8th Doctor Looks Promising for 2009

It was just a rumor… but now it’s sounding more and more credible. The buzz on the Who forums is all about how Paul McGann, a.k.a. the Eighth Doctor, the one who only did the TV movie (and a lot of audio adventures), is going to be featured in one of the specials to be shown in 2009. It’s not been confirmed so it’s still just a rumor – it just sounds more credible now than it did before.

I still don’t know how I feel about this. On the one hand… it could be neat to find out more about what happened to turn him into the Ninth Doctor, played by Christopher Eccleston, who could often be moody and bitter. On the other hand… I still don’t really want to “see” the Time War on screen. Much like I didn’t need to “see” Harry and Ginny at Platform 9 3/4 with children in tow. It was best left up to my imagination. I wanted assurances they would wind up together, but I didn’t need the specifics. Ditto with the Time War.

Of course, there’s plenty of time for this rumor to prove false. But now that it’s coming from people I believe to be reasonably reliable… I don’t know. I would like to see Eccleston again, though. I really thought he was a good Doctor. David Tennant will always be “my” Doctor, as I didn’t discover the show until he was the Doctor. But I thought Eccleston was equally brilliant in the role. So I might be OK with seeing the regeneration between McGann and Eccleston – provided it leaves enough of the Time War up to my imagination. You know?

Now, about that Master rumor… I’ve come up with an idea that could work to make him rise from the ashes. What if his Time Lord ring (seen being picked up by a hand with red fingernails) works like his fobwatch? Didn’t Donna have red fingernails at the end of series four? What if her Time Lord hidden parts lead her somehow to the ring, and she unknowingly unleashes him? Hmmm… it could happen! I wish I knew what I did with my copy of the TV movie with McGann… I can’t remember now exactly how it was that the Master was able to generate himself out of his remains. It seems like he was ashes then, too. Think, think, think…

Only somewhat off-topic: I’m actually excited to see Eccleston in the upcoming G.I. Joe movie. It looks like fun and I watched the old cartoon in the 80’s with my brother. But I can’t help but wonder what on earth McGann was thinking when he agreed to be part of a movie called Lesbian Vampire Killers. I wish I was making that up – but it’s on his IMDB page. (Are they lesbians who fight vampires, or killers who target lesbian vampires? And who on earth thought it sounded any better than Snakes on a Plane?)