The Day of the Doctor
BBC One HD / Red Button 3D
23 November 2013, 7.50pm

Television anniversary stories in Doctor Who are strange affairs. They have to strike a balance. On one hand they are expected to cram in fan-pleasing moments to acknowledge the rich history of the series, to be fronted by multiple versions of the Doctor and they demand the presence of iconic monsters; and on the other hand they have to have a decent but straightforward plot, a narrative that will appeal to the widest possible demographic and hook the many family generations who enjoy having Doctor Who in their lives. Previous anniversary stories have tackled this balancing act with varying degrees of success.

An Adventure in Space and Time
BBC Two HD
21 November 2013, 9.00pm

Three moments in real and fictional time blend and merge in the opening scene of Mark Gatiss's superb drama An Adventure in Space and Time when a car pulls up in front of a police box on a fog enshrouded Barnes Common. Immediately, associations spring into your mind or, at the very least, into the minds of many long in the tooth Doctor Who fans. Gatiss has already prepared the way with a retro BBC globe, an announcer quoting The Aztecs and telling us that truth and fiction are mutable companions in the retelling of Doctor Who's creation: 'It is important to remember however that you can't rewrite history. Not one line. Except perhaps when you embark on an adventure in space and time.'

Leslie Megahey's extraordinary television film Schalcken the Painter finally arrives on Blu-Ray and DVD this month courtesy of the BFI. As with many of the home entertainment releases in their Gothic: The Dark Heart of Film season, Schalcken the Painter has such a reputation it has been on the 'most wanted' lists of many fans of British telefantasy for decades. Here it is and remastered in high definition from the 16mm interpositive held in the BFI Archive and released in the Flipside range of obscure British films.

Writer, director and producer Megahey's career began in BBC radio where, after he graduated from his traineeship, he wrote and produced radio plays for a year. He joined the BBC's Music and Arts department and in 1967, along with other television trainees Tony Palmer, Alan Yentob and Nigel Williams, began making films about painters and writers under the auspices of pioneering television executive Stephen Hearst.

Megahey was as much an inspirational figure himself as Yentob, then a raw recruit, professed: 'Leslie was a little older than me and had arrived at the BBC by much the same route two years earlier. We became close friends and colleagues in the Music and Arts department of the BBC. Leslie's enthusiasm and commitment were infectious. Leslie was endlessly curious and was a great believer in finding inventive ways to tell stories.' (1)

Coming from publisher I.B. Tauris this month is another publication in the 'Who Watching' project, Doctor Who - The Eleventh Hour: A Critical Celebration of the Matt Smith and Steven Moffat Era

Edited and with an introduction from Andrew O'Day, the book is published to celebrate the Doctor's 50th anniversary and provides a valuable record of the current Matt Smith Doctor, who arrived in 2010 and is still travelling in time and space. This first book devoted solely to the Steven Moffat/Matt Smith era is written by experts on the Doctor and includes contributions from Richard Hewett, Frank Collins (that's me), Matthew Kilburn, Dee Amy-Chinn, David Budgen, Simone Knox, Jonathan Bignell, Piers D. Britton, Vasco Hexel, Matt Hills, Brigid Cherry, Neil Perryman, and Ross P. Garner.

Network Distributing debuted a pair of exclusive vinyl soundtrack album releases this week. Focusing on two iconic ITC series of the late 1960s and early 1970s, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and Man in A Suitcase, these beautifully designed albums assemble a number of instantly recognisable cues on high quality 180g vinyl pressed by Pallas in Germany.

Network worked with renowned vinyl cutting engineer Ray Staff, whose credits include David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars and The Rolling Stones' It's Only Rock 'n' Roll, to master the albums from the FX Group tape transfers.

Ray joined the legendary Trident Studios, based in St Anne's Court, Soho, in 1970 and he became part of the fledgling Mastering Department. His skill at working on major projects with Bowie and Elton John saw him progress to become Trident’s Chief Mastering Engineer. He is currently one of the chief engineers at AIR Mastering having worked with artists as diverse as Led Zeppelin and Supertramp and most recently on the triple platinum No 1 debut album and single by Corinne Bailey Rae.

Many Doctor Who fans have, at some time or another, thought it would be 'fun' to watch every episode (including the reconstructions of missing stories) in one consecutive, fell swoop. I admit to doing this successfully at least once, possibly twice, and on a third failed attempt. There is, after all, only so much Doctor Who anyone can take.

I found these ventures satisfying, if something of an endurance test, and can imagine seasoned fans have often been reduced to comparing their viewing battle scars over a small port in their local hostelry. I was fortunate in that I was accompanied by my husband in the trawls through Doctor Who's memorable triumphs and utter failures. It confirmed he was as obsessive as I was. For me the experience led down a corpse strewn road to what was then known as Outpost Gallifrey, where as an innocent in the lions' den of online fandom I decided to review each of the stories. Just to see if I could do it.

To paraphrase Neil Perryman in the opening to his book Adventures With The Wife In Space: Living With Doctor Who, we underwent a form of aversion therapy akin to Dr Brodsky's infamous Ludovico Technique. Safe to say, listening to Ludwig Van was otherwise unaffected. The upshot of my own trawl was the birth of the very blog you are now reading. When OG ditched its review sections I soldiered on for a while and then had a light bulb moment when I decided all the reviews would be better off on a blog.