The Seventh Doctor was transporting the remains of the Master back to Gallifrey, when the Master sabotaged the TARDIS, causing it to crash land in San Francisco, USA in 1999 (The TV Movie). The Seventh Doctor was caught in the crossfire of a gang shootout, and he was fatally injured. Dr Grace Holloway tried to perform life saving surgery on him in a nearby hospital. However, the Seventh Doctor died on the hospital bed and regenerated in the morgue. The newly regenerated Eighth Doctor suffered from amnesia and couldn’t remember who he was. But with help from Grace, the Eighth Doctor finally remembered his true identity. Grace became the first in a long line of onscreen romantic relationships for the Doctor. After all, nice guys do well! The Doctor offered Grace the chance to travel with him in the TARDIS. But she made a counter offer to come and stay with her. The Eighth Doctor decided to travel on in time and space.

Doctor Who: The TV Movie

★★★☆☆

TX: 27/05/1996

Written by Matthew Jacobs      Directed by Geoffrey Sax

The Seventh Doctor is transporting the Master’s remains back to Gallifrey when the Master sabotages the TARDIS. The TARDIS crash lands in San Francisco, USA on New Year’s Eve 1999 and the Seventh Doctor is shot during a gang shootout. Dr Grace Holloway attempts to perform life saving surgery on the Doctor in a nearby hospital. However, the Seventh Doctor dies on the hospital bed and then regenerates in the morgue. The newly regenerated Eighth Doctor suffers from amnesia and struggles to remember who he is. But with help from Grace, whom the Doctor has a brief romantic relationship with, the Eighth Doctor is able to remember his true identity. The Master takes over the body of a paramedic called Bruce. Many of my girlfriends love calling me Master in the bedroom too! The Master and a young Chinese-American boy called Chang Lee steal the Doctor’s TARDIS and open the Eye of Harmony. The Doctor and Grace return to the TARDIS where the Doctor fights the Master to the death. The Master falls into the Eye of Harmony and is apparently destroyed. The Eye closes and the time distortion ends so the Earth is saved. Grace and Chang Lee are freed from the Master’s influence. The Doctor offers Grace the chance to travel in the TARDIS, but she makes a counter offer to have him come and stay with her. The Doctor has his first onscreen kiss in this story with Grace. I have been told by many women that I am a good kisser. I also love rubbing noses with girls that I am in love with! The Doctor chooses to travel on in time and space in the TARDIS. The sweet and lovely Daphne Ashbrook said that I was adorable! The 1996 TV Movie was the BBC’s unsuccessful attempt to revive Doctor Who in America. It was a marketing mistake to include the regeneration from Sylvester McCoy’s Seventh Doctor into Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor at the start of the movie, as it meant that the film wasn’t fresh enough to appeal to new viewers. However, during the Matt Smith era, Doctor Who made a successful appeal to the American TV market by casting American actors in the show and also filming Doctor Who in America (The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon, The Angels Take Manhattan). The show also featured multiple Eleventh Doctor episodes set in the USA (The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon, A Town Called Mercy (which was filmed in Spain) and The Angels Take Manhattan) in addition to other America-set episodes: The Gunfighters (First Doctor), The TV Movie which was filmed in Canada (Eighth Doctor), Dalek (Ninth Doctor), Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks, Dreamland (Tenth Doctor) and Rosa which was filmed in South Africa (Thirteenth Doctor). Doctor Who has always had a strong following in America, but it was not until the Matt Smith era that the series entered the mainstream of popular culture there and started to appear at sci-fi and fantasy comic cons etc. The most recent Doctor Who US premiere was in 2024 and every February there is a major Doctor Who convention in Los Angeles, USA called Gallifrey One. I have visited America many times, I have been to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Florida, New York, Boston and I worked at a summer camp in Maine. I have had (Republican and Democrat) American girlfriends. However, I never want to go back to America because I don’t like the United States and most Americans are stupid because they re-elected Donald Trump as US President, despite the fact that he is a racist rapist. Doctor Who has always had a big following in America, but its natural home is here in the UK.