8th Doctor

Paul McGann (1996)

(Click the story titles to visit the tweetalong page!)

1996


2013


Comic Strips (DWM)

Endgame, The Keep, A Life of Matter & Death, Fire and Brimstone, By Hook or By Crook, Tooth & Claw, The Final Chapter, Wormwood

Happy Deathday, The Fallen, Unnatural Born Killers. The Road to Hell, TV Action!, The Company of Thieves, The Glorious Dead, The Autonomy Bug


Ophidius, Beautiful Freak, Character Assassin, The Way of All Flesh, Children of the Revolution, Me and My Shadow, Uroborus, Oblivion


Where Nobody Knows Your Name, Doctor Who and the Nightmare Game, The Power of Thoueris!, The Curious Tale of Spring-Heeled Jack, The Land of Happy Endings, Bad Blood, Sins of the Fathers, The Flood

Big Finish

The Silver Turk, The Witch from the Well, Army of Death

Storm Warning, Sword of Orion, The Stones of Venice, Minuet in Hell

Invaders from Mars, The Chimes of Midnight, Living Legend, Seasons of Fear, Embrace the Darkness, The Time of the Daleks, Neverland


Scherzo, The Creed of the Kromon, The Natural History of Fear, The Twilight Kingdom

Faith Stealer, The Last, Caedroia, The Next Life

Terror Firma, Scaredy Cat, Other Lives, Time Works, Something Inside

Memory Lane, Absolution, The Girl Who Never Was

Blood of the Daleks (parts 1 & 2), Horror of Glam Rock, Immortal Beloved, Phobos, No More Lies, Human Resources (parts 1 & 2)

Dead London, Max Warp, Brave New Town, The Skull of Sobek, Grand Theft Cosmos, The Zygon Who Fell to Earth, Sisters of the Flame (1 of 2), The Vengeance of Morbius (2 of 2)

Orbis, Hothouse, The Beast of Orlok, Wirrn Dawn, The Scapegoat, The Cannibalists, The Eight Truths (1 of 2), World Wide Web (2 of 2), Death in Blackpool

An Earthly Child, Situation Vacant, Nevermore, The Book of Kells, Deimos (1 of 2), The Resurrection of Mars (2 of 2), Relative Dimensions, The Four Doctors, Prisoner of the Sun, Lucie Miller (1 of 2), To the Death (2 of 2)

The Great War, Fugitives, Tangled Web, X and the Daleks

The Traitor, The White Room, Time's Horizon, Eyes of the Master

The Death of Hope, The Reviled, Masterplan, Rule of the Eminence

A Life in the Day, The Monster of Montmartre, Master of the Daleks, Eye of Darkness

Doom Coalition 1 (2015)

The Eighth Doctor is an enthusiastic figure who explores the universe for the sheer love of it: though always ready to tackle problems when they arise, he relies on brilliant improvisation rather than elaborate plans.

He is passionate, direct, sympathetic and emotionally accessible, yet this is balanced by occasional feelings of self-doubt and weariness of his endless battles against evil.

The Eighth Doctor encouraged those around him to seize life instead of withdrawing from it. He also seemed to enjoy giving people hints of their own futures, probably to prod them into making the right decisions. It is unclear if this Doctor's knowledge of people's futures comes from historical expertise, psychic power, or precognitive ability.

As with the Fifth and Eleventh Doctor, the debonair Eighth Doctor's youthful, wide-eyed enthusiasm actually hid a very old soul with perhaps a darker side. 

In fact, whereas the Eighth Doctor of the audio plays and the comic strip hew closely to the television film Doctor, the Eighth Doctor of the novels exhibited what was, at times, a much darker personality, perhaps due to the rather traumatic adventures he underwent (including being trapped in an inescapable prison for three years; the apparent destruction of his TARDIS; the discovery of a Future War that would all-but-dehumanise his people; and the temporary loss of his second heart). 

In the audio dramas the Doctor becomes a more traumatized figure towards the end of the New Eighth Doctor Adventures.

The Eighth Doctor also attracted controversy in the television film, breaking the long-standing taboo against romantic involvement with his companions by kissing Grace Holloway. Fans were divided on this. 

In the spin-off media that followed, the Eighth Doctor has often been the object of romantic interest, but has shown little to no romantic inclinations of his own. One notable exception to this is the 1997 novel "The Dying Days" in which he has an implied sexual encounter with companion Bernice Summerfield at the story's conclusion; the nature of the encounter, subject to debate initially, was later confirmed in the Big Finish audio drama "Benny's Story."

In all his iterations, the Eighth Doctor has proven extremely prone to bouts of amnesia, a tendency apparently inspired by the plot of his first television appearance. He also demonstrates, in his first televised appearance, a penchant for sleight of hand. He manages to "lift" or pickpocket various items from certain people he meets during his first adventure.

After crash-landing on Karn he was helped by that planet’s mysterious Sisterhood and Ohila allowed him to influence his next regeneration. Who or what did he wish to become? The Doctor made his decision quickly… ‘Warrior!’




Next... The 9th Doctor!

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