Ranking each Doctor Who based on who you’d get a pint with
By Lacy Baugher
Eighth Doctor // Paul McGann
The Eight Doctor is…kind of weird. He’s the only incarnation of the famous Time Lord that only exists for maybe an hour-and-a-half of screen time. He exists because Doctor Who wanted to try and make it big in America, so they made a standalone TV movie to serve as something of a backdoor pilot for a US series. Paul McGann played the Eighth Doctor. Unfortunately, his Who TV movie is largely awful. Bright spot? Even though the narrative aspects of his story were pretty…well, bad, Eight’s character in and of itself was an interesting one.
The Eighth Doctor is weird, brilliant and vulnerable. He’s generally meant to be the Doctor Who version of a swoony, romantic hero. This characterization doesn’t entirely work, but the concept could have been an interesting one. If only it were executed better and given a bit more time to find its feet. But despite all the badness in the TV movie, McGann’s Eight is still incredibly appealing, with lots of charisma and energy. He seems like he’d be a fun partner in crime for a night out. (Even if you get the distinct impression that he might end up crying over his ex after one beer too many.)
Happily, the Eighth Doctor got a small, but incredibly important moment of redemption in 2013’s “The Night of the Doctor”. This short prelude/mini-episode showed us Eight during the Time War before his regeneration. And though it’s only a bit over six minutes long, it’s good enough that it makes you angry that the TV movie is so bad. Because, hey, it turns out that this incarnation of the Doctor is actually kind of awesome. This little six-minute revival clip is so good that, as a viewer, you can’t help but wonder what Eight’s time in the TARDIS might have looked like if he’d had better material. Here he gets a few minutes to be dashing, dreamy, brave and sad – in ways that he wasn’t during his TV special. This Doctor is definitely a person you’d like the chance to get to know.
Booze of choice: Red wine, probably.