I have various theories as to why the TV Movie of 1996 received much criticism from the hard core fan boys, but before I start it is worth bearing in mind that the BBC base their DVD releases on market research on which stories are most likely to sell the most copies (given the amount of time the and effort the excellent Restoration Team put into them). Well, which story do they choose for their 6th release... the TV Movie!

There is a lot to recommend it..

1) Paul McGann as the Doctor. He gives the best potrayal of the Doctor since Tom Baker, and he does the near impossible task of making his mark on the character in a regeneration story. I loved the humour between him and Daphne Ashbrook

2) The TARDIS interior - is magnificent and really gives the impression of 'larger on inside than outside' rather than the floodlight pokey studio of earlier days. I thought the Gothic styling was spot on as was the low level lighting. I also like the clever way in which advanced technology was presented using (seemingly old earth) technology. For all those McCoy fans, he stated that it's just how they [the Beeb] would have liked to have done the TARDIS interior had they had the money

3) Production back to the days of Hinchliffe. Loved the low level lighting, orchestral soundtrack, and the Doctor's sombre Edwardian costume (the Doctor's dignity was restored at last) and a much welcome departure from the ???? of the 80's.

Criticisms:

1) It is much like 80's Who. I diagree with this complaint: Apart from the references to the show's past for it's own sake (7th Doctor eating from a mound of jelly babies *was* plain silly; the 8th Doctor could have 'rediscovered ' Jelly Babies in the same way 5th Doctor rediscovered the 2nd's recorder after regeneration. Then the 8th Doctor's use of Jelly Babies as a plot device to outwit the traffic cop was justified), the show has much more in common with 70's Who:

Logo - from Pertwee era
Car chase - again from Pertwee era (for those fans who keep complaining that a car chase is un-Who, watch Pertwee's stories with a car chase nearly every other week!!)
TARDIS set - remininescent of Hinchcliffe era
Lighting levels - Hinchcliffe era
Orchestral score - mid-late '70s

2) The ending. I agree with this criticism. The ending was very muddled and un-Who. Doctor Who 'resurrecting' his companions... hmmm.

3) Americanisation of the show. I personally did not like the gun fight, which was obviously there for the benefit of the American audience (sorry to generalise, but how many American Action movies, no matter how far in the futrure they are supposed to be set do not feature guns these days? The Matrix is a good example). That said, I think there was a lot of over reaction to the Americanisation aspect. I mean, a show set in an American city would look odd if it didn't feel American.I wonder if there would have been the outcry if the show had been set in Sydney, Australia or Naples, Italy. Probably not. In which case some of the fans are guilty of xenophobia, of which the Doctor would not have approved!!

4) The script. Well, I don't think the dialoge is bad.. there are some really funny exchanges between the 8th Doctor and Grace! Also the TVM is considerably better than most other regeneration stories in this aspect.. Robot .. truely awful. Castravalva.. Peter Davison in a coffin for nearly 2 episodes... The Twin Dilema .. Ahem!! Time & The Rani.. Doctor falls over to regenerate.

5) 7th Doctor killed because he is too careless to check the scanner.. valid criticism this one! But then again.. we did get to get rid of McCoy (another benefit of the TVM!!)

6) The kiss. Don't know what all the fuss is about here. I mean, the Doctor had a granddaugter, for f**k's sake (if you pardon the pun). How did he have a granddaugter without a snog or two and more along the way??

7) The half-human revelation... Again.. don't know what all the fuss was about. There's much to suggest it throughout the show's history (discussed in great length in another thread)

All in all this was a fantastic addtion to Who and every time I see the TVM I can't help thinking what a great pity it didn't spawn a series with these levels of production values and attention to detail