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Season 2023

Arts and culture
Documentary

Summary

The subjects in 2023 feature the Aviva Studios cultural venue in Manchester, film director Stephen Frears, Doctor Who writer Russell T Davies, and comedy double act French & Saunders.

Russell T Davies: The Doctor and Me

Summary

Cameras follow Russell T Davies as he returns to Doctor Who. The writer also talks to Alan Yentob about his career, from his beginnings in children's TV to 2021's critically acclaimed drama about the Aids crisis, It's A Sin. Featuring interviews with David Tennant, Catherine Tate, Ncuti Gatwa, Helena Bonham Carter, Olly Alexander, Sally Wainwright and Caitlin Moran

Review

David Brown

Two years ago, when the BBC announced that Russell T Davies, a writer at the peak of his powers, was returning to Doctor Who, the main question being asked was, “Why?” To which any Doctor Who fan would reply, “Well, why not?”

It is, after all, the most flexible of TV dramas: someone steps out of a box at the start, goes back into it at the end, and everything in between is thrillingly up for grabs. And no one knows this better than Davies, whose first memory, not just of telly but life itself, is of Doctor Who — a series he was devoted to as a child and teenager as the real world and his sexuality percolated in the background.

And that percolation, that synaptic bubbling, is, we sense, essential to Davies’s success. He unleashes his often-audacious creativity after years, sometimes decades, of internal planning and lived experiences. Not just with Who, but all his hits, from Queer as Folk through to It’s a Sin. And here, in conversation with Alan Yentob, he talks with the passion you would expect of his triumphs and tragedies and time on board the Tardis.

How to watch

Next showing

There are no live broadcasts scheduled for this show. But it is available via the streaming provider below.

Streaming

BBC iPlayer

Details

Languages

Formats

Colour

Credits

Crew

rolenamePresenterAlan YentobSeries editorAlan YentobParticipantRussell T DaviesParticipantDavid TennantParticipantHelena Bonham CarterParticipantNcuti GatwaParticipantCatherine TateParticipantOlly AlexanderParticipantSally WainwrightParticipantCaitlin MoranExecutive producerTanya Hudson

All episodes

Imagine: Stephen Frears - Director for Hire

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The Factory: Made in Manchester

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Imagine: French & Saunders - Pointed, Bitchy, Bitter

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Russell T Davies: The Doctor and Me

Summary

Cameras follow Russell T Davies as he returns to Doctor Who. The writer also talks to Alan Yentob about his career, from his beginnings in children's TV to 2021's critically acclaimed drama about the Aids crisis, It's A Sin. Featuring interviews with David Tennant, Catherine Tate, Ncuti Gatwa, Helena Bonham Carter, Olly Alexander, Sally Wainwright and Caitlin Moran

Review

David Brown

Two years ago, when the BBC announced that Russell T Davies, a writer at the peak of his powers, was returning to Doctor Who, the main question being asked was, “Why?” To which any Doctor Who fan would reply, “Well, why not?”

It is, after all, the most flexible of TV dramas: someone steps out of a box at the start, goes back into it at the end, and everything in between is thrillingly up for grabs. And no one knows this better than Davies, whose first memory, not just of telly but life itself, is of Doctor Who — a series he was devoted to as a child and teenager as the real world and his sexuality percolated in the background.

And that percolation, that synaptic bubbling, is, we sense, essential to Davies’s success. He unleashes his often-audacious creativity after years, sometimes decades, of internal planning and lived experiences. Not just with Who, but all his hits, from Queer as Folk through to It’s a Sin. And here, in conversation with Alan Yentob, he talks with the passion you would expect of his triumphs and tragedies and time on board the Tardis.

How to watch

Next showing

There are no live broadcasts scheduled for this show. But it is available via the streaming provider below.

Streaming
- BBC iPlayer
Details

Languages

Formats

Colour

Credits

Crew

rolenamePresenterAlan YentobSeries editorAlan YentobParticipantRussell T DaviesParticipantDavid TennantParticipantHelena Bonham CarterParticipantNcuti GatwaParticipantCatherine TateParticipantOlly AlexanderParticipantSally WainwrightParticipantCaitlin MoranExecutive producerTanya Hudson

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