TV

Doctor Who
Real Time Episode One

Back in the early '00s — after Big Finish had taken off but before the TV revival was announced — BBCi (as it then was) produced several Doctor Who webcasts, which started out as “audio dramas with accompanying illustrations” and gradually progressed to “fully animated” (before the revival was announced and put a stop to all that). This was the second, following Death Comes to Time earlier in 2002 and preceding the 8th Doctor Shada and Scream of the Shalka in 2003 — crazy, with hindsight, that all of that took place in just two years. Even crazier that it’s taken me over 20 years to get round to listening to it. (These were 20 years ago! Time really does fly.) The original official webcast links are dead, but you can buy it on CD from Big Finish (audio only, obv), or do as I'm doing and watch it on YouTube.

Also, for what it's worth, although originally released in six parts, each one only runs 11–17 minutes, with the average being 15, meaning the whole story has the same running time as a Season 22 two-parter. Watching it in two halves would truly emulate that, then, but I've stuck with the original broadcast length because... well, it's like most of Season 22 in another way: it's not very good. I'm not even talking about the basic Flash animation, but the frequently clunky dialogue, line readings that consistently sound off (despite the writer and director being the same person), and a general insipid pace and structure. Maybe it will pick up. Maybe only having to experience it in short bursts will be a blessing.