Media Essays: A Possible Eighth Doctor Miniseries

Written by The Wandering Fox

Teddy glanced in confusion at the DVD pile that Wandering Fox was gonna be selling, among them The Day of the Doctor, to CEX.

Teddy: Golly, he’s selling that?

Freddy: Well you and me weren’t there a few months ago when he did his Day of the Doctor rewrite, I’m not surprised he’s getting rid of that.

Teddy: That’s fair then, with all he’s said about Day of the Doctor that story sounds like a waste.

I concur. It wasted so much. Wasted eight years of a background story, spent the next two failing this story, failed to be a true anniversary story. But the biggest sin Moffat committed was doing the Eighth Doctor dirty in the 50th anniversary, just giving him a mini episode, killing him and replacing him with a Doctor who’s whole impact on the franchise was barely felt as it was resolved an episode after. All because he thought the Eighth Doctor wouldn’t fight in the Time War, despite canonising the audios where he did do a lot of battles against the Daleks like that of the Time War. Typical old writer who has an ego. I’m glad there’s a growing voice in the fandom that is starting to realise the Eighth Doctor could have worked. But what else did everybody feel, to this day, that we deserved following the 50th? An Eighth Doctor spin off.

Hello, I’m the Wandering Fox, and I’m back here to tell you all about why my favourite Classic Doctor should have gotten the spin off not only he deserved but what we deserved as well.

The Return

The 50th anniversary of Doctor Who saw Tom Baker and Paul McGann return to the series since we last saw them and also the start of David Tennant stuck to the show like a Tick. Among the most talked about things after the 50th was Paul McGann, who left many Doctor Who fans, both familiar and unfamiliar with his work on Doctor Who, amazed them all with his physical return as the Doctor, having aged well enough to show how strong of a presence he still had as the character, and it left many asking one thing after the 50th:

“Let’s have an Eighth Doctor spin off, shall we?”.

There was a petition which McGann signed, Moffat and the BBC were asked constantly about him returning. You’d think with such a win and a lot of interest in this character that Moffat and the BBC would have greenlit it, got those familiar with the Eighth Doctor on board, have it come out after a Twelfth Doctor series finished, and would have guzzled millions of viewers. But what did they say?

No.

Moffat had said and I’m paraphrasing that “The audience would be confused as to which Doctor they’re meant to follow”.

Steven. I’m going to tell you something that you should know, but I guess a man with your inflated ego can’t tell. People can count. People can tell the difference. They can tell what 8 is and what 12 is.

EIGHT.

TWELVE.

People can count, STEVEN! People can look at a picture and tell the difference STEVEN!

So, what did he and the BBC do as a spin off that would surely get millions of fans on for?

Class

The spin off nobody asked for, delving way too much into teen drama and couldn’t find an audience. Good job Moffat and BBC, if only you did a spin off we had wanted.

Honestly, a part of me thinks that Moffat was scared the Eighth Doctor would overshadow the Twelfth Doctor greatly and we’ve seen Moffat’s treatment of Classic Doctors to make the Modern Doctors look better by comparison and it’s why he might’ve been against it. There’s also the rumour that Moffat DID want the Eighth Doctor as the War Doctor but the BBC said no as they thought he would alienate the audience and that nobody would remember him. I think this is all cos they were embarrassed the TV Movie didn’t find an audience in America despite being a viewing success here. Boy, the BBC sure love getting egg on their faces XD

Whoops, my cynical crown got on, let me get it off.

(Takes off the crown)

So as the years went by, it was obvious the BBC and Moffat didn’t want to do a spin off of the Eighth Doctor, but as those years went by, his popularity grew stronger with the audios often getting him front and centre, his Time War series starting, then came the re-releases of his old adventures with photoshops of his face on cosplayers, the Eighth Doctor was still desired by the fans. Moffat would eventually leave in 2017 though as we now know, things with Chibnall back then we’re a bit murky with him only wanting to take the showrunner role if he had a female Doctor, Moffat wanted out and wanted out now, Chibnall was said to be getting his scripts done to meet a a certain date to start filming for the BBC. This obviously had fans in hindsight look back and ask:

“How come they hadn’t done an Eighth Doctor spin off to fill the gap to give Chibnall more time?”

As we know they didn’t. But that could have easily worked.

The 2020s Eighth Doctor

The Eighth Doctor would have maybe returned to a stage performance in the Time Lord Victorious story event that was planned for 2020, with McGann in costume and working beside Tennant on stage. With the epidemic we didn’t get that but it didn’t stop the Doctor as in 2021 McGann filmed his return in Power of the Doctor, leaving many surprised he was in it after a lot of the leaks mentioned the Original Doctor, the Fifth, the Sixth and Seventh Doctors. It helped that McGann filmed his scene on his own.

8th Doctor | Power of the Doctor Scenepack

Courtesy of DOCCYWHO on YouTube.

With him back, fans were once again begging the BBC and RTD to do an Eighth Doctor spin off, the Disney money that was in the deal could easily have done it. Instead we’re getting The War Between the Land and the Sea which is clearly gonna be a Doctor Who version of The Shape of Water with a fish girl called Salt. That money could have gone to recreating the TARDIS TV film set, getting good costume designers, good actors and writers to do an Eighth Doctor spin off. But nah, RTD gave us that horrific mess of Series 14 and 15 and the other spin off I don’t give a damn about.

Buuuuuut, that hasn’t stopped the Eighth Doctor from still being popular and McGann is making good work of it. He’s appeared on stage in costume at a recording for The Stuff of Legend.

He’s also appeared in costume at conventions, with more and more fans just loving every bit they get of McGann in costume.

With Doctor Who not only at its worst low ever than it was in the late 80s but now a punchline for the BBC and others, many are wondering if an Eighth Doctor spin off can even succeed now? Is it too late? If it were to be made could the writers even be trusted? I wouldn’t. I’m on a couple of mindsets:

The Negatives

I think it could be too late. With McGann, despite looking good, not getting any younger time is running out for the spin off.

The writers would be scrutinised before they’d even write a single letter on a bit of paper as these days Doctor Who fans are rightfully sceptical of who to trust with the show. Would the writers swing the Eighth Doctor back to how he was in the TV movie and make him a romantic when McGann didn’t want that and had his character leave that? I think they would. Would they give him a “You’re old, you need to retire” treatment and make fun of him like they did with David Tennant’s Doctor? Would he be overshadowed by another character who takes his own show? Yes, I think they would, because as we’ve seen these days lots of old faces that have returned have either been butchered beyond recognition or gutted to being a wet blanket. If the writers were to come out like RTD and say they’re thinking more about their political agenda or doing things to get talking points on the internet then lots of folks will be angry as they just want good storytelling with a Doctor that can be respected.

The Positives

I think there is still a chance it can be made. If McGann’s Doctor continues to be a safe character to go for and rely on to bring people back to, and trust stronger writers with the character, then it could work. If the story is respectful enough and the Doctor isn’t humiliated it could work. Don’t bring Moffat or Davies near the character, Moffat threw him in the grave cos he was too cowardly to be respectful and RTD doesn’t respect anything from the past.

A tighter budget would help as well to have McGann show off his acting chops more and get a great performance from him. Instead of CGI everywhere and the Doctor talking to a screen of emerald, he’s instead talking with a companion in a more suitable set piece surrounded by guys in costumes. The whole format could have even worked with what they did with the Gatwa era, they could have spent four episodes on a Dalek story, the other four on a Cyberman story, then the next series you could give him an original villain he could have battled that would stand the test of time. You could introduce a companion who isn’t from Earth but from another planet, a woman trying to outlive the Daleks and finds hope with the Doctor and travels with him throughout the miniseries until she feels when to leave. It’s a basic story that we all just need, we don’t need to be complex, just be simple and people will love it.

Yes, give him Daleks and Cybermen, then give him an original villain, make the story mature and make it so we are gripped with eagerness to see how the Doctor will get out of this fight. Gradually build in his friendship with the companion and make him the heroic guardian who is wise, sees the beauty in the universe, offers hope, while being snarky.

The backlash to the recent seasons of Doctor Who has to tell BBC studious a lot is wrong and that they can’t rely on David Tennant forever, not when there is still a fan base hungry for the Eighth Doctor. They can’t rely on a man who is a man child at sixty two and gave us a hateful season and happily took a knife to Doctor Who’s history. They need to rely on a face who the fans have grown to love and wish they can have back. They want a Doctor that looks awesome, has the old adventurer look but instead of being a man with his fists he’s a man with his brains and wisdom. They need a man who may look old but is still full of youth. That man is the Eighth Doctor.

They need to rely on writers who aren’t interested in making political statements, left or right, but are interested in telling a story. Those writers are out there. BBC. If you want Doctor Who to succeed, you will have to make some choices that maybe hard for you but could benefit you easily. And if you want to succeed, then do a love letter to Classic Doctor Who with the final Classic Doctor. If it’s good, I will be there and I will sing it’s praises.

To all Doctor Who fans, let’s have it. Let’s have that Eighth Doctor spin off!

Those are my thoughts on the whole thing everybody. I would be so happy if they gave us an Eighth Doctor spin off. Just make it good, that’s all I want.

Teddy: That’s quite a lot of love.

Well what can I say? I love his Doctor.

Freddy: Yes you do. Well, you oughta get going, the CEX shop closes soon!

Oh yes I ought to go. Thank you all for reading, tell me your thoughts in the comments everybody!