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Out Now: The Black Archive #25 – Doctor Who: The TV Movie

Obverse Books’ Black Archive range reaches an important serial – the sole full TV outing for Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor!
This incarnation of the Time Lord debuted in the 1996 TV Movie, an 85-minute (ish) film written by Matthew Jacobs – who has contributed to The Black Archive #25! Not only has author, Paul Driscoll interviewed Jacobs, but the scriptwriter has also penned the foreword.
Here’s the synopsis:

“I can’t make your dream come true forever, but I can make it come true today.”

In 1996 the Doctor Who TV Movie gave new hope to a generation of fans, but it quickly proved a false dawn. While the production’s successes and failures have been exhaustively documented, the script, with its unique perspective on the Doctor’s Britishness, has been given lesser attention.

With the help of a viewer survey completed by over 1500 fans and interviews with screenwriter Matthew Jacobs, this special twenty-fifth Black Archive fills that gap.

Paul Driscoll is a frequent contributor to the acclaimed You and Who series, and the author of The Black Archive #9: The God Complex.

In our review of The Black Archive #9: The God Complex, we said:

“The book has incredible ambition, but Driscoll treads the line nicely between focusing enough on The God Complex and talking about its wider relevance to Doctor Who. And while one or two points might be a little laboured, I have no doubt that some readers will feel enlightened by the ones I wasn’t particularly taken with.

“It’s also an engrossing tome, and ultimately rewarding. This is another great instalment in The Black Archive, and actively encourage Obverse Books to give more time to the Eleventh Doctor era.”

The Black Archive #25: The TV Movie is out now from Obverse Books, as a paperback or eBook.

Philip Bates

Editor and co-founder of the Doctor Who Companion. When he’s not watching television, reading books ‘n’ Marvel comics, listening to The Killers, and obsessing over script ideas, Philip Bates pretends to be a freelance writer. He enjoys collecting everything. Writer of The Black Archive: The Pandorica Opens/ The Big Bang, The Silver Archive: The Stone Tape, and 100 Objects of Doctor Who.

Out Now: The Black Archive #25 – Doctor Who: The TV Movie

by Philip Bates time to read: 1 min
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