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Doctor Who: The five eras of Paul McGann’s Doctor

By James Aggas

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The Eighth Doctor has had a rich life on audio. So much so that he has five distinct eras, all extremely different from each other. What are each of them like?

(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

Despite his short run in Doctor Who on television – or perhaps even because of it – the Eighth Doctor has many stories on audio. In fact, he has several distinct eras. What are each of them like?

As we all know, the Eighth Doctor’s run on television was sadly short, to say the least. With just one movie and one minisode, Paul McGann’s era in Doctor Who didn’t exactly have much longevity. At least, not on-screen.

Of course, that’s a different case in the expanded universe, especially in the gap between the movie and the New Series. During the latter half of the Wilderness Years, there were many novels, comics, and of course audios during that time. This last group is particularly interesting, for two key reasons.

Firstly, unlike the other two mediums, they actually feature the performance of McGann himself. Secondly, there are so many of the audios by this point that the Eighth Doctor has several distinct eras.

Some of these eras have lasted for many years. Some were brief and for just a few months. Some finished a long time ago, while two of them are still running right now.

Regardless, each of these eras feels distinct, with its own style, its own companions and its own arcs. Perhaps more importantly, they also handle the Eighth Doctor differently. While there is a natural progression in his character development during and between each one, they put the Eighth Doctor into different situations and major events with different companions, and thus giving us different sides to his Doctor.

Because of this, we wanted to take a look at each of these different eras. What makes them stand out from each of the others, and what fans can find appealing about them. Starting with…

The Eighth Doctor’s first release on audio was Storm Warning, the first of many adventures that aimed to capture the feel of the Classic Series while also going for something more.

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

1: Post-classic era

In 2001, Big Finish released their first ever story to feature the Eighth Doctor: Storm Warning. This was a pretty major release. Not only did this adventure introduce Charlotte Pollard, a companion so significant that she would eventually get her own audio spin-off series. But, at the time, Paul McGann was still the current Doctor. As such, this was arguably the closest thing to fans getting brand new Doctor Who, at the time.

What’s interesting is looking back at this era and seeing how it was an interesting balance between the Classic Series and what came later with the New. In the case of the former, the Eighth Doctor’s stories at this point still used the Classic Series style of telling stories across four-part serials. Many of these serials would work extremely well as stand-alone stories, particularly during the Eighth Doctor’s and Charley’s first season.

But, at the same time, this era was gently pushing Doctor Who forward, too. For example, this era had some major arcs. The first of which was arguably the strongest, as it was heavily focused on Charley, a girl who was meant to die until the Doctor saved her life. Many of the stories from the second season explored the consequences of that.

The Divergent Universe

The second major arc – the Divergent Universe – was interesting, and did give us a few strong and even exceptional stories. Scherzo and The Natural History of Fear are two absolutely amazing Doctor Who stories, and really show off exactly what the audio medium is capable of.

But at the same time, the arc itself wasn’t quite as satisfying. There was a new companion introduced, C’Rizz, and while he was potentially interesting, there’s the strong feeling that he was only really brought in to back pedal on the Doctor and Charley admitting their love for each other.

The arc also felt a little bit rushed, especially in its final story The Next Life. It didn’t help that the arc in this other universe needed to be resolved before the New Series started in 2005. While the gap between The Next Life and Rose was clearly huge, at least from a story point of view, it was important that the series moved from the Divergent Universe back to ours.

Stand alone stories

The rest of this era moved from telling stories as part of a season to releasing each story every few months. This wasn’t surprising, as with the New Series, the Eighth Doctor had stopped being the “current” Doctor, and so shared the same treatment as other previous Doctors in the monthly releases.

Some of these were enjoyable – this is especially true of Terror Firma and Other Lives – but overall, they lacked the same drive that previous Eighth Doctor stories had shared. Unsurprisingly, the Eighth Doctor’s stories with Charley and C’Rizz were brought to an end in 2007, across two releases – Absolution and The Girl Who Never Was.

But before either of those two had been released, Big Finish decided to revive the Eighth Doctor in a big way. And so, they jumped ahead and gave him a new companion – as well as a major shakeup…

With his adventures with Lucie Miller, the series aimed for something closer to the New Series.

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

2: Pre-New era

At the very end of 2006 – literally New Year’s Eve, in fact – a new series started on radio channel BBC7. Produced by Big Finish Productions, The Eighth Doctor Adventures was a completely fresh start, in many ways.

At the beginning of the series, there was very little reference to the Doctor’s adventures with Charley or C’Rizz. Instead, the series was designed to be as completely accessible as possible, with its biggest target audience arguably being fans of the New Series.

First of all, they introduced a brand new companion: Lucie Miller, as played by the brilliant Sheridan Smith. Whereas Charley had been of the 1930s and C’Rizz was from another universe, Lucie was firmly of modern day Earth. Like a cross between Rose and Donna, she was young and eager for adventure, but she was also full of attitude. She was a huge contrast to McGann’s Doctor, which made their banter hilarious to listen to.

But there was an even bigger change with this series. While the stories told with Charley and C’Rizz had been serials made up of half-hour episodes, the episodes with Lucie were fifty minutes long each, thus being closer in style to the New Series. Naturally, this was a very deliberate choice: everything about The Eighth Doctor Adventures was designed to feel as close to the New Series as possible. The faster pace, the modern companion, even the low-key arcs that lead to big finales, The Eighth Doctor Adventures had it all.

Links to the Classic Series

Well, almost. Being set before the New Series, Big Finish still made sure to have plenty of fun with the Time Lords – something that neither Russell T Davies nor Steven Moffat could really do at the time.

The series also used major foes and monsters that the New Series didn’t, such as Morbius and the Wirrn. However, at the same time, these enemies were re-introduced in the same way that the New Series brought back the Daleks, the Cybermen and the Great Intelligence, so listeners unfamiliar with them would be brought up to speed.

With a strong balance between fast-paced stories, strong drama and major development, it seemed easy to forget that The Eighth Doctor Adventures took place before the New Series. However, that changed in a big way with To The Death – the epic finale that served as a big reminder of what was coming to both the Doctor and the Time Lords. It also served as a nice lead-in to the next major era, chronologically speaking, at least. But before that happened, Big Finish did a major rewind for the Eighth Doctor…

After the Lucie Miller stories, Big Finish rewound the clock to the Eighth Doctor’s travels with Mary Shelley.

(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

3: Early days with Mary Shelley

At the end of 2011 – between the Eighth Doctor’s final adventures with Lucie Miller and the beginning of his next chronological era – Big Finish gave us a glimpse of the earliest days of the Eighth Doctor’s life across three stories. All of which featured Mary Shelley as his companion.

This very short-lived era began in 2009 with Mary’s Story, the final episode of the Doctor Who anthology The Company of Friends. The episode featured two different Eighth Doctors – one from towards the end of his life and one that was closer to the beginning. At the end of the story, the latter asked Mary to travel with him.

Across three extremely strong stories, we got a glimpse of a happier, more care-free Doctor – one who hadn’t even met Charley Pollard yet. After the dark and depressing ending that we got with To The Death, it was nice to hear Paul McGann’s Doctor when he was just starting out.

Of course, the stories that featured one of the greatest pioneers of science-fiction and horror weren’t exactly light themselves. The Mary Shelley trilogy gave us dark and horrific tales. But they were also extremely enjoyable.

It’s a shame that this era was all-too brief at just three stories. But it’s distinctive and memorable enough to stand out as its own era in its own right.

Beginning immediately after the heartbreaking ending of his travels with Lucie, the Eighth Doctor traveled into darker territory in subsequent audios…

(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

4: The gathering storm

While a direct continuation of where To The Death left off, Dark Eyes was also a major new starting point for the Eighth Doctor. That was clear enough when the cover was revealed – while he once wore a costume in the style of Wild Bill Hickok, now he was wearing something more casual, with a leather coat giving him an echo of both Eccleston’s and Hurt’s Doctors.

The Eighth Doctor begins in an extremely dark place at the very start of Dark Eyes. But that box set – perhaps the whole arc – is about his gradual recovery. He doesn’t quite get back to his old self but, with the help of his friends Molly and Liv, he eventually gets close enough.

Since Dark Eyes started, there’s been a heavy focus on featuring the Eighth Doctor in epic box sets. In fact, this grew into telling epic series – Dark Eyes was extended from one box set to four, with an arc featuring the Daleks, the Master and original Big Finish villain the Eminence, and we’ve also had both Doom Coalition and Ravenous since then. Each of these has come across as strong series, with the latter two featuring both a great companion and one of my favorite villains: Helen Sinclair and Time Lord psychopath the Eleven, respectively.

Shadows of war

But while Dark Eyes, Doom Coalition and Ravenous do have their own kind of style, they also have something that unites them, too. And that’s the long, long shadow of the Time War.

While the War is never mentioned directly in Dark Eyes (mostly because Big Finish didn’t have the rights to the New Series at the time it was made), there are many clear nods towards it. Tensions between the Time Lords and the Daleks significantly increase, and the Master has been resurrected and “brought back into the fold; softened up for something”, in his words.

This thread continues in Doom Coalition. While the Daleks have no involvement, the Time War – or the very possibility of it – is enough of a motivation to make the villains of the story make a rather desperate and horrific plan. There’s also a direct reference to how terrible the Time Lords will become in Ravenous 3.

While the War is still a long way off, this interesting period is clearly building up to it. Which naturally brings me to the Eighth Doctor’s final era…

The last era of the Eighth Doctor – chronologically, at least – is of course the Time War. How well does Big Finish explore the Eighth Doctor’s final years?

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

5: The Time War

We’ve got a lot to be thankful for regarding the minisode The Night of the Doctor. While it’s only six minutes long, not only did it do an excellent job at telling a great final story for the Eighth Doctor. It also gave us a very clear idea of what his role was in the Time War.

Now admittedly, the fact that he said that he was never a part of the Time War could easily have been problematic. Especially as the War Doctor’s very role was to be the Doctor who fought in it.

However, while the Eighth Doctor never directly took part in it, the War still happened during his lifetime. And, in fact, The Night of the Doctor perfectly set the tone for the kind of stories that you could explore with him: the conscientious objector who tries to help the people caught in the middle.

This has helped to give us a good variety of stories with the Eighth Doctor during this major time. Stories that are very different from any that have come before, and show us what happens when the Eighth Doctor tries hard to remain true to who he is during Gallifrey’s darkest time. And that has been interesting to explore throughout this series.

Bliss

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He’s also been given a great companion across these audios, too. While Bliss’s introduction was a little low-key in the first box set, she’s been fleshed out very nicely as the series has gone on. The most recent volume has been particularly effective at that with the episode State of Bliss.

We know where the Eighth Doctor will end up during this dark time. We know that, in his continual fight to remain true to who he is, he will ultimately lose. But it’s wonderful exploring who he is before that point.

I’ve said this before, but in a strange way, we’ve been extremely lucky with the Eighth Doctor. His time on television might have been brief, but his history on audio has been incredibly rich. And there’s an era for everyone, whether you want something in the style of the Classic Series, something closer to the New Series, or for something very different altogether with the Time War. Each era broadly gives us different sides to the Eighth Doctor, while still remaining true to what makes him so brilliant. And that’s definitely something we can be grateful for.

Next. Ten reasons why the Third Doctor’s era was so special. dark

Have you listened to any of the Eighth Doctor’s eras on audio? Which one is your favorite? If you’re completely new to the Eighth Doctor on audio, which era do you think would appeal to you the most? Let us know in the comments below.

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