Among the Doctor Who fandom there was an unspoken acceptance that the time between the 8th Doctor and the 9th Doctor, namely The Last Great Time War, would remain ambiguous leaving the unlimited possibilities of what exactly happened up to the imagination of the fans. "The Night of The Doctor' was a webisode released by the BBC as a prequel to The Day of The Doctor. At only seven minutes long, The Night of The Doctor is arguably one of the most important episodes of Doctor Who ever. In a great surprise to fans, Paul McGann returns as the 8th Doctor seventeen years after the last time and only time he acted as the Doctor! Paul McGann's 8th Doctor got a bit of a rough deal. The only previous appearance of the 8th Doctor was the mediocre at best, Fox pilot that aired in 1996 in a failed attempt to revive the series. Since then Paul McGann has done many audio recordings in the Doctor Who Big Finish Adventures over the years and gained a solid fan base but it still wasn't the same as having televised adventures as The Doctor. Now in the fiftieth year of the show and ironically eight years after the Time War had been established, we were given definitive confirmation on how the story of the 8th Doctor ended. The Night of The Doctor was a short adventure that was equally awesome as it was heartbreaking. It's established that the 8th Doctor did his best to avoid taking part in the Time War but the destruction that the war did the the universe made the Time Lords including the Doctor, just as infamous as the Daleks. The Night of The Doctor does so many thinks at once, connect the classic series to the developments of the revived series, establish the origin of The War Doctor, and reveal what caused the 8th Doctor's regeneration. The moment the 8th Doctor realized that couldn't even do his signature routine of convincing a young woman to explore the universe with him and failing to save her life, it became clear to the 8th Doctor that the conflict between the Time Lords and the Daleks had gone too far. Paul McGann absolutely knocks it out of the park with his performance of the often overlooked 8th Doctor. Not only does McGann get his wish of a more subdued version of the 8th Doctor's look, he also brings the fury and sadness felt by the Doctor as he accepts he can't avoid the Time War anymore and if he wanted to save the universe again he had to relinquish his code as The Doctor to become the soldier the universe needed. The 8th Doctor willingly sacrificing his morals for the good of the universe is a much more dignified way of going out than bumping your head on the TARDIS console or being lit up by a Chinese street gang. Following The Night of The Doctor there were dozens of fan petitions to get McGann his own series as The Doctor, but that's sort of missing the point of the webisode. The Night of The Doctor was the last 8th Doctor story and McGann came back for the regeneration scene he deserved and delivered an amazing performance. Kudos to Paul McGann for despite having the most surreal tenure as the Doctor he still proved to audiences everywhere that he had exactly what it took to be the Doctor with an excellent final bow as the short lived 8th Doctor. What were your favorite Doctor Who moments from 2013?
Freelance writer and podcaster from Long Island,New York. Recent college graduate with a BA in Writing. Movie-buff who continues to write his own screenplays and has a passion for Quentin Tarantino movies, Doctor Who, and Radiohead. Loves to write, all about getting the exposure online and finding ways to tell his story.
