What If? - Alternate Eighth Doctor

1993 was the beginning of the so-called “The Cart-All Reign” which lasted from New Year’s Eve 1993 to New Year’s Day 2000. ‘Change’ was the word on everyone’s tongue as a new showrunner (Andrew Cartmel), a new Doctor (Rik Mayall), and a new budget (as the show became a BBC/20th Century Fox co-production) arrived in full force. The freshly minted Eighth Doctor was simultaneously tailored for UK and US audiences, taking on a slightly ‘Edwardian grunge’ style of a maroon corduroy smoking jacket, flannel shirt, “rock star” t-shirt, and acid-wash jeans that were sometimes tucked into his riding boots, sometimes not. Mayall’s portrayal of the character was an interesting one, blending elements from previous Doctors, while staying unique. Many worried that he would be an “utter buffoon” like many of his characters before, but was instead a well-done balance of comedy and dark, Cartmel-esque drama. Notably, the Doctor would attempt to be ‘hip’ by using the occasional street slang, coming off as what Mayall called an “old man head-shakingly attempting to appeal to his grandchildren”. The sonic screwdriver returned after being absent for nearly 10 years, and a new “blockbuster” console room appeared, which expanded the idea of the TARDIS being a living thing. The Eighth Doctor’s first serial, “The Great War”, where he went toe to toe with Daleks against the backdrop of World War I, aired its first episode on New Year’s Eve 1993. He was joined by the Irish nurse Molly O’Sullivan, who stayed by the Doctor’s side for the entirety of Season 27. In 1994-1995’s Season 28, the Doctor was joined by Roz Forrester and Chris Cwej (who would be revealed to be the series’ first openly LGBT companion in an episode penned by Century Falls’ Russell T Davies), two futuristic law officers. Meanwhile, Fox had moved the show from its once a week Sunday night time slot (airing after America’s Most Wanted) where it received slightly-more-than-moderate viewership to its new FX channel where it aired on Tuesday and Thursday nights, and nearly doubled viewership, despite FX being unavailable in many areas, such as New York. At the same time, Cartmel proposed to BBC and Fox a Doctor Who film, which came to be titled “Doctor Who: The War Across Time” in which the Doctor discovers a plot by the Master (portrayed by “Withnail and I’s” Paul McGann) to ignite a war between the Time Lords and the Daleks by using former companion Ace (Sophie Aldred) to assassinate Time Lord President and also former companion Romana (Lalla Ward pre-regeneration, a Louise Brooks-esque Helena Bonham Carter post-regeneration). It is revealed that in actuality, the Master was a pawn of former president Rassilon (Roger Moore) in attempt to regain the position of president. In a last ditch effort, the war ravaged Doctor uses a modified de-mat gun to erase both Gallifrey and the Dalek homeworld of Skaro from time. The film, released in 1996 after a year-long hiatus of the show, was direct-to-video in America (Virgin Megastores across the country reported all copies sold within 24 hours of its release, eventually gaining a limited theatrical release the following year), a box-office smash in the UK, and critically acclaimed for its science-fiction veiled depictions of political intrigue and the horrifying effects of war on a person. The film also won a 1997 BAFTA. The Eighth Doctor (Now last of the Time Lords, left considerably traumatized after the events of the Time War) returned in late 1997 for one last, full season, traveling with Lucie Miller, a London street youth who unwillingly travels in the TARDIS, but grows to enjoy it, helping the Doctor heal his psychological wounds. The season was notable for its Philip Martin-penned reappearance of the Cybermen (who had been absent since Season 22) in a frightening redesign courtesy of the Jim Henson workshop. The Eighth Doctor’s final serial in November-December 1999 (now on the new BBC America channel instead of FX) lasted a whopping 8 episodes entitled “The Other Side” in which the Doctor’s TARDIS falls out of the time vortex (and is damaged beyond repair in the process), finding himself in an alternate reality very similar to the one seen in Season 7’s Inferno. He faces against The Leader (also Rik Mayall, sporting a sinister goatee), a twisted mirror counterpart of himself, who is the fascist dictator of the Republic of Great Britain. The Doctor combats the leader, aided by heroic counterparts of his worst alien enemies (who were incarcerated and experimented upon by the Leader’s Republican Security Forces) and a partially Cyber-Converted Lucie Miller. The Doctor is captured though, and is interrogated by the Leader, whose electro-shock torture puts the Doctor near death, but he is saved by the Cyber-Lucie, and brings the Doctor to the Leader’s TARDIS, kept in an RSF warehouse. The Doctor, near death, visits all of his incarnation’s companions one last time, before regenerating at the console of the TARDIS. The Eighth Doctor could be considered two different characters, the Doctor pre-Time War, and the Doctor post-Time War, making this depiction a fascinating one at that. He was notable as being the first Doctor to regenerate with no companions there during it, only moments before, possibly symbolizing how much the Doctor became solitary. Mayall enjoyed portraying the character, but humbly left because he felt someone new needed to take over the role, to keep the show fresh. He loved the role so much though, that he continued to portray the role two years later when Big Finish began an audio series that expanded on “pre-2000” Doctors. The new millennium brought a new Doctor, and one that was like no other before them.