Eighth Doctor

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Grumpy but kind hearted much like his original incarnation, **the Eighth Doctor** began life as a grumpy and snappish man, but he eventually mellowed out and showed his kinder and softer nature, even taking a little girl in as a companion.

While the Doctor was no longer a manipulator, he did occasionally slip back into the role in order to stop the Hoothi from taking over Heaven, and when he tricked the Friars Of Pangloss into separating their minds from their bodies.

## Histor

The Doctor initially travelled with his predecessor's final traveling companion, Raine Cunningham and Henrick. However Raine was soon killed in the Sol Transit System. The Doctor and Henrick were re-joined in their travels by Professor Bernice Summerfield, an archaeologist from the 26th Century. The trio had many adventures, during which they witnessed the end of the Dalek Civil war. The Doctor was reunited with his granddaughter Susan on 22nd Century Earth where he met his Great-grandson Alex Campbell. However, during an adventure on Gallifrey, Henrick was killed, leaving The Doctor with just Bernice Summerfield, who would eventually leave him to join U.N.I.T..

### Season 31

Sometime later, he visited the town of Northwood Springs, Wisconsin in 1994 after a TARDIS malfunction. The TARDIS landed in front of a school. The school blew up after a bomb strike, and the Doctor ran inside to help. There were several students, but only a few were named: Isaac, Billy, Molly, Esther, Millie Malencia, Gabe, and Kiki. When the kids had reached the shelter of the TARDIS, Gabe noticed his sister Kiki had become trapped under a collapsed beam back inside. Gabe rushed to help, but the two burned alive in the fire. The Doctor tried to save them and 18 others (including the teachers trapped in the break room) but those died. Of the 67 in the building, 20 had died, with 45 survivors. After returning the panicked and injured students to their homes, Millie, an 8 year old brunette, wanted to stay with the Doctor, who reminded her of her grandfather Andrew, whom she adored. The Doctor and Millie went on many adventures. (TV: The Girl Who Lived).

Later, the now nine year old Millie and the Doctor arrived in Haddonfield, Illinois on October 31st, 1978. The TARDIS arrived in front of a hospital, the Haddonfield Hospital. Inside, they found a serial killer chasing Laurie Strode and Samuel Loomis. They kept following. The Doctor told Millie to stay behind. She ran out , screaming that there were murders, and the Doctor kept following the serial killer, Michael Myers. Unfortunately for the Doctor, Samuel Loomis blew up the hospital to try and kill Michael Myers in a suicide mission. The Doctor was wounded but later taken to another hospital and survived. He also went back in time and took Loomis out of the hospital just before the explosion, saving his life. (TV: Halloween/Movie: Halloween II (1981)).

For a few month, he and Samuel Loomis were trying to find Millie in Haddonfield, and even through various time periods all the while Loomis was dealing with the guilt of his dead wife and children and growing heart disease. Unfortunately, Michael Myers had survived the explosion and had already murdered her (TV: Best in Pieces).

This deeply saddened The Doctor, who travelled in the TARDIS with Samuel Loomis for five more months until The Doctor was going on a trip to San Francisco, and Samuel Loomis particularly didn't want to go, because in the year 1988, Michael Myers was trying to kill his niece Jamie Lloyd, so Loomis left thhe Doctor to stop him from this. He succeeded by throwing Michael into a mineshaft and then tossing dynamite with him. However, Michael escaped with minor leg burns by floating down a river. (TV: Goodbye to a World/Movie: Halloween IV: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)).

The Eighth Doctor would end his days when he accidentally walked into the middle of a gang war in San Francisco, getting gunned down by one of the two gangs, and regenerating into a new form in hospital under the care of Doctor Grace Holloway. (Movie: Doctor Who?)

## Personality

### Habits and Quirks

The Doctor usually opened the doors of the TARDIS in a grandiose fashion when arriving on an alien planet, which Bernice described to Norman as being his way of "asking for approval". However, in occasions where he wanted to simply do something nice for his companions, or when he did not want to make such a grandiose entrance (TV: The Girl Who Lived, etc), he opened the TARDIS doors in a more regular manner.

Often times with Dr. Loomis, the Eighth Doctor would offer him a new book (TV: Murdered Gods, TV: Best in Pieces, TV: The Absent Author, TV: Goodbye to A World), or, alternatively, a new engraved gallifreyan hankerchief. (TV: Halloween, TV: Murdered Gods, TV: Best in Pieces, TV: The Absent Author, TV:What Happened on April 15th, 1912?, TV: Goodbye to A World)

When talking, the Doctor often adopted an estuary English accent. He could, when necessary, adopt other accents, though, such as a Scottish one and a "fat American guy watching TV in his basement eating a hamburger".

The Doctor would routinely answer any query as to his health with a biffed back claim to be "fine", and often told others that "monsters" feared him in their "nightmares".

Like with his predecessor, he showed affection by pressing his forehead against his companions, or, unlike his predecessor, by violently shaking their hand, although this was less common. He rarely smiled, and often stopped speaking to contemplate things, which happened alot of the time. However, he did smile sometimes, usually to reassure people.

## Behind the Scenes

### Casting

Richard Griffiths had been heavily considered, and was the first choice of the production team. Had he not agreed to play the role, other actors, such as Peter Cook, Ian Richardson and David McCallum were all considered. Marc Platt put forwards Colin Jeavons as a suggestion, whilst outgoing producer John Nathan-Turner suggested Derek Fowlds and Billy Connolly as contingency plans.

### Sign Language?

Griffiths asked whether amendments could be made to the scripts of certain stories in order to include the Doctor using sign language. Whilst not a staple feature of many of Griffiths' prior performances, he asked for it to be added to his incarnation of the Doctor as he believed it would add a new layer of "craftiness" to the character, whilst also raising awareness about sign language, as he believed that if the Doctor was a beloved children's character, he could act as an incentive to learn it.

## Appearances

### Season 28

* War of Hate
* Night Thoughts
* Blood and Iron
* The Red Day
* Trap for the TARDIS

### Season 29

* Voyage of the Mayflower
* Transit
* Time Breaker
* The World before Time
* Hatred of the Daleks
* The Fortress of Rubble
* Return To Timelash
* Slish Slash
* The Beginning of Doomsday
* Army of Tyrants

### Season 30

* Tide of Blood
* War for Earth
* Never Eat Your Pet Turtle
* Lesrenadi
* Ultimatum of the Bannermen
* Doctor What, Exactly
* Dimensions in Time

### Season 31

* The Silver Turk
* Ember of Hope
* Destruction of the Daleks
* The Ankhari
* The Girl Who Lived
* Five Times
* The Yellow Yacht Mystery
* Halloween
* Murdered Gods
* Best in Pieces
* The Absent Author
* What Happened on April 15th, 1912?
* Goodbye to A World
* Doctor Who? (First 10 minutes)