Given its current status as a generation-spanning, multi-faceted, widely-adored national TV treasure, it’s easy to forget how much was at stake when ‘Doctor Who’ returned in 2005. This continuing series, which essentially functions as a collection of very superior DVD extras, has reached the Eccleston years: suddenly, there was a new Doctor and he was handsome, physically imposing, serious and slightly tormented – as people responsible for double genocides tend to be.
There’s nothing from the man himself in this film, but contributors including Neil Gaiman and Steven Moffat prevent us from feeling short-changed and revisiting Russell T Davies’s smart, witty and tone-defining scripts is also a joy. As a record of one of the most successful reboots in TV history, this is spot-on.