Imagine...Russell T Davies: The Doctor and Me.

75’ for BBC One

imagine… follows one of Britain’s most celebrated TV writers as he prepares to once again return as the showrunner of Doctor Who. Back in 2005, Davies was responsible for relaunching the action-adventure series after many years away from our TV screens. Few could have imagined the phenomenon it became. And now, in the programme’s sixtieth anniversary year, he’s back – with two Doctors and bigger ambitions. 

imagine… goes behind the scenes at Cardiff’s Bad Wolf Studios to see the adventures of the time-travelling hero being filmed, touring the enormous sound stages and meeting Ncuti Gatwa, the fifteenth Doctor, ahead of his eagerly anticipated tenure as the Time Lord following the unexpected regeneration of David Tennant. 

Doctor Who is just one of Russell T Davies’s many TV successes, and Alan Yentob traces the evolution of his writing, from his beginnings in BBC children’s TV to finding his voice as a queer writer on Channel 4’s landmark gay series Queer as Folk and to more recent successes, including 2021’s critically acclaimed Aids drama It’s a Sin. The film also features interviews with David Tennant, Catherine Tate, Ncuti Gatwa, Helena Bonham Carter, Olly Alexander, Sally Wainwright and Caitlin Moran.

Watch on BBC iPlayer in the UK here.

Director:

Alex Harding

Exec Producers:

Mark Bell.

Produced by BBC Studios for BBC One.

★★★★ Riotous interviews! Political rage! Teabags bought in bulk! Alan Yentob delivers an absolute treat of a documentary about a once-in-a-generation talent. The Guardian

★★★★ Superb biography of TV's grand storyteller. The Telegraph