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Doctor Who: Why the Eighth Doctor’s era is the most exciting to explore in the expanded universe

By James Aggas

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The Eighth Doctor had little time on-screen, but his era is incredibly fascinating to explore in other media.

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)

Character exploration, spin-offs and of course the Time War – we take a look at several reasons why the Eighth Doctor’s era in Doctor Who is the most fascinating to explore in the expanded universe.

I’ve written a lot about why the Eighth Doctor is my favorite by now. Now, a lot of it admittedly does come down to personal preference over what I want to see in Doctor Who, especially from the Doctor, both in terms of character and performance.

But it’s not just the incarnation in particular that makes me buy so many audios. There’s also the entire era of mythology that he represents.

Let me explain. I’ve gone into detail before about how McGann’s Doctor is neither part of the Classic or New Series. In some ways, he’s always felt like more of a bridge between the two, especially after The Night of the Doctor. Even the TV movie is slotted almost perfectly between the two distinct eras.

That’s quite a big gap to explore. Including one of the biggest pieces of mythology that the New Series gave us, despite being rarely explored on-screen. Naturally, I’m referring to the Time War.

A great deal of the war occurred during the War Doctor’s lifetime, admittedly. It’s why the incarnation has that particular name, after all. But it began during the Eighth Doctor’s lifetime. And that leaves a lot of room for interesting stories.

Dark Eyes gave us a glimpse of how the fear and paranoia the Daleks and the Time Lords had for each other, even before the Time War!

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

Before the storm

It’s not just the very beginning of the Time War that’s fascinating. While the very start of it from the Doctor’s side of things may have been explored in The Starship of Theseus, and was definitely featured at the start of Gallifrey: Time War, there’s also the buildup to the War.

For example, Dark Eyes was a series heavily focused on the Time Lords and the Daleks ever increasing paranoia over each other. That series was less open warfare and more cold war, with the Doctor and his friends caught in the middle.

We then had Doom Coalition, which featured another side of the Time Lords’ paranoia. While the Time War wasn’t a major thing, the fear of it alone made some Time Lords make some very drastic choices. Including trying to wipe out the universe so that it never happened!

And it’s not just in the Eighth Doctor’s own audios that the buildup is a key feature. In the spin-off series Gallifrey – relatively set in the same time frame as the Eighth Doctor – the sixth series ends with one of the characters making a very dangerous decision. A decision so dangerous, in fact, that it’s strongly implied to be the very root cause of the Time War itself!

Long before the New Series even began, we got plenty of stories and development with McGann’s Doctor.

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

Character exploration

But, looking at Doctor Who‘s expanded universe as a whole, even without the Time War, Eight’s era is still great to explore.

Take the huge number of stories that Big Finish told with him before they got the rights to the New Series, for example. We may have stories with the Time War and even River Song now, but before 2015, Big Finish had to be creative. Dark Eyes was great at foreshadowing the Time War, admittedly. But before then, we had The Eighth Doctor Adventures with Lucie Miller. And before her were his travels with Charley and C’Rizz.

What made these eras so great was that there were virtually no limits to them because of how little time on-screen Eight actually got. Yes, we eventually knew where he was heading, especially after The Night of the Doctor. But there were and still are a multitude of stories you could tell with his Doctor. More than that: there’s so much room for development, too.

When exploration is limited

This is tricky to do with some other Doctors. Not with all of them, and especially not with Six or Seven, both of which had relatively open-ended eras. But other Doctors lives are heavily mapped out, and so it’s difficult to develop their characters significantly.

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This is especially true for stories in the expanded universe that feature current Doctors. Because these stories have to match up with what’s currently on television, it’s trickier to feature any real development within them.

Even with stories based on earlier eras, where you know a Doctor’s or companion’s introduction, exit, and everything in between, there’s usually at least a little wriggle room for development somewhere. For example, showing how a Doctor and companion’s relationship grew in a more satisfying way than what was depicted on-screen. It’s hard to do that when the era is still going however, especially since you can’t see the key potential for development at that point.

This is why I enjoy the Eighth Doctor’s era, because it’s the exact opposite of that. At times, it feels like it’s heading into the Time War and some very dark territory for our favorite Time Lord. But other times, it almost feels like an alternative to the New Series. Because it’s so easy to forget what’s coming for him, especially in The Eighth Doctor Adventures, and you can simply enjoy the ride.

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Do you enjoy the Eighth Doctor’s era in expanded media? What do you like most about it? Which Doctors are your favorites outside of the screen? Let us know in the comments below.

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