Review: A Legend Reborn

Ever wondered how Doctor Who came back?

As part of the Doctor Who ... at the BBC collection, Elisabeth Sladen presents this delightful reflection at the show's success and popularity, complete with a vibrant back-catalogue of radio interviews with actors past and present.

Beginning with a particularly random extract from Barney Harwood's BBC Radio 7's show (which may also be interpreted as something else...) it then jumps straight into 2005, where we see a particularly norven Chris Eccleston chatting to Jo 'Man Voice' Whiley and playing a 'Which Alien Said This?' game, which he fails quite miserably at... no Chris, not having met the Cybermen is no excuse not to know what they sound like! (Even Jo Whiley knows more than him! No that's not funny, it's actually terrifying...) Chris also nearly spoils the Series 1 finale... whoops!

Never fear, we return to the "ever enthusiastic" Jo Whiley and her quizzes, and we see what a fan David Tennant really is - an even bigger one than Jo Whiley! Cannae believe it! We also learn that David Tennant had an "action man sized" "Faith Brown" lookalike of a Tom Baker doll! Oh dear. (Jo Whiley also spoils Rose's departure, leaving David to cleverly shush it up. Nice job.)
We go to the ever lovely and humble Freema Agyeman and the promotion for Series 3, which also sees the possible "dire consequences" of the Manchester United match overrunning and cancelling the airing of Gridlock. Beware of Mitch Benn's painful singing...

"I don't remember anyone being a Doctor Who fan!" confesses Catherine Tate, when interviewing David Tennant on the Radio 4 show Chain Reaction in 2008. Of course, this leads to her return as the fiesty Donna Noble, which then brings us to... the departure of Russell T Davies! The presenter seemingly interviews some random Doctor Who fan as if he is interviewing Russell himself (a bit weird) but there ya go. (Beware of the most stupidest questions ever - "What did Russell T Davies bring to the new Doctor Who?" Um, he brought it back.)

Overall, this volume is GREAT. The only downside is that you might end up become deaf from the continuous replaying of the Doctor Who theme tune... but that's expected right? It is a shame that the end of David Tennant's era is not looked upon too much, but then again, its focus on the early days of the revival is well done and probably the main aim of the product.

PLANET GALLIFREY rates

DOCTOR WHO AT THE BBC: A LEGEND REBORN

9/10