For those of you too young or too casual a fan to know, Paul McGann was the Eighth Doctor – but it was an altogether too brief reign.  He starred in the Fox pilot for a potential US-based Doctor Who TV series, way back in 1996.  The film was only so-so, and garnered lousy ratings in the USA (though very strong ones in Britain, where it also aired), which caused Fox to bail on the idea of a series.  But McGann himself was great – he looked the part, and brought a great presence to the role.  It’s been a great regret for many longtime fans like me that we never got to see McGann get a full run as The Doctor – I think he would have been fantastic.

Cut to 17 years later, a mere 10 days before one of the most auspicious days in Doctor Who history – the 50th Anniversary “Day of the Doctor” special that we know will feature at least one prior Doctor, the utterly superb David Tennant, alongside Matt Smith.  There’s also the matter of that strange older man played by John Hurt, whom we met at the close of last season.  Steven Moffat has pulled an utterly brilliant and auspicious rabbit out of his hat, here – he’s given Paul McGann another bite of the apple, and he’s used the gap in the series’ history to fill in the gap in the current storyline.  I can safely say at no time in Doctor Who’s long history has six minutes been better spent.

Watch it and judge for yourself, but I think this was pretty great.  Not only does it admirably set up the next major story, but it gave us an all-too-brief chance to see McGann in a role he was meant to play.  If anything, he looks even more suited to the part now – youthful, but with a bit more of the lived-in look a man in his position should have.  It’s still agonizing, knowing how great he could have been if he’d been given the chance (and that’s no knock on Peter Capaldi, who I’m thrilled to see get the part) but this was a hell of a lot better than nothing – and an amazing coup by Grand Moff.