters the Eight Legs and kills their Queen after the Queen threatens the population of the universe. (BFA: Worldwide Web)
• Parts ways with Lucie. (BFA: Death in Blackpool)
• The Doctor must decide if he shall help his people go to fight the Daleks. After a Dalek in a museum kills a child, the Doctors finds that his question is answered and goes off to battle the Last Great Time War. (ST: Museum Peace)
• During the Last Great Time War the Doctor is held prisoner on an unknown planet, he manages to escape with the help of a Malmooth named Chantir and retrieves the Key of Rassilon. The Doctor plans to use the key as a demat gun that will lock the Medusa Cascade and bring an end to the war. (IDW: The Forgotten)
• At an unknown point, the Doctor regenerates into his ninth incarnation. Likely due to the Last Great Time War. (IDW: The Forgotten, prior to the events of DW: Rose)

Behind the scenes

Longevity

Although the Eighth Doctor appeared on television only once, if one factors in original novels, audio dramas and radio plays, he is the most prolific of all the Doctors to date, even surpassing the Fourth Doctor with his seven-year tenure on television, and the Seventh Doctor who was featured in his own extensive series of novels (Virgin New Adventures) and audio dramas. Like all non-televised spin-off productions, however, the canonicity of all but the 1996 telefilm (and subsequent on-screen references taken from this film) are open for debate.

Canon debate

Due to the nature of the 1996 movie, and certain continuity-bending issues raised by it (see the article on the film for detailed discussion), the place of the Eighth Doctor within canon remained a matter of (sometimes heated) fan debate for more than a decade, until the revival of Doctor Who in 2005 directly addressed the issue.

In the 2007 episode DW: Human Nature, a drawing of the Eighth Doctor (as played by McGann) was briefly glimpsed on one of the pages of "John Smith's Journal of Impossible Things, alongside drawings of other established incarnations. Later, the 2008 Christmas special, DW: The Next Doctor, put the issue to rest fully by including brief footage of Paul McGann from the TV movie in a recap of the Doctor's first nine incarnations. A similar on-screen appearance, again using footage from the movie, occurred in the 2010 episode DW: The Eleventh Hour in another "roll call" of past Doctors. An image of the Eighth Doctor appears yet again during a sequence in the later Series 5 episode DW: The Lodger, which also includes a line of dialogue explicitly identifying the incarnation played by Matt Smith as the eleventh Doctor, and therefore accounting for the incarnation portrayed by McGann.

Nonetheless, not all writers of Doctor Who-related works are convinced. The 2008 release Eclectic Gypsy: The Unauthorised Biography of Doctor Who by Dave Thomson, a non-BBC-licensed work published by Collector's Guide Publishing, rejects the existence of the Eighth Doctor as played by Paul McGann due to issues raised by the TV movie, postulating that the events of the film were a ruse and that the Seventh Doctor, as played by Sylvester McCoy later regenerated into the incarnation played by Christopher Eccleston.

Continuity Contradictions

The Eighth Doctor's adventures after the TV movie have taken place in three mediums; the Big Finish audioplays, the Doctor Who Magazine and Radio Times comic strips, and the BBC novels. The continuity between these three separate ranges is unclear.

Big Finish began by associating themselves with the books, for example referencing Sam Jones (BFA: Minuet in Hell), but eventually decided to divorce themselves, even retroactively inserting a new companion called Samson to whom the 'Sam' reference might refer (although this is unlikely as the Doctor had lost his memories of Samson) (BFA: Terror Firma). A short story collection depicted Sam being edited out of history (ST: Repercussions...). At one point, the Doctor was able to look into parallel universes, seeing glimpses which reflected the events of the DWM and EDA adventures. (BFA: Zagreus)

Despite this, it is possible for all three to fit into the same continuity. The novel, Vampire Science, establishes that the Doctor left his companion, Sam Jones, at one point. While only a few hours passed for Sam, the Doctor apparently traveled for three years without her.

Within this gap, one could fit The Dying Days, the Eighth Doctor Big Finish Audio Dramas and the Eighth Doctor comic strip stories. After this, Vampire Science and the rest of the Eighth Doctor Novels occur.

Alternatively, the audio dramas make take place after the final Eighth Doctor novel. The Gallifrey Chronicles ends with the Doctor intending to find some way to restore the destroyed planet Gallifrey. His success may have somehow rolled back the timeline, allowing for the audio adventures to take place.

While no explanation has ever been provided, the audio drama, The Company of Friends, features appearances from comic book and novel companions, and a much older Eighth Doctor who refers to all the companions he has had in this lifetime. These companions are Destrii (from the comics), Compassion and Trix (from the books) and Lucie (from the audios), which contradicts suggestions that the different ranges are set in alternate universes. Also, in the Eighth Doctor audio drama, The Zygon Who Fell to Earth, the Doctor refers to a previous run-in with Zygons in the 19th century. This took place in the BBC novel, The Bodysnatchers.

Casting the Eighth Doctor

Numerous actors were considered for the part before McGann was cast including Jonathan Pryce and McGann's younger brother Mark McGann. According to a 2010 report, one of those in consideration (though he says today he was never approached) was Scottish comedian and occasional dramatic actor Billy Connolly

External Links

• Doctor Who theme music
• Big Finish theme music