Jodie Whittaker’s Final Doctor Who Episode Subtly Poked Fun At Paul McGann’s Movie
Paul McGann’s movie was very different from other entries into the Doctor Who franchise, and Jodie Whittaker’s final episode acknowledges the fact.
Jodie Whittaker’s farewell to Doctor Who allowed the Eighth Doctor’s most notable appearance in franchise canon to be gently made fun of, and it happened with Paul McGann present. In her finale episode, Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor came face-to-face with an impressive number of former actors to play the Doctor, and an exchange between two of them was a coy nod to McGann’s Doctor Who movie.
Of all the actors to play the Doctor, Paul McGann ranks somewhere near the bottom of the rankings when it comes to his time spent on screen. However, he was still the latest in a long line of actors to redefine the Doctor. Although he has barely featured within the franchise’s flagship property, McGann’s Eighth Doctor has been used quite liberally in Doctor Who novels, comics, and even audio adventures. However, most fans will know him from his 1996 TV movie.
Doctor Who’s “The Power Of The Doctor” Poked Fun At The 1990s Movie
The Seventh Doctor makes a sly criticism of the Eighth in Whittaker’s final episode
However, Seven’s reply could be in reference to more than Eight’s refusal to don the appropriate attire. McGann’s Doctor up until that point had differed greatly from the other iterations of the Time Lord. For instance, McGann is still the only Doctor to appear in a movie. In addition, he was the first Doctor to have a romantic encounter with his companion, and the only Doctor to be “half-human.” As such, the Eighth Doctor was indeed “Different” in various ways from his previous regenerations.
Despite McGann’s storied history with Doctor Who , “The Power of the Doctor” marked his first appearance in the main show outside the use of archived footage.