Doctor Who: Happy sixtieth birthday Paul McGann!
By James Aggas
Paul McGann, best known to Doctor Who fans as the Eighth Doctor, celebrates his sixtieth birthday today. We look back at his time in Doctor Who – both on and off-screen – and why he’s such a fantastic Doctor.
Today, Paul McGann is sixty years old. I can’t believe it. No, really, I genuinely can’t believe it. I mean seriously: look at the photos! No wonder he was cast as the Eighth Doctor in the Doctor Who TV movie: he’s clearly immortal himself!
But seriously, it’s clearly a significant milestone, and we felt like celebrating it at Doctor Who Watch. Particularly as he’s this writer’s favorite Doctor.
Of course, if you’re unfamiliar with Paul McGann’s Doctor, that’s not surprising. To say that the Eighth Doctor had little time in the TV series is an understatement. He’s only had two key appearances on-screen. Although it has to be said, both of them are hugely significant.
Let’s talk about the TV movie. The story has faced a lot of criticism from fans over the years, as it was seen to be highly Americanized. But one element that’s faced very little criticism is McGann’s performance as the Eighth Doctor. It’s amazing to think it’s his debut performance in the role, as he plays it so effortlessly.
For the majority of the film, his Doctor is also written well too, giving us a Doctor that has elements of great Classic Series Doctors, while also giving us something new. So while the movie didn’t lead to a TV series sadly, the Eighth Doctor felt defined enough to be explored further in books, comics, and of course, audios. And this is something else that we’re grateful for when it comes to Paul McGann himself.
Paul McGann, picture here with Mark Bonnar and Hattie Morahan, continues to play the Eighth Doctor in many audios from Big Finish. And yes, this is a recent photo.
(Image Courtesy Big Finish Productions.)
Life on audio
Since 2001, McGann has continued to play the Eighth Doctor across a huge number of audio stories by Big Finish Productions. These audios have featured many companions, with distinctive eras all of their own. Some of these stories felt like the Classic Series in terms of style, while others felt closer to the New. In the past couple of years, even the Time War has been explored!
To say that I, and indeed many other fans have been grateful to McGann for continuing to play the role is an understatement. After almost two decades of playing the Doctor on audio, McGann continues to play the role brilliantly and with a huge amount of enthusiasm. And it doesn’t look like he’s going to stop being the Eighth Doctor anytime soon. In fact, this year, we’ve had four box sets specifically for McGann’s Doctor – not including other major appearances like The War Master and The Legacy of Time!
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The Night of the Doctor
Of course, we can’t celebrate Paul McGann’s Doctor on his birthday without mentioning the best birthday surprise ever. Six years ago today, The Night of the Doctor was released. A minisode designed to promote The Day of the Doctor, fans didn’t know too much about it before watching. We only knew that either David Tennant, Matt Smith or John Hurt was going to appear in it. Which was true. Technically.
What fans didn’t expect was who the main Doctor would be. With just one sentence, the Eighth Doctor announced his return in style:
"I’m a Doctor…but probably not the one you’re expecting!"
In the lead-up to The Day of the Doctor, Paul McGann’s return was all fans could talk about. It was one of the biggest and best surprises in Doctor Who history, and it also got to remind the larger audience just how brilliant McGann really is as the Doctor. (Which considering he had to do that in just six minutes, is especially impressive.)
So happy sixtieth birthday, Paul McGann. From the fans, thank you for not only playing the Doctor brilliantly, even when the series remained off the air. But also, thank you for continuing to play him across so many audio adventures. For myself and many of us, you’ll always be our favorite Doctor.
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Are you a fan of the Eighth Doctor? Is he one of your favorites? What was your reaction to his return in The Night of the Doctor? Let us know in the comments below.