Doctor Who
A newly regenerated Time Lord races through a Y2K San Francisco night to stop his resurrected nemesis from destroying Earth through the TARDIS.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- campy
- melodramatic
- energetic
- cult sci fi marathon
- doctor who viewing
What critics said
Available reception signals suggest a broadly mixed response, with praise for its visual energy and Paul McGann’s entertaining Doctor tempered by concerns about pacing, continuity references, and Eric Roberts’s exaggerated performance.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The Master uses a mini-black hole as the TARDIS power source while the story unfolds on the eve of the year 2000.
After regeneration, the Doctor must recover his sense of identity while fighting to preserve his new eighth body.
The TARDIS, Gallifrey, regeneration, body possession, and an impending planetary catastrophe are presented with flamboyant emotional stakes.
The Master escapes death, takes over a paramedic’s body, and seeks the Doctor’s Time Lord physiology to regenerate.
Films like Doctor Who, and why
Back to the Future
time-travel science fiction adventure with an eccentric protagonist, flamboyant villain, and playful cosmic stakes
The Fifth Element
accessible science fiction adventure centered on a charismatic outsider, escalating temporal danger, and colorful spectacle
Star Trek: Generations
genre television mythology adapted into a feature-length science fiction adventure with melodramatic performance and apocalyptic stakes
Flash Gordon
campy science fiction adventure featuring body transformation, memorable villains, and urgent threats to Earth
Movie Details
- Director
- Geoffrey Sax
- Release Date
- 1996-05-12
- Runtime
- 86 min
- Rating
- 6.2 / 10 (254)
Cast
- Paul McGann
- Eric Roberts
- Daphne Ashbrook
- Sylvester McCoy
- Yee Jee Tso
- Will Sasso
- Dolores Drake
- John Novak
- Catherine Lough Haggquist
- Bill Croft
Common questions
- What is Doctor Who about?
- A newly regenerated Time Lord races through a Y2K San Francisco night to stop his resurrected nemesis from destroying Earth through the TARDIS.
- What is Doctor Who like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Doctor Who as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Doctor Who violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Doctor Who as moderate.
- What did critics think of Doctor Who?
- Available reception signals suggest a broadly mixed response, with praise for its visual energy and Paul McGann’s entertaining Doctor tempered by concerns about pacing, continuity references, and Eric Roberts’s exaggerated performance.
- Which films are like Doctor Who?
- Films with a similar feel include Back to the Future, The Fifth Element, Star Trek: Generations, and Flash Gordon.
- How long is Doctor Who?
- Doctor Who runs 86 minutes.
