Doctor Who: The Movie (1996) - 7 questions

Question: Do doctors usually play music when performing important surgery?

Answer: I've watched a surgeon perform open-heart surgery, and the radio was on the whole time. Whether music plays is probably up to the head surgeon for the particular operation, but it is certainly allowed.

Question: What exactly is that 'goo' The Master secretes? How is he able to generate it?

Answer: There is nothing in the story to suggest what the "goo" is so we can only summarize that this is simply the remains of the master after his execution. Why he would become "slime" is debatable but as the air of Skaro created the Dalek Race, it is fair to assume that a prolonged exposure also mutated the Master's body in some way.

Question: How was The Master able to survive his extermination?

Answer: A very good question - It is suggested by Paul McGann during the introduction that "rules mean nothing" to the Master. Assuming this to be the case, that would suggest that outside of Galifrey where a Time Lord's life is absolute, The Master would be able to "alter and cheat" time.

Question: Why DOES The Doctor give advice and information to people? surely, being a Time Lord he knows the risks of changing the future?

Answer: A good question, and one that is posed by the characters themselves several times. It is feasible that the doctor having already been to that time already is aware of what may happen to them, and as he is at this point also able to travel to parallel points in time, may have also seen what may happen if they change events - which is presumably for the better.

Question: The Tardis brings back Grace and Chang, so does that make them immortal, fixed points in time like Captain Jack Harkness?

Answer: Whereas Grace and Chang are both human, Captain Jack Harkness is alien - So the effect the TARDIS has is very different. In addition, as is revealed in the series as well, The TARDIS is more than a machine, it is alive... It also has knowledge even the Time Lords do not have - By making Jack Harkness immortal, it is also fulfilling his destiny.

Question: How could The Masters' trial and execution take place on Skaro when it was destroyed in "Remembrance of the Daleks"?

Answer: They don't specify at what point in Skaro's history it took place. Only the passage of time on Gallifrey is absolute.

Question: Near the end, when the Doctor shows Grace and Chang an image of Gallifrey, what's the glowing white underneath the planet?

Answer: Likely The Eye of Harmony, the black hole captured and contained by Rassilon that powers all TARDISes.