In his original conception of the show's anniversary special, Moffat had written the Ninth Doctor as having ended the Time War. However, he was "pretty certain" that Christopher Eccleston would decline to return to the role, which he did. As he also had reservations about making Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor the incarnation who had ended the war, he created a never-before-seen past incarnation of the Doctor, which allowed him "a freer hand" in writing the story, acknowledging that the success of doing this would be predicated on being able to cast an actor with a significant enough profile.

In "The Name of the Doctor", Hurt wore a burgundy and ivory herringbone scarf and a bone white pinstripe shirt. He also wore a double-breasted trenchcoat of chocolate brown leather with peaked lapels, similar to the Ninth Doctor's black leather peacoat as well as a double-breasted waistcoat of maroon moleskin with a bronze fob watch, dark tan trousers, army green leather gaiters, and ebony black combat boots similar to ones worn by the Eighth Doctor. Costume designer Howard Burden said that Hurt's character was a "dark Doctor" existing between the Doctor's eighth and ninth incarnations.

He was also seen to use a new sonic screwdriver with a scarlet light, closely matching the prop used by the Third and Fourth Doctors.[2] He kept it in a bandolier originally worn by Cass, played by Emma Campbell-Jones, a young pilot and engineer who dies after refusing the Doctor's help due to him being a Time Lord.

Appearances

The War Doctor first appears at the conclusion of the series seven finale "The Name of the Doctor" when the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) and companion Clara Oswald (Jenna-Louise Coleman) are trapped in the Doctor's timeline. Clara believes she has seen all the Doctor's faces, but does not recognise one figure. The Doctor (Smith) tells her that he is yet another version of himself, albeit one who has lost the right to the name of the Doctor; when the figure declares that he did what he did "without choice [...] in the name of peace and sanity", the Doctor, before he and Clara return to the universe, states that the figure did not make his choice in the name of the Doctor.

The War Doctor's origins are given in the mini-episode "The Night of the Doctor", set during the Time War referred to in the series. After the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) is killed in a spaceship crash while trying to save an innocent woman, who rejected his efforts because she regards the Time Lords and the Daleks as equally monstrous for the collateral damage inflicted in the war, he is temporarily resurrected by the Sisterhood of Karn (last seen in The Brain of Morbius) and urged to take a stand and join the war. He is offered an elixir designed to trigger a life-saving regeneration into a form of his choice. Feeling the universe has no more need for a doctor, he requests to become a warrior. After regenerating into the War Doctor, he disowns the name of the Doctor, with his new incarnation's first words being "Doctor no more".

In the 50th anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor", having fought in the Time War for many years, the greatly aged War Doctor steals the superweapon known as "the Moment" with the intent of wiping out all combatants in the war along with his home world of Gallifrey. However, the Moment is sentient, possessing a conscience that requires the user to morally justify his use of it, and interacts with him in the shape of his future companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper). Although acknowledging that she can do what the Doctor asks of her, she then sends the War Doctor into his future to meet the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors (David Tennant and Matt Smith respectively) to understand the sadness and regret they endured while continuing the good he failed to accomplish. Having witnessed his future selves prevent a Zygon conquest of Earth and the destruction of London, the War Doctor concludes that he must destroy Gallifrey, reflecting that he is lighting the fire so that better Doctors can be forged, only for the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors to travel back to activate the Moment with him, the later Doctors declaring that they now recognise the War Doctor as having been "the Doctor on the day it wasn't possible to get it right". However, aided by the Moment's interface which shows them a vision of the horror and destruction wrought in the Fall of Arcadia, the last battle in which the War Doctor fought, and Clara's plea to remember the vow they made in taking their name, the Doctors ultimately conclude that the loss of life that would be caused by using the Moment is something they cannot accept. They instead pool their resources, and with the help of the Doctor's various incarnations, attempt to save Gallifrey by freezing it in a moment in time, creating the illusion of the planet's own destruction. The Daleks are effectively tricked into firing on each other, annihilating themselves. The War Doctor accepts that upon returning to his own timeframe, he will forget his own heroic actions and must live with the false belief that he killed his own people. Before leaving, he takes a moment to thank his future selves for helping him "become the Doctor" again. Once inside his TARDIS, he begins to regenerate into the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston), realising that his body is "wearing a bit thin", echoing the First Doctor's utterances in The Tenth Planet.

The War Doctor appears in archive footage in the 2014 episode "Listen". The episode reveals that the barn to which the War Doctor travelled, in order to activate the Moment, was part of the Doctor's childhood home. Through similar footage he also appeared in "The Zygon Invasion", during which it is learned that the peace talks orchestrated by himself and his future incarnations resulted in 20 million Zygons taking up residence on Earth disguised as humans as part of an uneasy truce.

The War Doctor is not seen but is mentioned during "Hell Bent", upon the Twelfth Doctor's return to Gallifrey. A Time Lord soldier recalls that he served with the War Doctor during the battle of Skull Moon. He observes "the first thing you notice about the Doctor of War is that he's unarmed, for many it's also the last."

His likeness is seen in "Twice Upon a Time" when Testimony show the First Doctor the man he will become. Testimony uses the titles "Doctor of War" and "Butcher of Skull Moon" as some of the names he will be known by, both previously used to refer to the War Doctor during "Hell Bent". Later, after the Twelfth Doctor saves two soldiers on the battlefield, the First Doctor remarks "that's what it means to be a Doctor of War."

In "The Husbands of River Song", it is shown that River Song (Alex Kingston) has photos of all the Doctor's faces including the War Doctor.

The War Doctor appeared in a sequence along with all the other incarnations of the Doctor, when the Thirteenth Doctor broke out of the Matrix in "The Timeless Children".

The Eighth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Paul McGann.

The character was introduced in the 1996 TV film Doctor Who, a back-door pilot produced in an unsuccessful attempt to relaunch the series following its 1989 cancellation. While the Eighth Doctor initially had only one on-screen appearance, his adventures were portrayed extensively in subsequent spin-off media, including more than 70 audio dramas starring McGann. In 2013, the actor reprised the role in the mini-episode "The Night of the Doctor", which depicts the Eighth Doctor's final adventure and his regeneration into the War Doctor (played by John Hurt). In 2022, he appeared alongside other past incarnations in "The Power of the Doctor", the final adventure of the Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker), marking the Eighth Doctor's first-ever appearance in a regular episode of Doctor Who 26 years after McGann first played the role.

Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey who travels in time and space in the TARDIS, frequently with companions. At the end of life, the Doctor regenerates; as a result, the physical appearance and personality of the Doctor changes.

McGann portrays the eighth such incarnation, a passionate, enthusiastic, and eccentric character. His only companion in the television film is Grace Holloway (Daphne Ashbrook), a medical doctor whose surgery is partly responsible for triggering his regeneration. In the continued adventures of the character depicted in audio dramas, novels and comic books he travels alongside numerous other companions, including self-styled "Edwardian Adventuress" Charley, the alien Destrii and present-day humans Lucie and Sam.

The Eighth Doctor made his first television appearance in the 1996 Doctor Who television film, the first time the Doctor had returned to television screens since the end of the original series in 1989. Intended as a backdoor pilot for a new television series on the Fox Network, the film drew 5.5% of the US audience, according to Nielsen Ratings.[1] In the United Kingdom, it was received well, attracting over 9 million viewers and generally positive reviews. It was also generally well received in Australia.[2]

Although the film failed to spark a new television series, the Eighth Doctor's adventures continued in various licensed spin-off media, notably BBC Books' Eighth Doctor Adventures novels, audio plays from Big Finish Productions, and the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip. These stories spanned the nine years between 1996 and the debut of the new television series in 2005. He is the longest-serving Doctor in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip. In the wake of the positive reaction to the revived television series in 2005, several of the Eighth Doctor's Big Finish audio dramas were also broadcast on BBC7 radio in an edited form. The trailers for these broadcasts explained that these adventures took place before the destruction of Gallifrey, the Doctor's homeworld, as described in the revived TV series. In 2007, BBC7 aired a new series of Eighth Doctor audio adventures, created specifically for radio broadcast. Paul McGann has continued to portray the Eighth Doctor in the various audio spinoffs.

The continuity of the spin-off media with respect to the television series and to each other is open to interpretation. (The "Beginner's Guide to Doctor Who" on the BBC's classic Doctor Who website suggests this may be due to the Time War.)[3] It has been suggested that the Eighth Doctor's adventures in three different forms (novels, audio, and comics) take place in three separate continuities. The discontinuities were made explicit in the audio drama Zagreus.[4] In response, it has become increasingly common to consider the three ranges separately. The final Eighth Doctor Adventures novel, The Gallifrey Chronicles, obliquely references this split in timelines, even suggesting that the split results in the three alternative forms of the Ninth Doctor (a reference to the fact three different versions of the incarnation have appeared in various media). Mary's Story, a 2009 audio story by Big Finish, contradicted these suggestions, as there the Doctor mentions his companions in order, with book companions before audio companions. In "The Night of the Doctor", the Doctor "salutes" five of his companions by name, all from the Big Finish audio productions.

Despite the fact the Eighth Doctor appeared on television only three times, he is the most prolific of all the Doctors (to date) in terms of number of individual stories published in novel, novella, short story and audio form.[5] In 2007, the Eighth Doctor finally made a second appearance (of sorts) within the television series' continuity. In the episode "Human Nature" he appears on-screen as a sketch (alongside other incarnations) in the book A Journal of Impossible Things by John Smith. In 2008 and 2010 he appeared again as a brief image in "The Next Doctor" and "The Eleventh Hour" along with every other incarnation up to that time. In 2010's "The Lodger", he is shown in a flashback with his first, second, third, fourth, ninth and tenth incarnations. In 2013's "Nightmare in Silver", he is shown in a flashback along with the Doctor's other incarnations; he is also fleetingly seen running past companion Clara Oswald in the following episode, "The Name of the Doctor", though his face is not shown. His likeness is shown in "The Timeless Children" (2020) when the Thirteenth Doctor breaks out of Gallifrey's matrix.

In 2013, McGann reprised the role for the mini-episode "The Night of the Doctor", a prelude to the show's 50th anniversary special. This appearance marked the Eighth Doctor's final adventure and his regeneration.[6] "The Night of the Doctor" proved popular with fans of the series, some of whom petitioned the BBC to make a spin-off series starring the Eighth Doctor.[7][8][9]

PersonalityThe BBC's official website calls the Eighth Doctor an "effortlessly charming, romantic figure". The site states that he is both unguarded about his own background and candid about the future of those he meets, noting the irony in an "open Doctor" remaining such a closed book.[10]

The Big Finish Productions website describes the Eighth Doctor as "an enthusiastic figure who explores the universe for the sheer love of it", always surviving on the strength of his excellent improvisational skills rather than preparing elaborate plans. The site states that he is "passionate, direct, sympathetic and emotionally accessible", but notes that these traits are "balanced by occasional feelings of self-doubt and weariness of his endless battles against evil."[11]

Discussing "The Night of the Doctor", McGann said, "[Moffat's] instinctive take on the Eighth Doctor was exactly how I'd imagined this character to be, even way back, back in the 90s. You know, this... like a bruised nobility. I know it sounds wanky now, but... he's decent, but he's compromised. He's not a warrior, really, at all. There's a pacifist side to him, but he's a realist as well."[12]

Television appearancesTV movie (1996)The Eighth Doctor debuts in the TV film Doctor Who. While transporting the remains of his longtime nemesis the Master to Gallifrey, the Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) is caught in the crossfire of a gang shoot-out in 1999 San Francisco's Chinatown, USA. He is taken to a hospital where surgeons, confused by his double heartbeat, attempt to correct a non-existent fibrillation. These efforts instead "kill" the Doctor, and he is taken to a morgue where after several hours—due to the effect of anaesthetic on his alien biology—he finally regenerates into his eighth incarnation (McGann). The Master manages to cheat death, and while the Doctor is on Earth his spirit takes over the body of a paramedic named Bruce (Eric Roberts). The Master (Roberts) then attempts to steal the Doctor's remaining lives by opening the Eye of Harmony inside the Doctor's time machine, the TARDIS, nearly destroying the Earth in the process. However, the Doctor and his companion Dr Grace Holloway (Daphne Ashbrook) are able to prevent the Earth's destruction, and the Master is sucked into the Eye.

The TV film did not lead to the commissioning of a revived television series, and while Eighth Doctor stories continued in other media, Doctor Who did not air again on television until 2005. After this, footage and stills from the TV film would be used in later episodes "The Next Doctor" (2008), "The Eleventh Hour", "The Lodger" (both 2010), "Nightmare in Silver" (2013) and "The Timeless Children" (2020). Edited archive footage in "The Name of the Doctor" very briefly shows the Eighth Doctor sharing an adventure with the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton).[13]

The Night of the Doctor (2013)McGann reprised the role for a webcast mini-episode, "The Night of the Doctor", in 2013, which precedes the 50th anniversary special, "The Day of the Doctor". The episode begins during the raging Time War between Daleks and Time Lords when he is killed when attempting to save a young woman who rejects salvation at the hands of a Time Lord causing them both to die in a spaceship crash. He awakens in the company of the Sisterhood of Karn, who explain that he has died and been temporarily resurrected. They urge him to bring the war to an end, and give him a choice of elixirs to trigger his regeneration. Saluting his various companions from the Big Finish audio range, he drinks an elixir designed to produce a warrior, regenerating into the War Doctor (John Hurt) who declares himself to be the Doctor "no more." In "The Day of the Doctor," the Eighth Doctor joins all of the other incarnations of the Doctor in saving Gallifrey at the end of the Time War. He can briefly be seen on a screen in the War Room, though like the other past incarnations of the Doctor, this is achieved through archive footage.

The Power of the Doctor (2022)McGann reprised his role as the Eighth Doctor in the final Thirteenth Doctor special "The Power of the Doctor", as one of the “Guardians of the Edge” in an afterlife, inside the Doctor’s mind. He, along with the First, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Doctors, help the Thirteenth undo her forced regeneration by the Master.

"The Day of the Doctor" is a special episode of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, marking its 50th anniversary.[2][3][4] It was written by Steven Moffat,[5] who served as an executive producer alongside Faith Penhale.[6] It was shown on BBC One on 23 November 2013, in both 2D and 3D.[7][8] The special was broadcast simultaneously in 94 countries,[8][9] and was shown concurrently in 3D in some cinemas.[10] It achieved the Guinness World Record for the largest ever simulcast of a TV drama[9] and won the Radio Times Audience Award at the 2014 British Academy Television Awards.[11]

The 77-minute episode depicts the last day of the Time War, in which the War Doctor prepares to kill both Daleks and his own people, the Time Lords to end the destructive conflict, paralleling this with a present-day choice by paramilitary organisation UNIT to destroy London rather than allow an alien invasion. Revising the backstory, the Doctor succumbs to Clara Oswald's plea to change his mind; and instead he freezes his war-torn home planet in a single moment in time and hides it in a pocket universe, rather than destroy it; the time distortions incurred causes all but his latest incarnation to have no memory of the changed decision.

The episode starred Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor and Jenna Coleman as his companion, Clara Oswald. Previous lead actors David Tennant and Billie Piper returned for the episode; Tennant reprised his role as the Tenth Doctor, while Piper portrayed a sentient doomsday weapon called the Moment, projected as an image based on her character Rose Tyler.[12] She is invisible and inaudible to everyone but the War Doctor (John Hurt). Other appearances included a brief glimpse of the then-upcoming Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi), and a guest appearance by Fourth Doctor actor Tom Baker, as a mysterious curator. Rounding out the guest cast are Joanna Page as Queen Elizabeth I and Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart, the daughter of central figure Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.[13] The special also featured the appearance of the Daleks[14] and the return of the Zygons, shape-shifting aliens who had previously appeared only in Terror of the Zygons (1975).[15]

As the episode celebrates 50 years of the programme, it references and alludes to various concepts featured throughout the show's run. It received critical acclaim and has been described by producer Marcus Wilson as a "love letter to the fans" and then-BBC One controller Danny Cohen as an "event drama"

Two mini-episodes written by Steven Moffat, "The Night of the Doctor" (14 November 2013) and "The Last Day" (21 November 2013), were released shortly prior to "The Day of the Doctor", depicting in-series events occurring during the Time War between the Doctor's own race of Time Lords and his nemesis, the Daleks.

"The Night of the Doctor" depicts the Eighth Doctor's regeneration into the War Doctor. After being resurrected temporarily by the Sisterhood of Karn in the aftermath of a spaceship crash, the Doctor is persuaded by the sisters to take action to end the Time War, offering him a selection of potions to control his regeneration.

"The Last Day" is filmed from the first-person perspective of a soldier who has had a camera implanted in his head when the Gallifrey city of Arcadia falls to the Daleks. The "Fall of Arcadia" becomes the central battle of the Time War around which "The Day of the Doctor" is centered.