Alan Yentob waits in reception at Doctor Who’s new HQ, with a Dalek prop for company. “Look, there’s the greatest evil in the universe,” says Russell T Davies in welcome. “And a Dalek.” I suspect it isn’t the first time Davies has cracked this gag, but delivered with a hearty laugh and a bear hug, Yentob is powerless to resist. After all, as presenter and series editor, he gamely left it in the final cut.
This joyous film profiles the once in a generation talent known as RTD. Well, I say once in a generation. A lovely sequence sees Davies reunite with his old Granada mucker Sally Wainwright, arguably his sole rival as Britain’s top television writer. As they ponder their parallel careers, I’m relieved there isn’t a gas explosion or similar tragedy. Contemporary British TV would have been ruined in one fell swoop.
