Doctor Who TV movie director Geoffrey Sax has reflected on hopes that the 1996 film could have launched a full Eighth Doctor series, revealing that Paul McGann was even viewing potential homes in Vancouver.
The feature-length special, which starred McGann as the Doctor, first aired in the UK on 27 May 1996 and was a co-production between the BBC, Universal and Fox, with hopes that it could relaunch Doctor Who for a new era.
However, Sax has now recalled that while there was excitement around the project potentially continuing, he does not remember much discussion about a follow-up series taking place on set.
“I don’t remember a single discussion about it,” he told Radio Times. “We were there to do the film, and that was it.
“When I got the call, I think they’d only just got the green light, and they wanted to go into production pretty well straight away.”
Sax explained that by the time he arrived in Vancouver, much of the production was already underway. “By the time I flew out there, there was a full team there. The TARDIS was already under construction, the Eye of Harmony room was already under construction, which is quite unusual.
“Normally the director sits down with the designer, and you start to chat about the look and everything, but that was already underway.
“There wasn’t even time to discuss things like what this would look like as a series or anything like that.”
Still, Sax said there was a sense that the project could continue if the TV movie proved successful, with McGann even being shown potential homes in Vancouver.
“I do know that Paul McGann was taken around various apartments and houses, because they said if this does become a series, you’re going to have to move out here, and it’ll be a very big commitment.
“There was that excitement about: this could happen, and relocation to Vancouver.”
Had the TV movie gone to series, Sax said he imagined Daphne Ashbrook and Yee Jee Tso, who played Grace Holloway and Chang Lee, may have returned.
“I would imagine at some point they would have both come back,” he said, adding that a decision on their future may have depended on audience reaction. “I think what they would have done was probably tested it, really, with audience reactions… they really do a lot more of that over there, and I think they would have assessed whether or not [they should come back].
“I think they were rather hoping that they’d be invited back, because it would have been lovely for them as well.”
Reflecting on his frustration that a series did not happen, Sax said: “I was bitterly disappointed that it didn’t take off at the time, because if you do a pilot that becomes successful in the States, the networks are going to say, ‘Well, he’s made a show that’s been a success, let’s have him for the next one.’
“It would have begotten a lot of work, probably, and also just for the kudos of doing something that was successful.”
While the TV movie did not launch a full Eighth Doctor series, McGann has continued to reprise the role in audio dramas and later returned on screen in 2013 minisode The Night of the Doctor.
The TV movie was recently screened at BFI Southbank in a new 4K restoration, followed by a Q&A with Sax and McGann.
The remaster arrives ahead of a new 4K and Blu-ray home media release, with the TV movie newly restored from the original 35mm film elements to mark its 30th anniversary.
The release will be available as a Limited Edition Steelbook featuring the 90-minute adventure on both 4K UHD and Blu-ray, alongside standalone 4K and standard Blu-ray editions.
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