The TV Movie

[Deleted]

I watched this properly this afternoon for the first time in ages. I did start watching it about a week ago, but I wasn't into it. To be honest, it's serviceable enough but I don't love it. Here are the pros and cons for me.

The pros: 

Grace is adorable. Nice personality and very beautiful. 
Paul McGann is a good Doctor. Not a great Doctor, but obviously he only had about fifty minutes to properly establish himself.
Decent direction and cinematography.
Awesome score
New Years Eve setting. I like this period for some reason.
McCoy. Even though his death is lame, it's just nice to see him in the role.



The Cons:

NuWho climax
Sparkle dust bringing characters back to life
Kissing (it doesn't belong)
The demise of McCoy is an insult
Eric Roberts doesn't give a good performance
Lee is also poor.

Overall, about a 6.5/10. I'd gladly watch it over NuWho but it's a disappointment following on from the classic series. As a stand alone TV movie though it is fine.

[iank]

I find it pretty much unwatchable these days to be honest.

[Deleted]

Jan 6, 2022 20:51:20 GMT iank said:

I find it pretty much unwatchable these days to be honest.

I have fond memories of watching it with my sister in London a week or so before the 50th Anniversary. There are some crap bits for sure, but I think it's a bit better than its reputation.

[RobFilth]

Pretty much agree with all of your assessment there Maxil, the TVMovie is certainly a mixed bag of good/bad.

I don't think Eric Roberts is too bad in the first half of the movie, but by the second half is just treating the role like some cartoonish villian.

I didn't find McCoys death disrespectful either, I thought that unlike Colin Baker he was bloody lucky to get a send off at all and the TVMovie actually contains some of the 7th Doctors best moments such is the huge difference a superior costume and good direction can make.

The "everyone lives" tinkerbell gold fairy dust and dumb ending is utter drivel however.

[burrunjor]

Jan 8, 2022 6:09:08 GMT RobFilth said:

Pretty much agree with all of your assessment there Maxil, the TVMovie is certainly a mixed bag of good/bad.

I don't think Eric Roberts is too bad in the first half of the movie, but by the second half is just treating the role like some cartoonish villian.

I didn't find McCoys death disrespectful either, I thought that unlike Colin Baker he was bloody lucky to get a send off at all and the TVMovie actually contains some of the 7th Doctors best moments such is the huge difference a superior costume and good direction can make.

The "everyone lives" tinkerbell gold fairy dust and dumb ending is utter drivel however.

I agree too, but I didn't think that Roberts was that bad. Maybe it's just because he was the last proper version of the Master (apart from Jacobi who was excellent, but got all of 5 mins, if that.)

[iank]

I think anyone who thinks the TV Movie has any of Sylv's "best moments" is completely out to lunch.

[RobFilth]

Jan 10, 2022 22:09:44 GMT burrunjor said:

I agree too, but I didn't think that Roberts was that bad. Maybe it's just because he was the last proper version of the Master (apart from Jacobi who was excellent, but got all of 5 mins, if that.)

I think Roberts is okay up until the "This-is-an-abulance!" scene where all his previous menace has evaporated into cartoon villainry.

Jan 10, 2022 22:15:05 GMT iank said:

I think anyone who thinks the TV Movie has any of Sylv's "best moments" is completely out to lunch.

Order me some fries and a pepsi to go with that then.

McCoys costume in the TVMovie is sublime, I actually held a belief in him that he WAS the Doctor, something I had great difficulty maintaining in the TVSeries because of his Timmy Mallet type acting, panto type extras cast and flat direction. I was actually sad to see him go when he died in the TVMovie, whereas had it happened in the TVSeries I would have been fist pumping the air in jubilation.

[Deleted]

I agree with Ian. Although it was nice to see him again as the Doctor, I'm not sure why some people think it's one of McCoy's best performances. The great manipulator seen in the TV series would have checked the scanner first and wouldn't have been as clumsy as to walk out into a hail of bullets. The other major thing he does in the movie is die. He barely says anything either.

Also, I don't understand the "flat direction" comment myself. Some of the best directed stories in the 1980s were McCoy stories. Remembrance, Greatest Show and Fenric are all masterfully directed as is Ghost Light. Even Time and the Rani is competently filmed, more so than most of Colin Baker's stuff.