Proper Doctor Who fans were always going to be on the back foot with the TV film that attempted to kickstart the franchise back in 1996. A co-production with the USA and Canada, set in America and made for an American audience, with a generic US-TV plot, ropey CGI and a half-human Doctor (thank god they junked that development), it just wasnt what the loyal fanbase wanted. And nowhere were fans more vociferous about their disappointment than with the new Doctors companion, Dr. Grace Holloway. It wasnt really actress Daphne Ashbrooks fault her first scenes have her accidentally killing the 7th Doctor during a botched surgery, causing his regeneration into the 8th Doctor. Thats no way to introduce the main supporting character for the film. The TV film was also vilified for giving the Doctor a love interest rather than a companion. The kiss between the two resulted in a major fanstorm, a word weve just coined to describe what happens when fandom roundly and unanimously defecates on a character, scene or episode from a great height. Of course, it didnt help that Ashbrook and Paul McGann had less chemistry than a high school English lesson. Sadly, Grace was also found to be very, very annoying. After the horrors of Peri, no long term Who fan was ready for another American companion, even a real one. When she delivered the line I finally meet the right guy and hes from another planet, the collective groan and clunk as TV remotes were thrown at the screen could probably have been heard from the moon.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
