The Night of the Doctor (TV story)
The Night of the Doctor was a mini-episode released just prior to the 50th anniversary special. It starred Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, in his first on-screen appearance since the 1996 TV movie. It also featured his regeneration — meaning that McGann has uniquely appeared on television only in regeneration stories. As of 2014[update], it is the only BBC Wales production that stars the Doctor, but never shows even a glimpse of the current incarnation. It instead showed the origin of a retroactively introduced incarnation from the Doctor's past - the War Doctor, portrayed by John Hurt.
Initially made available on the BBC iPlayer and YouTube channel on 14 November 2013, The Night of the Doctor was subsequently made available to UK viewers on the BBC Red Button, from Saturday 16 November. It was meant to be released days later, but was released early to avoid an impending leak.[1] Incidentally, this meant that the mini-episode premiered on Paul McGann's own birthday, resulting in another anniversary celebration of sorts, in the wake of one for Doctor Who itself. Since it was recorded alongside the last two days of production on the anniversary special, it shared the production block with The Day of the Doctor.
Synopsis
Still trying to skirt around the edges of the Last Great Time War, the Eighth Doctor is forced to fully join the conflict by the mysterious Sisterhood of Karn. Killed while trying to save a woman who hates him for simply being a Time Lord, the Doctor gets to choose what his next incarnation will be like. He arranges for a warrior... but makes the darkest sacrifice of his life in order to be reborn.
Plot
Cass is piloting a damaged spaceship on the verge of crashing. The ship's computer offers to call for a "doctor" upon being asked for support, to which Cass responds that she doesn't need one because she's not injured. Meanwhile, the Doctor's TARDIS is seen catching up to her ship. Inside, Cass continues to tell the ship that she is trying to send a distress call, and doesn't need a doctor. The Eighth Doctor suddenly appears behind her, stating "I'm a doctor, but probably not the one you were expecting."
When the Doctor notices that the ship's crew is missing and wonders why Cass is still aboard, she explains that she teleported the crew off the ship and stayed behind. The Doctor then welcomes her aboard, and takes her hand as he leads her to the TARDIS. As he is trying to open the doors to the room where the TARDIS is parked, Cass says she joined the crew to see the universe, and wonders if it is always like this. He jokes that it is if she's lucky. He finally opens the doors with his sonic screwdriver, revealing the TARDIS, and reassuring Cass that it's bigger on the inside. Cass is horrified, correctly identifying the police box to be a TARDIS. With contempt and hurt laced in her voice, Cass recoils from the Doctor and orders him not to touch her. She realises that the Doctor is a Time Lord, a species taking part in the Time War. The Doctor counters that he hasn't participated in the conflict, but this fails to assuage Cass. When he points out that at least he's not a Dalek, she replies that one can hardly tell the difference anymore, and promptly locks herself on the other side of the door. Although the Doctor states that he won't leave the ship without her, Cass replies that she doesn't mind; she would rather die than travel with a Time Lord. The Doctor helplessly pleads with her while pounding on the door in a desperate terror, until time runs out and the spacecraft plows into a nearby world with a savage explosion, claiming both their lives.
The ship crashes on the planet Karn, where the Sisterhood of Karn have been expecting the Doctor. A elderly woman comments that the man who is destined to save them has at last arrived. She remarks that the Sisterhood always knew in their bones the Doctor would come back to this planet some day, but pities the nature of his arrival – slain before his time.
Inside a cave, the Doctor rests against an altar, before he suddenly awakens with a jolt and calls out for Cass. The woman, named Ohila, explains that the sisters are still trying to extract who she believes to be his companion from the wreckage. The Doctor corrects her, explaining that Cass wasn't his companion. Regardless, Ohila predicts Cass in all likelihood to be dead. The Doctor questions this, as he points out that he survived. Ohila then explains that the Doctor did, in fact, die in the crash. The Sisterhood restored him to life temporarily with the Elixir of Life after they recovered his body, giving him only four minutes to live. The Doctor sarcastically comments that four minutes is "ages", stating that he might get bored. Remaining stern, Ohila replies that he should spend the little breath he has left more wisely. The Doctor suddenly realizes that he is back on Karn, and recognizes the women gathered around him to be the Sisterhood. He mockingly calls them "The Keepers of the Flame of Utter Boredom." Ohila dryly replies that he can mock them if he likes, before explaining that their Elixir can help trigger his regeneration and allow him to choose the new form he would like to take. Several member of the Sisterhood step forward, holding different chalices filled with Elixir.
The Doctor asks why the Sisterhood would help him, and Ohila replies that he is the only hope to stop the Time War. The Doctor resists the idea of taking any part in the war, claiming that he is comfortable with just trying to help out where he can. Cass' body is then brought forward, and the Doctor comments that she wanted to see the universe. Ohila counteracts this, stating that the universe will end if the Doctor doesn't help in the Time War. The Doctor bitterly states he would rather die than take part in the war, prompting Ohila to remind him that he is "dead already; how many more will you let join you?"
Succumbing to Ohila's persuasion, the Doctor declares that the universe doesn't need a Doctor anymore. He removes a bandoleer from Cass' body, and tells Ohila to make him a warrior. Ohila offers one of the chalices of Elixir, which she claims to have developed herself. The Doctor takes the chalice, and tells the Sisterhood to get out. As they leave, the Doctor asks if the regeneration will will hurt. Ohila simply replies "Yes", to which the Doctor says "Good." Now alone, the Doctor raises the chalice and pays tribute to some of his past companions. He then apologizes to Cass. Despairingly, he utters his last words "Physician, heal thyself," and drinks the Elixir. He drops the empty chalice as the regeneration process begins, and eventually falls to the ground in pain, gasping out his last breaths. Afterwards, Ohila returns to see if the process has finished.
The Doctor stands, putting on Cass' bandoleer and glancing at his new reflection as he states, "Doctor no more."
Cast
- And introducing John Hurt as the War Doctor
Crew
- Writer - Steven Moffat
- Director - John Hayes
- Producer - Denise Paul
- Costume Designer - Howard Burden (uncredited) [2]
- Make-up Artist - Kathryn Newsome (uncredited) [3]
- Visual Effects Designer - Tamsie Thomas (uncredited) [4]
References
- The Eighth Doctor's last words, "Physician, heal thyself", quote the proverb found in Luke 4:23 of the Bible.
- The Eighth Doctor mocks his imminent death in four minutes, stating he might get bored waiting and need a television, books, chess, and knitting.
Story notes
- The opening credits give only the name of the episode, and the name of the actor playing the Doctor, and omit the series name.
- The Eighth Doctor's costume here, designed by Howard Burden, is unique and is based on the Doctor's costume from the TV movie.[5] There's no reason to believe that Burden did anything other than simply re-design the costume entirely from his own sketchpad. Nevertheless, the costume is reminiscent of the character's appearances in Doctor Who Magazine comics, where his costume was slightly different almost every story. Perhaps the closest matches are found in Doctor Who and the Nightmare Game, where the combination of coat and open-necked light shirt are prominent, and Uroboros, with its vest, tan pants and open-collared light shirt. Although the leather riding boots are an apparent innovation of this short, they, too, have precedent in the pages of DWM: Bad Blood had him in the Wild West wearing quite similar boots. The costume is notably dissimilar to that seen on the covers of Big Finish's Dark Eyes series, although it doesn't obviously contradict the brief description of that costume given within the narrative of the audio.
- The Doctor mentions his companions Charley, C'rizz, Lucie, Tamsin and Molly, all from Big Finish audio productions. It was the first time that the television series directly referenced Big Finish characters.
- The BBC initially promoted this episode with the teaser that it would feature either the Tenth Doctor, Eleventh Doctor, or the new unspecified incarnation. While this was indeed true, as it did feature the War Doctor, it was mainly used as a red herring to hide the surprise return of Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor.
- Unusually, the credits use the form "Introducing John Hurt as..." even though the same style of credit was used for him in TV: The Name of the Doctor. Such credits are usually used only once.
- This story introduces the idea that the Time Lords had become collectively hated during the Time War by the individuals who had suffered from their actions. The Doctor's conflict with his own people over the issue is also made apparent.
- The phrase "no more" appeared in the 50th anniversary #SaveTheDay trailer, scrawled onto a girder. The meaning of the phrase was obscure prior to the release of this short, which gave some context for the words in its closing seconds. However, the true meaning of the words was explained in the 50th anniversary special itself.
- Paul McGann's reprisal of the role of the Eighth Doctor, 17 years after his debut, parallels a visibly older Sylvester McCoy's exit from the series as the Seventh Doctor to hand over the role to McGann himself. McCoy reappeared for one final outing as the Seventh Doctor in the 1996 TV movie, after his last on-screen adventure in 1989.
- By depicting the regeneration of the Eighth Doctor into the War Doctor, The Night of the Doctor abolishes the long-speculated idea that the Eighth Doctor eventually fought in the Time War and would regenerate into the Ninth Doctor portrayed by Christopher Eccleston. Years earlier, Russell T Davies and the BBC had refused Doctor Who Magazine's request to depict the regeneration from the Eighth Doctor to the Ninth Doctor at the conclusion of The Flood.
- According to Emma Campbell-Jones, Paul McGann played the War Doctor in the scene where he takes Cass' bandolier after the regeneration. This technically makes McGann the second actor to play two incarnations of the Doctor, since Sylvester McCoy played the Sixth Doctor for the regeneration sequence in Time and the Rani. [6]
- The Doctor asks if his modified regeneration will "hurt". The actor portraying his next incarnation was named John Hurt.
Production errors
- The St John's Ambulance logo is visible on the SFX shot of the TARDIS as it chases after Cass' ship, but isn't there when the practical TARDIS prop is seen. The SFX TARDIS appears to be the one used for the Matt Smith era onward, but the actual prop for the Eighth Doctor's TARDIS is heavily battle damaged.
- The War Doctor's lips do not move as he says, "Doctor no more". (It could be argued that it is merely what he is thinking and he did not actually say it out loud.)
Continuity
- The Eighth Doctor's last visit to Karn was in AUDIO: The Vengeance of Morbius.
- Since making his decision about the war in PROSE: Museum Peace, the Doctor has decided not to fight but help out where he can.
- The Eleventh Doctor also stated that he would be unable to call himself "Doctor" if he killed a Star whale. (TV: The Beast Below)
- The Sisterhood of Karn last appeared onscreen in the Fourth Doctor story TV: The Brain of Morbius. At that time, they also used the Elixir of Life to heal the Doctor, and were also in the habit of causing ships too close to Karn to crash.
- Cass' bandolier is seen as an obvious armament of the War Doctor's attire in both The Name and The Day of the Doctor.
- Shortly after regeneration, the Eighth Doctor took a Wild Bill Hickok costume for a New Year's Day party from a staff locker in Walker General Hospital. As he began to dress himself, he explicitly left the gun belt in the locker because he did not like to carry firearms. Here, he does the exact opposite when he claims Cass's bandolier as part of his outfit following his regeneration into the War Doctor. (TV: Doctor Who)
- The Second Doctor was also presented with potential options for his new incarnation prior to his forced regeneration. Like the Eighth, he rejected the options presented to him. (TV: The War Games) However unlike his prior self, the Eighth did eventually make a choice, albeit one that had not been offered at that point, while the Time Lords simply imposed a form upon the Second.
- Ohila reiterates that the process of regeneration is usually random. (TV: The Parting of the Ways, The Day of the Doctor)
- The sonic screwdriver's weakness (its inability to affect deadlocks) appears to be public knowledge, as is the "bigger on the inside" aspect of TARDISes, and the fact TARDIS vehicles are associated with Time Lords.
- The exterior of the TARDIS has been reconfigured to a new overall design since the Eighth Doctor last appeared, and has sustained a lot of damage from increased violence in the universe during the Time War. (This same damage will continue to be seen on the War Doctor's TARDIS throughout The Day of the Doctor.)
- The phrase "no more" was the War Doctor's constant statement in TV: The Day of the Doctor, Dalek Caan upon travelling back into the Time War saw these words and uttered them as he revealed he tried to stop the Daleks. (TV: Journey's End)
Home Release
- The Night of the Doctor was also included on both the DVD and Blu-ray releases of The Day of the Doctor.
Footnotes
- ↑ Paul McGann: we were forced to release The Night of the Doctor early. Radio Times. Radio Times (18 November 2013). Retrieved on 5 November 2013.
- ↑ https://twitter.com/WhoSFX/status/533586399329812480
- ↑ https://twitter.com/WhoSFX/status/533586399329812480
- ↑ https://twitter.com/WhoSFX/status/533583108877324288
- ↑ Stephen Moffat on The Night of the Doctor. BBC Doctor Who website (14 November 2013). Retrieved on 15 November 2013.
- ↑ http://twitter.com/ohmissjones/status/447565901265924096
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