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2005 Doctor Who Night Format Reviewed: TV Review Doctor Who night in 2005 was screened to mark the return of the show to our televisions. What is included here is a documentary recorded two years previous, a show to bring that up to date in a light hearted manner and a special edition of the quiz show Mastermind with all contestants having Doctor Who as their specialist subject. The introduction is performed by impressionist John Culshaw, whose work on the show Dead Ringers has done much to enthuse the fan community with his impressions of Tom Baker. Here he is at his best, and gives a well thought out introduction to the evening. The documentary filmed in 2003 about Doctor Who is a decent hour of television for any fan. It features interviews with cast and crew from the original series, and recounts many tales in an interesting way. The next section, Everything You Need to Know About Doctor Who is there really to bring the content of the previous documentary up to date. It adds in several other elements though and is a pleasant watch. It is performed by Culshaw again, and he is again in good form here, amusing and entertaining along the way, whilst dealing well with the subject matter for which he is also a fan. Finally, the Doctor Who Mastermind is very interesting on reflection. I remember being sat there at the time, answering many of the questions but being caught out on lots of others that I thought I should have known. That is the nature of quizzes though, if you can't remember the answer it's a difficult question. The two main points of note here though are firstly that the person who won the quiz was the one with the worst score from the Doctor Who round, winnning with superior geenral knowledge rather than superior Who knowledge. Secondly, as Christopher Eccleston comes on to hand out the prizes at the end, his short 'interview with the host John Simpson is very revealing. Having not realised at the time, Eccleston actually makes several veiled comments that betray the fact he was leaving the show at the end of his only series. For example, Simpson says, "So, we can call you Doctor Who I suppose?". "You can for now.", is Ecclestons response. These are things I wish I had picked up on at the time, and gone to the bookies with a fiver. As an evenings entertainment prior to the broadcast of a new series of Doctor Who after such a long time, the 2005 Doctor Who Night was excellent for me. I thoroughly enjoyed it all, but on reflection, the most interesting thing were the veiled statements made by Christopher Eccleston on his impending shock departure from the show. I really do wish I had picked up on them at the time. Rating:  |