Page "Paul McGann" Paragraph 10

The Doctor Who television movie was a joint venture between the BBC, Universal Studios and the Fox Broadcasting Network.

McGann had signed a contract to appear as the Eighth Doctor in a new Doctor Who series, if Fox or Universal exercised their option.

Thus, the television movie was supposed to be a " back door pilot " in that, if it obtained respectable ratings, the new series would continue to be produced.

The film was shown on 14 May 1996 in the US and on 27 May 1996 in the UK.

Although it earned 9. 08 million viewers and was very successful in the UK, ratings were very low in the United States.

As a consequence, Fox did not exercise its option to pick up the series and Universal could not find another network interested in airing a new Doctor Who series.

Thus no new series was produced until 2005, after all the contractual rights had returned to the BBC, and the movie became McGann's only televised appearance as the Eighth Doctor.