Channel 5 delve into the world of Doctor Who

Best on the Box highlight for Saturday, November 25th…

Doctor Who is the longest-running science fiction programme in the world, with millions of dedicated fans tuning in across six decades. In a Channel 5 90-minute special this evening they take a look at the behind-the-scenes stories of how the show was created and has stayed so popular for so long.

The programme features exclusive interviews with cast members including Sophie Aldred, Nicola Bryant and Frazer Hines alongside interviews with behind-the-scenes crew including the show’s first director, Waris Hussein. The documentary exposes the stunts that went dangerously wrong and the secrets of how the crew brought the on-screen monsters to life.

And there are revelations about how some monsters and storylines created for the series proved to be so scary the BBC was forced to re-edit episodes.

There are also secrets about the scandalous treatment – and behaviour – of the show’s main stars, and revelations about the surprising link between a teenage Peter Capaldi and the series, long before he stepped into the main role. The show reveals the surprisingly sexy fan spin-offs produced when the show was off-air and how Doctor Who broke its own rules about sexual chemistry between The Doctor and the assistants as the series went on.

Up until recently, the Beeb wiped a lot of the videotape many various programmes were kept on – due to storage restrictions and costs. Many tapes were reused for other shows and a number of episodes of Doctor Who were lost in this process. This programme shares revelations about the missing episodes and the extraordinary lengths that fans have gone to in order to track down stories wiped from the archive. And the programme also exposes the huge fan backlash after the BBC attempted to cancel the show and how the reboot was nearly derailed.

Doctor Who: 60 Years of Secrets and Scandals, Channel 5, 8.30 pm tonight (Saturday, November 25th.)