Doctor Who: How ‘The Night of the Doctor’ Changed Everything

The Eighth Doctor approaches his final moments in ‘The Night of the Doctor.’ (Credit: BBC)

It’s been three years since the Eighth Doctor regenerated in ‘The Night of the Doctor.’ For Paul McGann’s birthday, and his twentieth year as the Eighth Doctor, we take a look back at how much of an impact his regeneration story had on Doctor Who.

Since its release back on the 14^th of November 2013, I’ve lost count how many times I’ve watched ‘The Night of the Doctor.’ To be honest, I pretty much lost count the day of its release.

Over seventeen years since The TV Movie, the regeneration of the Eighth Doctor had been long overdue. We had already gone through two regenerations for other Doctors when ‘The Night of the Doctor’ was released.

For something that had been long awaited by fans, it’s perhaps rather fitting that it essentially came as a complete surprise. Fans knew that ‘The Night of the Doctor’ would be a short minisode that would somehow link into the fiftieth anniversary special, ‘The Day of the Doctor.’ They also knew that it would feature a Doctor.

But until the day it was released, no one knew that the Doctor featured would be the Eighth. (There had been rumours of McGann’s return, of course, but to be honest, there had been many such rumours since the series had been revived.)

So how much of an impact did ‘The Night of the Doctor’ have on the show? Despite its short length, quite a lot.

For one thing, it revealed one crucial fact about the Eighth Doctor: that he wasn’t the incarnation who had ended the Time War. Up until that point, opinion had been divided over whether it had been Eight or Nine who had resolved it by destroying Gallifrey. (I had originally believed it had been Eight, due to the implication in the episode ‘Rose‘ that Nine was essentially brand new.)

What ‘The Night of the Doctor’ introduced, however, was not just the idea of Eight living through the early years of the Time War, but also making an active choice not to take part in it. So while he didn’t destroy Gallifrey (which would be shortly retconned in ‘The Day of the Doctor’ anyway), he still received a considerably dark ending. In his final moments, the Eighth Doctor had to give up everything he stood for to end the War.

The minisode also revealed something else – the names of some of the Eighth Doctor’s companions. All of which were taken from his audio series. The implication being that the audio adventures of the Eighth Doctor were canon. This was the first major reference to Big Finish in the TV series.

The Eighth Doctor regenerates in ‘The Night of the Doctor.’ (Credit: BBC)

Just as the audio stories influenced this TV minisode, the reverse was also true. By revealing how the Eighth Doctor’s story truly ended, as well as his role in the War, Big Finish now had a ton of new material to develop and work towards.

This became even more true in 2015, when Big Finish finally announced that it had gained the rights to characters and storylines based on the New Series. It wouldn’t surprise me if the direct acknowledgement to them in this minisode helped with that.

Finally, one crucial important point about ‘The Night of the Doctor’ is how well it works as a bridge between the Classic and New Eras. When the series came back in 2005, it was unsurprising that the producers wanted to focus on a fresh start. What helped with this was setting the series a long time after the TV Movie.

While Series One included the Daleks and the Autons, in both cases, there was little reference to previous encounters — at least those that had been depicted on screen. The New Series wanted to focus on being new, with as little baggage from the Classic Series as possible.

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As the show went on, however, more and more continuity from the Classic Series was introduced — Sarah Jane Smith, the Master, Davros, even UNIT. The longer the New Series went on, the easier it became to acknowledge the history prior to it. This was especially true in the fiftieth anniversary year, with the return of the Great Intelligence and the Ice Warriors. The series finale even gave us the first on-screen depiction of the First Doctor leaving Gallifrey!

However, there was one great piece still missing from Doctor Who’s history – the regeneration of the Eighth Doctor. The completionist in me wanted to see this. More than that, the Eighth Doctor fan in me wanted to see it.

Despite its short length, ‘The Night of the Doctor’ was easily worth the wait. It felt true to the Eighth Doctor’s character and his journey. It beautifully links the New Series to not just the Classics, but also to Big Finish. And, in an odd way, it feels like the “ending” that was never given to the Classic Series.

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Next: Class Review: Episode 5 – ‘Brave-ish Heart'

With the Doctor forced to give up everything, even his very identity, it somehow feels more worthy of an ending to the Classic Era than the TV Movie. Because of all these reasons, ‘The Night of the Doctor’ still remains my favourite regeneration story of the New Series.