Doctor Who: The Movie

Doctor Who, also referred to as Doctor Who: The Movie is a 1996 television film continuing the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It premiered on 12 May 1996 on CITV in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, 15 days before its first showing in the United Kingdom on BBC One and two days before being broadcast in the United States on Fox. It was also shown in some countries for a limited time in cinemas.

The Doctor, currently in his seventh incarnation, transports the Master’s remains to Gallifrey via his TARDIS. The Master had been previously tried and executed at the hands of the Daleks. En route, the box with his remains breaks open and an ooze leaks out, infecting the TARDIS. The Doctor is forced to make an emergency materialisation in San Francisco’s Chinatown on 30 December 1999.

After exiting the TARDIS, the Doctor is shot by a gang chasing down Chang Lee, a young Chinese-American man. Lee calls for an ambulance and escorts the unconscious Doctor to a hospital. The ooze from the TARDIS also gets aboard the ambulance. At the hospital, after the bullets are removed, cardiologist Dr. Grace Holloway attempts surgery to stabilise his unusual heartbeat, but is confused by his strange double-heart anatomy. After the Doctor apparently dies in the operating table, his body is taken to the morgue, and Lee steals his possessions. The ooze takes over the body of the ambulance driver, Bruce.

Later, the Doctor regenerates. The new Doctor, suffering amnesia, recognises Holloway, who has resigned from the hospital after the failed operation. He follows her to her car and proves he is the same man she failed to save. Grace takes him home to recover. Now in Bruce’s body, the Master puts Lee under his mind control. He convinces Lee that the Doctor had stolen his original body. He also persuades him into opening the TARDIS’ Eye of Harmony, which requires a human retinal scan.

When the Eye opens, the Doctor is flooded with memories and realises the Master is searching for him. He warns Grace that while the Eye is opened, the fabric of reality will weaken. Earth will be potentially destroyed by midnight on New Year’s Eve if they cannot close it. To solve this conundrum, he needs an atomic clock, and there is one on display at the San Francisco Institute of Technological Advancement and Research.

Outside, the Doctor and Grace find the ambulance. Stepping from it, the Master and Lee offer them a ride. The Doctor does not immediately recognise the Master, but discovers his true identity en route, and escapes with Grace. The two continue to the Institute, obtain the clock and return to the TARDIS. The Doctor then installs the clock and closes the Eye. However, the damage is so great that he must revert time before the Eye was opened to prevent Earth’s destruction. As he connects the proper TARDIS circuits to do this, the Master takes control of Grace’s body, and she strikes the Doctor unconscious.

The Doctor wakes to find himself chained above the Eye, the Master poised to take his remaining regenerations while Lee and Grace watch. The Doctor is able to break the Master’s control on Lee, who refuses to open the Eye again. The Master kills him, forces Grace to open the Eye and begins drawing the Doctor’s lifeforce.

After being again under her own control, Grace completes the final circuits to put the TARDIS into a time-holding pattern, preventing the apocalypse. She then goes to free the Doctor. The Master kills her, but this has given enough time for the Doctor to free himself. In the ensuing fight, The Doctor gains the upper hand and pushes the Master into the Eye. The Eye closes and time reverts a few minutes, undoing Lee and Grace’s deaths.

With no further risk to Earth, the Doctor prepares to leave. Lee returns his possessions, and the Doctor warns him not to be in San Francisco on the next New Year’s Eve. The Doctor offers Grace the opportunity to travel with him, but she politely refuses, and kisses him goodbye. The Doctor departs alone in his TARDIS.

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To view the list of other Doctor Who serials, please click this link

Doctor Who Episode Guides for Sale on Amazon

Step aboard the TARDIS and journey across the universe with every incarnation of The Doctor in this series of unofficial Doctor Who episode companions.

This collection of twelve books explores every televised adventure of the Time Lord’s lives.

Each volume in the series delves into a different Doctor’s era, offering detailed episode guides, behind-the-scenes insights, character profiles, and story synopses.

Once you have clicked the link, choose which book you want, and then whether you want to buy the Kindle (eBook) or Paperback versions.

Previews are available before you buy.

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