Doctor Who: Every Doctor's DEFINITIVE Episode
8. The Night Of The Doctor (The Eighth Doctor)
Yes, we only had two choices here and the other choice was the admittedly slightly iffy TV Movie, but The Night of the Doctor is still quintessential Eight.
The Eight that appears in this minisode isn’t movie Eight – it’s the Eight that has lived through many offscreen audio adventures (which, in a lovely touch, the script canonises). This is the version fans fell in love with during the wilderness years, and in a brutally short runtime, McGann showcases warmth, wit, and his trademark romanticism, but with a jaded exhaustion resulting from the Time War.
The episode understands Eight perfectly. He's compassionate to the end, refusing to carry weapons, desperate to save one life even when the war has made that instinct feel naive. His regeneration isn’t bombastic, it’s bleak – a broken ‘good’ man having to compromise his own morals for the greater good.
It’s all very emo, and all very Eight. It's also what fans point to when we all repeatedly say how good an Eighth Doctor spinoff series would be!