23 November 2023

Thursday 23 November

2023-11-23

TV

 * BBC Four

with comments by TV Cream
 * 19.30 Doctor Who: The Daleks in Colour It’s time to encounter the Daleks once again, in a way you’ve never seen them before. The first Dalek story dazzlingly colourised and weaved into a 75-minute blockbuster. "Well, here’s controversy, as on the sixtieth anniversary we’ve got a classic Who adventure from 1963 on TV... but it’s been slashed from nearly three hours to 75 minutes, been given a new soundtrack and – gasp! – it’s been colourised! Time was that was considered the ultimate act of philistinism, but hold on a second, because RTD is all for it, suggesting this spruced up version could serve as a wonderful way to introduce a new generation to classic Who, allowing the wonderful storytelling and performance to shine while removing the barriers caused by the limitations of sixties television technology. Whether that’ll be the case, who knows, but we do know it’s been a real labour of love by genuine Who fans who cherish the series, and this story, and wouldn’t want to do anything to harm it, and of course the original story is more accessible than ever before and this is an alternative, rather than a replacement, so even if the whole idea brings you out in hives all will be well."

"And then there’s this, which a lot of people asked RTD about when the rest of Who appeared on iPlayer as they were eager to see it again. It’s Mark Gatiss’ love letter to Who, the story of its creation and a tribute not just to William Hartnell but also the likes of Verity Lambert and Waris Hussain and all the others who made it happen, despite at best indifference and at worst hostility from the wider Beeb, and a lovely watch if you’ve got any interesting in telly history, let alone Who."
 * 20.45 An Adventure in Space and Time Dramatised account of how Doctor Who was brought to the screen in 1963 by a young producer frustrated by TV's glass ceiling and an actor unhappy with a career of hard-man roles.