Doctor Who Confidential

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Doctor Who Confidential

The current Doctor Who Confidential intertitle
Format Documentary
Science Fiction
Narrated by Simon Pegg (Series 1)
Mark Gatiss (Series 2)
Anthony Head (Series 3 - present)
Country of origin Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
Language(s) English
No. of episodes 43 (to date)
Production
Producer(s) Gillane Seaborne
Running time 30 min (Series 1 and 2)
45 min (Series 3 onwards)
Broadcast
Original channel BBC Three
Picture format PAL
Original run 26 March 2005 – Present
Chronology
Related shows Doctor Who
Torchwood Declassified
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Doctor Who Confidential is a documentary series created by the British Broadcasting Corporation to complement the revival of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Each episode is broadcast on BBC Three on Saturdays, immediately after the broadcast of the weekly television episode on BBC One. The running time of the first two series was 30 minutes, being extended to 45 minutes in the third.[1] BBC Three also broadcasts a cut-down edition of the programme, lasting 15 minutes, shown after the repeats on Sundays & Fridays and after the weekday evening repeats of earlier seasons.

Described as focusing on the human element of the series, Confidential features behind-the-scenes footage on the making of Doctor Who through clips and interviews with the cast, production crew and other people, including those who have participated in the television series over the years of its existence. Each episode deals with a different topic, and in most cases refers to the Doctor Who episode that preceded it.

Contents

[edit] Series 1 (2005)

The first season was narrated by Simon Pegg (who played the Editor in "The Long Game") and produced and directed by Gillane Seaborne, airing at 7.45pm. In addition to being broadcast on BBC Three, each episode of Confidential was also made available for viewing on the Doctor Who Confidential website. Initially, repeat airings of the series were the full length episodes; however, beginning with Episode 6, BBC Three broadcast fifteen-minute versions, entitled Doctor Who Confidential: Cut Down, containing only the new series-related footage. These more easily clearable versions — since they contained no old series clips or pop music tracks, there were few licensing issues to overcome for commercial release — were released on the Series 1 DVD box set. There are no plans to release the full versions of the episodes in any format.

Episode # Original airdate (UK) Episode title Doctor Who episode Webcast link
1 26 March 2005 "Bringing Back the Doctor" "Rose" link
2 2 April 2005 "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" "The End of the World" link
3 9 April 2005 "TARDIS Tales" "The Unquiet Dead" link
4 16 April 2005 "I Get a Side-Kick Out of You" "Aliens of London" link
5 23 April 2005 "Why on Earth?" "World War Three" link
6 30 April 2005 "Dalek" "Dalek" link
7 7 May 2005 "The Dark Side" "The Long Game" link
8 14 May 2005 "Time Trouble" "Father's Day" link
9 21 May 2005 "Special Effects" "The Empty Child" link
10 28 May 2005 "Weird Science" "The Doctor Dances" link
11 4 June 2005 "Unsung Heroes and Violent Death" "Boom Town" link
12 11 June 2005 "The World of Who" "Bad Wolf" link
13 18 June 2005 "The Last Battle" "The Parting of the Ways" link

Two documentary specials were made for broadcast on BBC One, incorporating material from the Confidential episodes. The first was broadcast on the evening of the first episode, "Rose", and was narrated by David Tennant, prior to his being named as the Tenth Doctor. The second was broadcast immediately prior to the final episode, "The Parting of the Ways", and was narrated by Pegg. These episodes were not given the Confidential title, and are therefore separate from the series proper. Thirdly, a special DVD-only episode of the series, containing behind-the-scenes information on "The Christmas Invasion", was also made by the production team for release on the set.

Episode # Original airdate (UK) Episode title Doctor Who episode
S1 March 26, 2005 "A New Dimension" Preview
S2 June 18, 2005 "The Ultimate Guide" Episodes 1-12
14 none, DVD only "Backstage at Christmas" "The Christmas Invasion"

[edit] Series 2 (2006)

A second season of Doctor Who Confidential was commissioned to accompany the 2006 series. Mark Gatiss replaced Pegg as narrator. A special episode of the programme was produced for BBC's Doctor Who Night on April 9, 2006. Due to a wide range of schedule changes that either delayed or altered transmission of Doctor Who, the series aired at various times during its run. Unlike the first series, no episodes were webcast. These were also released on the DVD in edited-down format (once again subtitled Cut Down); the first episode of the season - "One Year On" - was not released to DVD.

Episode # Original airdate (UK) Episode title Doctor Who episode
15 9 April 2006 "One Year On" —
16 15 April 2006 "New New Doctor" "New Earth"
17 22 April 2006 "Fear Factor" "Tooth and Claw"
18 29 April 2006 "Friends Reunited" "School Reunion"
19 6 May 2006 "From Script to Screen" "The Girl in the Fireplace"
20 13 May 2006 "Cybermen" "Rise of the Cybermen"
21 20 May 2006 "From Zero to Hero" "The Age of Steel"
22 27 May 2006 "The Writer's Tale" "The Idiot's Lantern"
23 3 June 2006 "You've Got the Look" "The Impossible Planet"
24 10 June 2006 "Myths and Legends" "The Satan Pit"
25 17 June 2006 "New World of Who" "Love & Monsters"
26 24 June 2006 "The Fright Stuff" "Fear Her"
27 1 July 2006 "Welcome to Torchwood" "Army of Ghosts"
28 8 July 2006 "Finale" "Doomsday"

A documentary special was made for broadcast on BBC One on the day of the 2006 Christmas Special, "The Runaway Bride". The special was broadcast with the Confidential title (albeit with "Christmas Special" attached), opening theme, and unique titles (with images from "The Runaway Bride") - it was narrated by the series three narrator, Anthony Head, and followed the creation of the Doctor Who: A Celebration concert. This is noteworthy as being unrelated to its companion episode — although a brief preview of the episode appeared as part of the concert. It is also notable as being the only Confidential episode to appear on one of the 'vanilla' DVD releases.

Episode # Original airdate (UK) Episode title Doctor Who episode
29 25 December 2006 "Music and Monsters" Doctor Who: A Celebration & "The Runaway Bride"

[edit] Series 3 (2007)

Anthony Head (who played Mr Finch/Brother Lassar in "School Reunion") replaces Gatiss as narrator for this series, whilst David Tennant did the entirety of the series' tenth episode himself. The episode running length was increased to 45 minutes, with 30-minute and 15-minute versions also prepared for broadcast.[1] The 15-minute versions are available for download from the official website. As per previous seasons, all regular episodes were edited down into shorter versions for inclusion on the DVD release (although this has resulted in some noticeable content loss, such as "Do You Remember the First Time" omitting cast interviews relating to the episode Blink in its "Cut Down" version); for the first time, however, a complete Confidential episode is included on the DVD release: the "Music & Monsters" special.

Episode # Original airdate (UK) Episode title Doctor Who episode
30 31 March 2007 "Meet Martha Jones" "Smith and Jones"
31 7 April 2007 "Stage Fright" "The Shakespeare Code"
32 14 April 2007 "Are We There Yet?" "Gridlock"
33 21 April 2007 "A New York Story" "Daleks in Manhattan"
34 28 April 2007 "Making Manhattan" "Evolution of the Daleks"
35 5 May 2007 "Monsters Inc." "The Lazarus Experiment"
36 19 May 2007 "Space Craft" "42"
37 26 May 2007 "Alter Ego" "Human Nature"
38 2 June 2007 "Bad Blood" "The Family of Blood"
39 9 June 2007 "Do You Remember The First Time?" "Blink"
40 16 June 2007 "'Ello, 'Ello, 'Ello" "Utopia"
41 23 June 2007 "The Saxon Mystery" "The Sound of Drums"
42 30 June 2007 "The Valiant Quest" "Last of the Time Lords"

One episode, covering the making of the Children in Need special "Time Crash" was posted on the Children in Need website after the scene's airing. After the 2007 Christmas Special "Voyage of the Damned", an episode was broadcast on BBC Three, again narrated by Anthony Head.

Episode # Original airdate (UK) Episode title Doctor Who episodes
— 10 November 2007 (Untitled) "Time Crash"
43 25 December 2007 "Confidential At Christmas" "The Christmas Invasion", "The Runaway Bride"
and "Voyage of the Damned"

[edit] Series 4 (2008)

Anthony Head is the narrating the series for the second year in a row.[2]

Episode # Original airdate (UK) Episode title Doctor Who episode
44 5 April 2008 "A Noble Return" "Partners in Crime"
45 12 April 2008 "The Italian Job" "The Fires of Pompeii"
46 19 April 2008 "Oods and Ends" "Planet of the Ood"
47 26 April 2008 "Send in the Clones" "The Sontaran Stratagem"
48 3 May 2008 "Sontar-Ha!" "The Poison Sky"
49 10 May 2008 "Sins of the Fathers" "The Doctor's Daughter"
50 17 May 2008 "Nemesis" "The Unicorn and the Wasp"
51 31 May 2008 "Shadow Play" "Silence in the Library"
52 7 June 2008 "River Runs Deep" "Forest of the Dead"
53 14 June 2008 "Look Who's Talking"[3] "Midnight"

[edit] Other Shows in Confidential Format

Following the popularity of Doctor Who Confidential, Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood was produced with its own set of backstage episodes, entitled Torchwood Declassified. Heroes Unmasked was also created in the same format to complement Heroes, another similar science-fiction television programme. Torchwood Declassified returned with the second series of Torchwood as did Heroes Unmasked when the second series of Heroes started in the UK. With the airing of the American comedy-drama Greek on BBC Three, a similar companion series, Greek Uncovered has been created.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Doctor Who Confidential now 45 minutes", Doctor Who Magazine #380. Retrieved on 2007-02-28. 
  2. ^ Doctor Who Magazine; issue 394, page 15. "Doctor Who Confidential counts down to the new series".
  3. ^ Doctor Who Confidential listing. Radio Times. Retrieved on 2008-06-08.

[edit] External links

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