Doctor Who ( TV story ) Doctor Who was a made - for - TV movie broadcast in 1996 . It was made as an attempt to relaunch and continue the " Doctor Who " television franchise in the UK and abroad . With no on - screen title other than " Doctor Who " , home video releases of the film from BBC Video are marketed under the title Doctor Who : The Movie . The movie featured Sylvester McCoy ' s final chronological appearance as the Seventh Doctor and his regeneration . A large period of time is implied to have passed since " Survival " , as the Seventh Doctor has parted with his companion Ace , is visibly older , is dressed differently and is travelling alone . This would be the last televised story of " Doctor Who " until 2005 ' s " Rose " " , " leaving a nine year gap . The film was co - produced by the BBC and Fox networks . Filmed in Canada , the telemovie introduced Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor and was his only on - screen performance in the role for 17 years until TV : " The Night of the Doctor " in 2013 . The telemovie won a in 1996 for best television presentation . Synopsis . The Doctor , nearing the end of his seventh life , is charged with transporting the remains of his fellow Time Lord , the Master , back to their home planet . Despite his precautions , his old enemy is not only not dead , but is out for revenge . Creating a timing malfunction in the TARDIS , and bringing the Doctor to San Francisco in 1999 , the Master escapes and puts his plans into motion . The Doctor must find a beryllium atomic clock and stop the Master , but after being shot down by members of a street gang , how will he succeed ? Plot . As part of a treaty between the Time Lords and the Daleks , Time Lord criminal The Master has been placed on trial on Skaro , and is sentenced to extermination for his life of evil . As part of a last , and somewhat curious , request , the Master asked that his old rival the Doctor , now late in his seventh incarnation , escort his ashes back to Gallifrey for proper burial . " It was a request they should have " never " granted . " The Doctor narrates that Time Lord s have thirteen lives , but the Master had already used up all his own . However , rules never mattered much to the Master , as he always found away around this and kept living . So , even though the Master was dead , the Doctor knew he couldn ' t trust him . Fishing a sonic screwdriver out of a tool box , the Doctor locks the urn containing the Master ' s ashes inside another box . The Doctor smiles , glad to have added a precaution . Narrating again , the Doctor claims he had learnt , by the end of his seventh life , that he could not help but be too careful . After returning to the main control room , the Seventh Doctor sets the TARDIS coordinates for Gallifrey in the Rassilon Era . Confident that nothing can go wrong now that he ' s ensured the Master ' s remains are safely sealed , the Doctor decides to relax on the trip back . Sitting in a recliner , the Doctor enjoys a cup of tea and resumes reading H . G . Wells ' s " The Time Machine " , whilst eating a bowl of jelly babies . At the same time , he has " In a Dream " playing on his gramophone . Nearby , the casket containing the Master ' s ashes shakes violently . The record begins skipping on the word " time " , but the Doctor fixes it , remaining unaware of the situation . The shaking grows worse , causing the record to start skipping worse . The casket breaks open . The Doctor ' s cup of tea crashes to the ground and the record skips to stop . Realising that he ' s trying to be told something , the Doctor immediately becomes suspicious of the Master . A snake - like creature emerges from the box and , unseen by the Doctor , slithers into the TARDIS console . The resulting effect of the console malfunctioning as sparks fly out finally rouses the Doctor : leaving his chair , he rushes to fix it , but is unsuccessful ; a critical timing malfunction forces him to make an emergency landing . Concerned that the Master may have had a hand in this , the Doctor quickly returns to where he left the ashes , only to see the box cracked open . The Doctor , shocked , stares at it with a worried expression . The TARDIS exits the Time Vortex , heading to Earth . Meanwhile , in San Francisco on December 30th 1999 , two local Chinese - American gangs are having a shoot - out , reducing one to just Chang Lee . When the other gangsters prepares to fire on him , the TARDIS materialisation wind picks up and it appears in front of Lee . The gang fruitlessly fires at the TARDIS , emptying their guns . While they reload , the Doctor exits the TARDIS to find his bearings only to be shot by the gangsters , who quickly flee . Lee runs to the Doctor ' s side . The Doctor tries to warn Lee about the Master , who has slipped through the TARDIS keyhole . However , Lee doesn ' t turn around in time to see him . The Doctor falls unconscious and Lee quickly runs to get an ambulance and accompanies the Doctor to Walker General Hospital . Unseen , the Master stows away in the ambulance . At the hospital , a surgeon removes the bullets , but the Doctor ' s two heart s cause confusion for the medical team . They assume he is fibrillating and that the X - ray s showing his two hearts is a double exposure . A cardiologist , Dr . Grace Holloway , is summoned from her visit to the opera , and attempts to stabilize the Doctor ' s heartbeat . Regaining consciousness , from pre - op sedation by music from " Madame Butterfly " opera , just as she is about to begin the operation , the Doctor tries to prevent it by explaining his non - terrestrial origins and tells Grace that he needs a beryllium atomic clock . Salinger implies that they can ' t wait any longer to begin the operation , and Grace has the anesthesiologist administer the anaesthetic . However , the Doctor fights the sedation and awakes from it twice , deliriously telling the people in the operating room , " Timing malfunction . The Master , he ' s out there ! He ' s out there . . . I ' ve got to stop . . . him . . . " The medical team think this is just incoherent babble brought on by the anaesthesia , and attempt to put him to sleep again . Once the Doctor falls asleep , they insert an endotracheal ( breathing ) tube in his throat and start their operation to stabilize his heart beat . The Doctor ' s anatomy confuses Grace , who believes his unusually fast heartbeat is an unwanted and life - threatening fibrillation . She decides to do exploratory surgery to fix it . She gets lost in his right side , which holds a second heart , knowing that she should be in the right side of his body , the surgical team identify his second - heart blood veins as the left side of the heart ( the normal human heart parts ) . Grace attempts to move the microscopic probe in her plan B , accidentally damages his unfamiliar circulatory system with the probe , causing the Doctor ' s sedated body to have a massive seizure . Unable to get the probe out when it snaps off inside one of his vital heart vessels , killing him . The medical team shock his body in attempt to restart his heart . The Doctor ' s body starts to spasm violently , and he wakes from the anaesthetic one more time , forced into consciousness by the incredible pain he is now feeling . He lets out a final , horribly agonised scream , and collapses on the operating table . The medical team fail to revive the Doctor and they pronounce him dead . Grace takes of her surgical glasses and cap and runs out of the room upset . Wheeler covers the body with the Doctor ' s surgical drapes . When Grace tries to comfort Lee with the death of the Doctor , she realises he doesn ' t know him . Lee runs off with the Doctor ' s possessions , as Grace cannot run after him in her opera dress . The Doctor is wheeled into the morgue for dissection the next day , with the morgue attendant , Pete , making spa jokes at the dead body . Around the same time , the Master has hitched a ride to the home of one of the ambulance workers , Bruce , by hiding in his jacket . Bruce snores with his wife , Miranda , in agony ; she wraps a pillow around her head to block the sound . The Master slithers up to Bruce , quickly shoving himself down the man ' s throat . Suffocated , Bruce dies ; the Master then gains control of the man ' s body . Unknowing of this , Miranda assumes Bruce simply stopped snoring and sleeps . Later that night , as Pete , on night - shift at the morgue , watches the 1931 film version of " Frankenstein " , the Doctor comes back to life and , at last , regenerates into his eighth body . His old face twists and warps into the features of a brand new , younger man , followed by a release of dense , foggy breath from his mouth . Surprised and slightly disoriented , he springs up from the gurney and begins banging on the door , attracting Pete ' s attention . When Pete arrives to see what is the source of the sound , the new Doctor knocks the metal door off its hinges . He is clad in just a shroud , a sight mirrored by the image in the movie . Pete faints in shock while the Doctor stumbles into a deserted wing of the hospital . He walks into a room where he sees himself in broken pieces of mirror . Confused by his new face he falls to his knees and cries out , " Who am I ? " The next morning , the Doctor , after going through numerous hospital lockers , steals the Wild Bill Hickok costume that Pete ' s co - worker , Ted , intended to wear to the hospital ' s New Year ' s Eve costume party . He leaves the costume ' s gun belt behind though , seeing no use for it . Meanwhile , Chang Lee goes through the Doctor ' s possessions , finding his sonic screwdriver , pocket watch , jelly babies , a yo - yo , and TARDIS key . Elsewhere , Miranda awakes to find , unbeknownst to her , the Master staring out the window . As the Master talks to himself about Bruce ' s body not lasting long and his need to find the Doctor . Happy to see he has a sense of humour and no longer snores , she asks him to come back to bed . The Master turns around , shocking her with the cat - like eyes he acquired on Cheetah World . Miranda attempts to scream in horror , but is grabbed by the neck by the Master , who shushes her . After a moment , he breaks her neck and begins thinking about stealing the Doctor ' s lives . At the hospital , the Doctor , still struggling with severe disorientation , hangs out in the hospital reception where he happens to recognise Grace ( who has quit her hospital job after an argument with the hospital administrator over covering up the surgery ) , and follows her to her car , asking for help as he believes she knows who he is . Grace tells the Doctor to leave her alone , convinced he is crazy . She screams when she finds the Doctor in her car in agony . But he removes the source of his pain , the surgical probe which Grace had left in him the previous night , the sight convinces her that this strange man is in fact her supposedly dead patient . She then drives off with the Doctor , at his request , to prevent the hospital staff from killing him again . " Bruce " goes to the hospital , where he learns that the Doctor died during surgery and that his body is missing and Lee has taken his possessions . Grace takes the Doctor to her house , where she discovers that her boyfriend has left her and taken some of her furniture to boot . She listens to the Doctor ' s hearts , and takes a sample of his blood , while the Doctor ' s spotty memory begins to return with anecdotes about Puccini and Leonardo da Vinci . He also explains that his has thirteen lives , going on to say Grace became a doctor because of her childish dream to hold back death ; according to the Doctor , she ' ll do great things . Elsewhere , Chang Lee uses the TARDIS key to enter the TARDIS . There he encounters the Master , who entered before him . The Master hypnotises Lee into giving him the Doctor ' s possessions by staring with his inhuman eyes . Searching through the bag , the Master demands to know where the Doctor is . Lee says that the items he stole are his now , and that the Doctor is dead . With a snarl , the Master informs Lee that the Doctor is not dead and that he will die unless he finds him . Wondering what he ' ll get out of assisting the Master , Lee is told he ' ll get to live . Elsewhere , Grace has given the Doctor a pair of shoes left behind by her boyfriend , letting him keep them ; her attempts to examine the Doctor ' s blood fail . They decide to take a walk , hoping to jog his memory , during which the Doctor happily remembers seeing a wonderful meteor storm on Gallifrey with his father during his initial incarnation . He then joyously announces that his new shoes fit perfectly and runs off happy . Rummaging through some of the drawers , the Master withdraws some red pouches , going on to say the TARDIS and the Doctor ' s body were stolen from him . Lee once more says the Doctor died . The Master explains it ' s half true ; " that " body , the body of the Seventh Doctor , died , but the Doctor regenerated into a new one . He goes on to lie that the Doctor used seven of his lives to commit terrible deeds as well - known villains in Earth history , claiming Genghis Khan was one incarnation of the Doctor . . He then gives Lee the pouches , which contains $ 5 , 000 , 000 in gold dust , as payment for his help , promising a full billion once he gets " his " body back . The Master takes Lee to the Cloister Room , where he uses Lee ' s human eyes to open the Eye of Harmony , the TARDIS ' power source . In the meantime , the Doctor regains his memories . In a fit of enthusiasm , the Doctor announces , " I am the Doctor ! " and kiss es Grace , who asks him to kiss her again . In the Cloister Room , the Master sees a series of images : the Seventh Doctor , the newly regenerated Eighth Doctor , and a human retina . The latter causes him to announce , " The Doctor is half - human . " The Doctor becomes aware that the Master has opened the Eye of Harmony as he holds Grace ; at the same time , the Master and Lee see her through the Doctor ' s vision . However , the Doctor shuts his eyes , preventing nothing more than audio to come through the Eye ' s projection . The Doctor explains the Master ' s plan : he hopes to force the Doctor to look into the Eye of Harmony , which will destroy his soul and allow the Master to take over his body . The Master says the Doctor is lying again ; however , Lee is worried Grace might believe him . At the same time , the Doctor asks Grace to help him find a beryllium atomic clock . However , Grace runs back to her house ; the Doctor opens his again , but the visual doesn ' t return to the Eye . The Doctor tries talking to Grace , but she calls him insane and phones for an ambulance to take the Doctor to a mental institution . To prove that the Eye is open and changing the physical structure of the planet , the Doctor presses against one of the windows , making it bend ; he walks through it and into Grace ' s house . The Doctor explains that at midnight , the entire Earth will be sucked through it unless he can close it in time . Collapsing in shock , Grace asks for two ambulances over the phone . Hearing this , the Master decides to use the identity of his stolen body to commandeer an ambulance , with Lee . The Doctor weighs himself on scale as Grace ' s television reports strange weather occurring around the world , which has been caused by the Eye ' s opening . The Doctor is even more shocked to see he has lost twenty pounds in just the same amount of minutes . Watching a news report , the Doctor hears that a beryllium atomic clock is being unveiled at ITAR . When the ambulance arrives , the EMT is the Master , and the unseen driver is Chang Lee ; the Doctor doesn ' t see Lee or know it ' s the Master . The Doctor asks to be taken to ITAR . Grace is still sceptical , but indicates for the driver to play along . As they are being driven , the Doctor questions Grace as to why she didn ' t tell him she had access to an atomic clock . Still playing along , Grace says she was more worried about what would happen to the Earth if the Eye isn ' t shut . Their conversation changes subject , in which the Doctor explains he met Sigmund Freud and Madame Curie . However , Lee slams on the brakes at a traffic jam , making the ambulance shake , causing the sunglasses the Master had been using to hide his inhuman eyes to fall off ; the Doctor recognises him . Putting his glasses back on , the Master has them pulled back off by the Doctor , who gets out of the way of a burning viscous substance spat by his foe ; it lands on Grace ' s wrist . The Doctor temporarily blinds him with a fire extinguisher , while they flee . They flee into the blocked traffic as Lee cleans the foam off the Master . A policeman tells them to go back to their vehicles , but the Doctor instead offers him a Jelly baby ; sceptical about the sweet , the officer eats it . Grace explains that the Doctor is British to explain his odd habits just as he takes the officer ' s gun and points it at himself ; he demands the officer hand over his motorcycle . The Doctor turns his attention to Grace , who he tells that he cannot make her dream to hold back death last forever , but he " can " make it come true tonight . Believing the Doctor , Grace takes the gun and shoots the radio , preventing the officer from calling for backup . They take the keys and drive off , leaving the gun behind . At the same time , the Master reminds Lee that they are in an ambulance , which can go past traffic jams if the sirens are on ; Lee complies and takes a shortcut to ITAR . The Doctor and Grace arrive shortly after , finding the empty ambulance ; the Master and Lee are already inside , waiting for them . Grace , a board member of ITAR , gets herself and the Doctor inside the party ; while looking around for a way to reach the clock , the Doctor explains that time travel is possible and that Time Lords who run out of regenerations , like the Master , are desperate in the fight for survival . She also gives him the alias " Dr Bowman " while introducing him to Professor Wagg , creator of the clock . As the Doctor tells Professor Wagg " a secret " ( " I ' m half - human , on my mother ' s side " ) , he surreptitiously removes Wagg ' s security pass . Grace and the Doctor steal a small component from the clock , which he needs to repair the TARDIS . They spot the Master and Chang Lee in the crowd , which prompts them to head for the exit . They then find guards that the Master subdued by using the same substance ; they are frozen in place , covered in goo . The Doctor activates the fire alarm to " liven things up " as he and Grace make their escape by lowering themselves from the roof with a fire hose . They flee on the motorcycle , being chased by police and arrive at the TARDIS , where the Doctor remembers that he keeps a spare key in the cubbyhole above the letter " P " in " Police box . " One police motorcycle enters the TARDIS and moments later flees in shock . They enter the TARDIS , where the Cloister Bell is ringing . The Doctor is able to close the Eye of Harmony ; however , a quick temporal scan confirms that the Eye has been open too long , and the Earth is still in danger . The only solution is to take the TARDIS back to a time before the Eye was opened — but since the Eye was open so long , the TARDIS now has no power . The Doctor attempts to jump - start the TARDIS by drawing energy directly from the Eye . While working under the console , the Doctor wonders why Grace is not helping as he instructed her to , looking up to see her eyes have turned black ; Grace has been taken over by the Master ' s will . Grace knocks the Doctor out just as the Master and Lee enter the TARDIS . The Doctor awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney in the Cloister Room . Chang Lee and the possessed Grace chain the Doctor to a balcony , under the supervision of the Master ( who has decided to " dress for the occasion " in Gallifreyan robes ) . Lee explains he ' ll be rich once once the Master gets his body back . However , the Doctor tells him the Master neglected to mention Earth would be destroyed , making his payment pointless . Per the Doctor ' s slight manipulation , the Master inadvertently contradicts his earlier lies to Lee by claiming to have used all " his " lives . Lee now believes the Doctor and refuses to help the Master . Rather than waste more time by hypnotising Lee again , the Master snaps his neck . The Doctor comments that only Grace is left to open the Eye , but her eyes are not human . The Master taunts the Doctor and removes his influence on Grace as he kiss es her , then forces her to look into the Eye . As the Master begins to absorb the Doctor ' s life energy , the Doctor implores Grace to return to the console room and jump - start the TARDIS . Several disasters happen all around the Earth as lightning and heavy winds surround the TARDIS ; Grace enters the control room as sparks fly out of the console . In the Cloister Room , the Master begins hearing the Doctor ' s memories and feeling his life force come into him , even briefly taking on his form several times . As the Earth celebrates the approaching new year , Grace manages to start the TARDIS one second before midnight , having remembered the Doctor told her piloting a TARDIS is like setting an alarm clock . The TARDIS enters a temporal orbit , something she needs the Doctor to explain . She returns to the Cloister Room and frees the Doctor , but the Master attacks them both . He throws her off the balcony , killing her . The Doctor and the Master struggle over the open Eye , and the Master falls in ; the Doctor attempts to save him , but the Master rejects his hand and is sucked into the Eye . The TARDIS slips back in time before midnight . Energy travels from the Eye to the bodies of Grace and Chang Lee , reviving them , and the Eye closes . Amused by how sentimental his TARDIS is , the Doctor asks Grace how it felt to hold back death . He then congratulates them , as they ' ve been somewhere he ' s never been ( yet ) . Grace tells him there ' s nothing to be afraid of , but wonders if they ' ve gone back far enough . The Doctor tells her that they have or he ' s talking to a bunch of ghosts , and he doesn ' t believe in them . They return to the console room where , through a high - tech dome , the Doctor shows them alien galaxies and his home planet . Lee questions where the Master is just as a grumbling is heard from the TARDIS ; " Indigestion , " the Doctor remarks . Deciding where to leave them , the Doctor asks if they wish to be deposited back on the 29th . While Grace would rather not live through the day again , Lee knows he " won ' t " survive it ; instead , the Doctor takes them to exactly the first minute of 2000 in a city park . The Doctor allows Lee to keep the bags of gold dust the Master originally bribed him with , and tells him not to be in San Francisco next Christmas ; in exchange , Lee gives back the bag with the belongings of the Seventh Doctor in them . The Doctor asks Grace to travel with him , but she refuses and asks if the Doctor will stay with her . However , both know he won ' t and they kiss . Grace thanks the Doctor , but he retorts " No , thank " you " , doctor . " The Doctor leaves in the TARDIS , off to a new adventure . Conducting maintenance on the new part inside the console with his newly recovered sonic screwdriver , the Doctor asks his beloved time machine where it will be they ' re going this time ( as he has no reason to go back to Gallifrey now ) . He settles back in his armchair in the TARDIS control room to continue reading H . G . Wells ' novel " The Time Machine " . The gramophone record that he is listening to suddenly starts skipping ( again ) . As the TARDIS continues on its flight , all the Doctor says is , " Oh no , not again . " Production . Earliest form . After the show had first aired in the United States , American companies had worked hard to purchase the rights for an American version . In the early ' 80s , when The Walt Disney Company were on their spending sprees , they attempted to buy the rights to the show , meaning the entire franchise would belong to Disney , not just an American version of the show . British expatriate Philip Segal had been working since 1989 to forge a co - production deal between an American company and the BBC to make a new Doctor Who series even before the programme ' s twenty - sixth and final season , broadcast that year . At that time , Segal was working with Columbia Pictures , but little had come of his efforts by the time he left for a two - year stint at ABC . Subsequently , Segal went to work for Steven Spielberg ' s Amblin Entertainment . Shortly thereafter he resumed his efforts to acquire the rights to Doctor Who . By June 1992 , he was joined by Peter Wagg , producer of the eclectic science - fiction series " Max Headroom " . There were several parties involved in the " Doctor Who " discussions : Amblin and the BBC , of course , but also Amblin ' s parent company , Universal Pictures , and the BBC ' s commercial arm , BBC Enterprises , which would shortly become BBC Worldwide . With each organisation trying to safeguard its own interests , negotiations stretched into 1993 , and then 1994 . Despite the many difficulties the complex situation presented , on 13 January 1994 , an agreement was reached . Philip Segal was , for all intents and purposes , " Doctor Who " s newest producer . The race was on to get a series ready to be pitched to the American networks in time for the Fall 1994 season , essentially giving Segal and Wagg less than two months . One of Segal ' s first instructions from his superiors at Universal was to use a studio writer for the project , specifically John Leekley . Segal was hesitant , preferring to go outside Universal ; former Doctor Who script editor Terrance Dicks was amongst the candidates he considered . However , aware that any fight with Universal would waste precious development time , Segal agreed to bring Leekley aboard . As a TV series . With designer Richard Lewis , Segal and Leekley prepared an expensive and extensive series bible , " The Chronicles Of Doctor Who ? " , to introduce Doctor Who in general , and the proposed new series in particular . Segal had envisioned this version as largely divorced from the original BBC series — although the basic concepts of Doctor Who were adhered to , the programme ' s mythos would be completely rewritten . The bible was written from the perspective of Cardinal Barusa ( a misspelling of Borusa , a character who had first appeared in Season Fourteen ' s " The Deadly Assassin " ) . It introduced the Doctor and the Master , half - brothers and sons of the lost Time Lord explorer Ulysses , Borusa ' s son . When the evil Master becomes President of the Time Lords upon Borusa ' s death , the Doctor flees Gallifrey in a rickety old TARDIS to find Ulysses . Borusa ' s spirit becomes enmeshed in the TARDIS , enabling Borusa to advise his grandson . The Doctor takes the TARDIS to " the Blue Planet " to search for Ulysses , the native world of the Doctor ' s mother . They soon searched for the man to play the Doctor . Many people were considered and auditioned , including Rowan Atkinson , Derek Jacobi , and Jim Carrey . It was under this script that Paul McGann later would audition . His brother Mark would as well . A third producer joined the Doctor Who team in March , much to the surprise and , at the time , the dismay of Segal . This was Jo Wright , assigned by the BBC to represent their interests . Around the end of March , Doctor Who was offered to the four American networks . NBC and ABC were completely uninterested . CBS president Peter Tortorici tentatively offered Segal a two - hour pilot and six one - hour episodes ( presumably to serve as mid - season replacement series ) , but this was retracted by network head Howard Stringer in mid - May . That left Fox , at the time still the youngest American network . Led by head of series Robert Greenblatt , Fox was interested in " Doctor Who " , but was only willing to commit to a two - hour movie with the possibility of a second . It appeared Segal ' s dreams of producing a new Doctor Who series were fast disappearing . Despite this , he agreed to an offer made by " Doctor Who " historian Jean - Marc Lofficier and his wife Randy to become unofficial consultants on the project . The Lofficiers would advise the production team on continuity and act as liaisons with the fan community . On 28 June , Fox indicated they were interested in having the initial movie serve as a " backdoor pilot " ; if ratings were good , the property might shift from their Movie of the Week department to the series department . At the suggestion of Trevor Walton , Fox ' s vice president in charge of movies , Segal and Wagg met with Matthew Jacobs , who had written for " The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles " . ( Jacobs was the son of Anthony Jacobs , who had played Doc Holliday in The Gunfighters , and had been present on the set . ) The selection was approved by the other interested parties and Jacobs set to work on 5th May . Unlike the DeLaurentis iteration , it was decided to essentially discard all the work done to date , with Jacobs starting afresh on an entirely new script . Only the idea of the Doctor having a human mother would be retained . By 19th May , Jacobs had composed a storyline ; unlike the earlier Leekley and DeLaurentis versions , this continued from the end of the original series , starting by introducing Sylvester McCoy ' s Seventh Doctor . The Doctor arrives on modern - day Earth in either San Francisco or New Orleans . However , the dying Master has transmogrified himself into a shape - shifting slick of DNA , and attacks the Doctor , mortally wounding him . The Doctor ' s body is found by a street kid named Jack . Jack brings the Doctor to the hospital , where he is operated on unsuccessfully by Dr Kelly Grace ( an obvious play on the name of actress Grace Kelly ) . In the morgue , the Doctor regenerates ; meanwhile , the Master acquires a temporary human host body . Jack has gained access to the TARDIS using gloves he has pilfered from the Doctor ' s body . The Master raises Jack ' s father from the dead and through him uses Jack to take over the TARDIS . As Halloween approaches , the Master uses the TARDIS to unleash an army of the dead . With Kelly ' s help , the Doctor returns to the TARDIS and draws himself , the Master , Kelly , Jack and the dead into another dimension . He defeats the Master , returns Jack to Earth and leaves with Kelly . Various changes were made by the time of the next draft , on June 27th . The date was shifted to the days leading up to New Year ' s Eve instead of Halloween , and San Francisco was specified as the location . After regenerating , the Doctor sees a vision of his mother . Jack uses the TARDIS key instead of a pair of gloves to enter the time machine . In addition to Jack ' s father , Kelly is also confronted by someone from her past , and an earlier suggestion made by Jacobs that Jack be killed only to be brought back to life via the power of the TARDIS was included . Kelly also reluctantly remained behind at the end of this version . A movie is formed . Through mid - September , Leekley ' s script made the rounds of all the various organisations which had to approve it ( Amblin , BBC Television , BBC Enterprises , the Fox network and Universal ) . Ironically , the death knell was sounded by Segal ' s own boss , Steven Spielberg . Spielberg was concerned that Leekley ' s script veered too closely to his own Indiana Jones franchise , and on 26th September asked Segal to start again with a new writer . This meant that principal photography would be delayed until at least February 1995 . The BBC , particularly BBC1 Controller and longtime Doctor Who supporter Alan Yentob and Tony Greenwood of BBC Enterprises were still enthusiastic about " Doctor Who " Around the start of October , at the instigation of Universal , Segal met with veteran writer / producer Robert deLaurentis . DeLaurentis agreed to put together a new story proposal , using Leekley ' s script as a starting point , but wanted to accentuate its " fun " aspects . On 7 October , DeLaurentis delivered a new draft of the storyline . This time , in the process of meeting Lizzie in World War II London , the Doctor also discovers that his father ( no longer named Ulysses ) was involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler . They travel forward to the United States in 1994 , where the Doctor is reunited with his father . The Master lures the Doctor , his father and Lizzie to Skaro for a final confrontation . There , the Doctor destroys the Master ' s time - travelling warship , though the Master himself escapes with his Daleks . Other minor alterations included Castellan being renamed Casteloan ( though this would subsequently be changed back ) , and giving Lizzie a bulldog companion named Winston , who stays with the Doctor at the story ' s conclusion . At this stage some of the key crew positions started to be filled , most notably British director Geoffrey Sax , whose work included episodes of Bergerac and Lovejoy . Because the movie would be filmed in British Columbia , Canadian regulations meant that most of the rest of the crew would come from the country . This included production designer Richard Hudolin , who major task was a redesign of the TARDIS console room . Segal wanted to invoke the Jules Verne feel of the wooden version of the set used during Season Fourteen , but on a much grander scale . Construction on the TARDIS sets began very early on , during September , before the project had even been officially green - lit . Around the start of October , Fox announced Doctor Who would air in mid - May 1996 . May was one of three key " sweeps " periods for the American networks ( the others falling in November and February ) , when ratings performance determines advertising rates for the next quarter . Consequently , expectations for Doctor Who would be fairly high . The next step was to cast the major roles . Sylvester McCoy had already agreed to appear , fulfilling a promise he had made to himself in 1989 to hand off the role of the Doctor to a successor in proper fashion . Jo Wright , in fact , had wanted Fourth Doctor Tom Baker to appear instead , but Segal was adamant that the telefilm continue from where the original series had left off . Segal also briefly considered the idea of including a role for Sophie Aldred as Ace , the Seventh Doctor ' s final companion . This , however , was quickly vetoed by the BBC . Segal did decide to give the Seventh Doctor a new wardrobe , having long disliked the umbrella and the question - mark pullover which were hallmarks of the original outfit . McCoy , similarly , had detested the pullover . Costume designer Jori Woodman composed a new costume which echoed the earlier version but was much more refined ; to Segal ' s delight , McCoy brought with him the hat he had worn throughout his time in " Doctor Who " . With production just weeks away , Jacobs was working on fashioning his script into a finished form . The BBC was much more receptive to his November draft , but passed it along to an in - house script editor , Craig Dickson , for comment . From this came the decision to eliminate the Millennium Star concept , with the Master ' s focus now simply to take over the Doctor ' s body . Jacobs ' newest draft was ready by 29th December , and this was fundamentally the version which was recorded . Other small changes eventually made included changing Grace ' s surname from Wilson to Holloway ; eliminating the Bill And Ted reference ( which the BBC felt was out - of - date ) by renaming the former Pete ; having the Master break Bruce ' s wife ' s neck instead of shooting her ; and excising a scene where the Master callously kills a hospital patient who resembles the Seventh Doctor . Much of Chang Lee ' s background had also been lost to timing issues by this stage , with all references to Sam and Jimmy Lee being dropped . As 1996 dawned , numerous difficulties still remained to be overcome . Geoffrey Sax had originally been promised a luxurious thirty - day shoot , but Beaton subsequently curtailed this to twenty - five days to save money . Then Segal discovered that the BBC did not actually own the rights to the familiar Doctor Who theme music ; this rested with Warner / Chappel Music , who wanted to charge a hefty fee for its use . Universal balked at this , but finally Segal convinced the BBC to pick up the cost . The new theme arrangement would be composed by John Sponsler and John Debney . Segal had not realised that McGann had recently cut his hair severely for another production until McGann arrived in Vancouver for a photo shoot on 7th January ; this meant that hair stylist Julie McHaffire had to hastily put together a wig . Filming begins . Location filming began on 15 January , and was interlaced with the studio work which started on the 31st . Sites around Vancouver were used , including a disused wing of the BC Children ' s Hospital , the Plaza of Nations and several street exteriors ; no filming was actually carried out in San Francisco ; for establishing shots , stock footage was employed . The studio itself was located in nearby Burnaby . Some difficulty arose when Roberts found the wardrobe created for him by Woodman , which was largely in keeping with the Master ' s outfits from the original series , was too restrictive . He was also uncomfortable with the serpentine contact lenses he was supposed to wear and with the prosthetics which would have depicted his body ' s gradual disintegration over the course of the movie . The result was that the effect of Bruce ' s body wearing out was essentially lost and it was decided to instead dress Roberts in dark sunglasses and a leather jacket for most of the film , unfortunately turning the Master into a silhouette of the Terminator from the two Arnold Schwarzenegger motion pictures . Elements of the Master ' s original costume would still be visible in the Time Lord outfit he wears in the later stages of the movie . Several other issues had to be confronted as the shoot went on . Some problems were found with the script such as the question of how the Master has gotten into the TARDIS when he first encounters Chang Lee , which had to be simply ignored . The final battle between the Doctor and the Master had been only briefly sketched and had to be quickly fleshed out for filming . Sax had hoped to have all the Doctors appear in the Eye of Harmony , but could not get clearance on the images in time . Ultimately , the production went four days over schedule ; even then some sequences were greatly simplified to save time , such as Chang Lee ' s death scene . Filming for Doctor Who was completed on 21 February . Post - production saw trims to the material , such as the loss of the scene where the Master confronts the security guards who are later found " slimed " . The Dalek voices were originally in keeping with the original series , but were changed over concerns they weren ' t audible enough . ( Later , in 2013 , Sax would said that he wished he had employed Nicholas Briggs for the Dalek voices , and that he would consider employing Briggs for future home video releases . ) A new introductory voiceover by Paul McGann was written on 2 April to replace earlier dialogue by the Master ( voiced by Gordon Tipple ) and the Daleks . The BBC expressed concerns the Master ' s snake form was too comical , but little could be done about it at this stage . Segal lent a rough cut of the movie to Los Angeles - based fan Shaun Lyon , organiser of the Gallifrey One conventions and editor of the Outpost Gallifrey website , to get his opinion . It was Lyon who caught several errors in the movie , most notably a reference to the Doctor having twelve lives . This was amended to the correct number , thirteen . Segal also had to deal with various claims for credit from individuals who had worked on earlier stages of the project . Despite the protests of Fox and Universal , Segal won agreement for John and Ros Hubbard to be credited , as they had indeed been the first to bring McGann to his attention . John Leekley ' s case for a producer ' s credit was rejected , however , because virtually nothing remained of his work . Meanwhile , the various cost overruns on recording , casting and even the theme music , all to the tune of roughly US $ 170 , 000 , was creating animosity between the coproduction partners , souring the relationships before the would - be back - door pilot had even aired . After filming , the cast were never called again . Most of the props were put in storage , including the main TARDIS console piece . The console was later saved from destruction by Doctor Who fan Paul J . Salamoff , who reconstructed the column and currently lets fans and ex - actors alike visit it freely . Paul McGann , Daphne Ashbrook and Yee Jee Tso are three people to have been known to visit . Home video and audio releases . Despite the fact that the 1996 tele - film was made for American broadcast , it was until 2011 the only non - missing story which had not received a North America n home video release in any format . Joint BBC / Universal ownership was problematic for North American publication , because the BBC are obliged to use Warner Brothers , and not Universal , for their " Doctor Who " DVD distribution . In August 2010 it was announced by Dan Hall , the commissioning editor of the Classic Doctor Who DVD range , that Universal had agreed on the release of the TV Movie outside the UK ( including North America ) . Release finally occurred on 8th February 2011 . Several of the featurettes on the 2001 UK DVD were produced specifically for US audiences , and provided British home audiences with a look into the way " Doctor Who " was marketed in America . Some snippets of footage from the movie had made their way onto certain US releases . In 1999 the charity spoof " The Curse of Fatal Death " , which reused a short snippet of the TARDIS in flight from the TV movie , was released to UK and US audiences on VHS . In 2003 , a special 40th anniversary music video that included footage from the film was added to a number of classic - series Region 1 DVDs . In July 2009 , the Region 1 DVD release of " Planet of the Dead " included an unedited edition of " Doctor Who Confidential " that includes part of a dialogue scene from the film . " The Next Doctor " , also released to DVD in Region 1 in 2009 , includes a short piece of footage from the film . A special edition DVD release was released 2010 in the UK as part of the " Revisitations " box set , with additional special features . It is this version that was also released to North America / Region 1 in February 2011 . Blu - ray . Released only in the UK 19 September 2016 as a 2 disc set , the first disc included the film itself and the second disc is a special features DVD disc instead of Blu - ray . This version is not re - scanned from the film ' s original negatives , and instead an HD upscaled version of the 480p broadcast copy . The Blu - ray disc also includes the 2013 short " The Night of the Doctor " . DVD releases . 2001 . Released to DVD in the UK as " Doctor Who : The Movie " , this release was the fourth release of 2001 . It was released : Contents : Rear Credits : Notes : 2010 . A 2 disc version was released in October 2010 in the UK and on 8 February 2011 in North America . It includes the following extras : VHS releases . This story was released as " Doctor Who " . It was released : Notes : This story was released in an edited form with the operating scene and gang gun battle trimmed ; the latter was considered to be inappropriate in light of the shootings that had taken place at the primary school in Dunblane , Scotland , earlier that year . Press kit . To promote the film among North American media , Fox issued a small , coil - bound press booklet detailing the film and also explaining a bit of the history of Doctor Who . Technical information . This movie was shot on 35mm film , transferred to 525i60 Digital Betacam and edited . The finished master is 525i60 Digital Betacam . The BBC owns 525i60 upconversion of this on Digital Betacam and on D3 Videotape . Universal Pictures only holds film trims in its archive .