REVIEW – “Doctor Who At The BBC: A Legend Reborn”

Narrated by Lis Sladen (who appears to think this is an episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures, the way in which she dreamily chats about The Doctor), this two~disc set is presented chronologically and kicks off with none other than Christopher Eccleston (remember him?). Fans may want to avert their ears as he pronounces ‘Daleks’ as ‘dialects’ (no, really!) but hearing him all laughs and jokes with Jo Wiley (Radio 1 DJ and fan) will warm the cockles of even the most bitter fan (only one series? Flippin’ lightweight!).

More larfs ensue when, during a quiz, he incorrectly identifies the voice of a Cyberman as that of a Vogon whilst confusing Gryffoids with Zygons and Ogrons with Ice Warriors. What comes across most about Chrissy E is his positivity about the return of Doctor Who and his co~star Billie Piper. Then enter Davey T with even more enthusiasm revealing all his geeky knowledge to a suitably impressed Wiley.

All the major players get some air time (though one would have liked to have heard more from Russell T Davies) but there’s also some other ‘commentators’ contributing. Who can forget ‘Cup~Gate’? No? It was that dark, dark Saturday when Manchester United were playing, erm, another team* just before the due broadcast of Series Three’s Gridlock. BUT if the match was to go to extra time then the episode would have been canceled! Unthinkable now of course but a lot of us were purty p~o’d. And so Mitch Benn took to the stage in The Now Show (‘topical’ comedy news quiz) and sang about it in all its gory detail – hilarious stuff.

It’s not all good though, sadly the listener has to put up with antics of Steve Wright. Aside from that disgusting blip (literally) A Legend Reborn is a cracking piece of reference work that goes right up to Planet of the Dead, but only briefly touching on Matt Smith being cast. Due to this it’s slightly incomplete missing out the very end of the RTD era and Davey T’s finale – might have been better to either concentrate on the show’s return (it is called A Legend Reborn after all) or to wait and compile the recent interviews and coverage. Regardless, it’s a fantastic release.

Blogtor rating 9/10

Thanks to BBC Audio