Archive | August 25, 2010

8th from the 90s

8th Doctor

Owing to complex IP issues, the 1996 Doctor Who tv-movie – featuring the one and only tv appearance of the 8th Doctor – has long been unavailable here in Region 1. (Well, I say unavailable … of course there are region-free bootleg copies of the Region 2 disk floating around, but their picture quality is not great.) But it looks like the legal obstacles to a Region 1 dvd are finally being cleared away.

The tv-movie, a failed pilot for the first attempt at a Who revival, isn’t as good as the revived series that would eventually succeed a decade later; for one thing, it’s too oriented (or orientated, as our transoceanic cousins would say) toward American audiences to feel quite authentic. (The Master with an American accent? Really? It makes me tremble for Torchwood.) Still, this was the first time that Who was presented with modern production values and a decent sfx budget, and it serves as an interesting bridge between the classic show and the new one.


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