Project WHO?

The correct title of this article is Project: WHO? but this cannot be properly displayed.

For the original radio documentary series, see Project Who.

Project: WHO? is a 2-CD audio documentary release from BBC Audio that was issued in May 2005. The set contained the two episodes of the documentary Project Who that aired on BBC Radio 2 in March 2005, plus about 30 minutes of additional material.

The documentary is an in-depth look at the revival of the Doctor Who series and features interviews with cast and crew.

Publisher's Summary

Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper are amongst those talking exclusively about the brand new TV series Doctor Who in this BBC Radio 2 documentary presented by Anthony Head.

Project: Who? [sic] goes exclusively behind the scenes of Doctor Who to discover how the action-packed new BBC One series has been made, with award-winning writer and executive producer Russell T. Davies at the helm.

Featuring new and exclusive interviews with the cast and creative team, the programme examines why the BBC decided to launch the new television series now, nearly a decade after the Doctor's last small screen adventure. It also explores how the format of the show has been developed for a new audience, how the character of the Doctor was cast, and how his adventures will be launched and marketed around the globe.

Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper - who play the Doctor and Rose - talk about their experiences on the new series, along with executive producers Julie Gardner and Mal Young, writer and executive producer Russell T. Davies, writer Mark Gatiss, director Joe Ahearne, producer Phil Collinson, and many others.

Anthony Head, of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame, presents this fascinating journey into the exciting dimensions of Doctor Who. This CD version also contains an additional 30 minutes of material not included in the BBC Radio 2 broadcast.

Release details

• Writer and Producer: Malcolm Prince
• Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes (2 CDs)
• ISBN: 0-563-51094-3
• Released: May 2005

Cast

• Narrator: Anthony Head
• "Bumpers" Dalek voice: Nicholas Briggs

Featuring:

• Christopher Eccleston
• Billie Piper
• Joe Ahearne
• John Barrowman
• Nicholas Briggs
• Will Cohen
• Phil Collinson
• Paul Cornell
• Russell T. Davies
• Terrance Dicks
• Julie Gardner
• Mark Gatiss
• Dave Golder
• Lorraine Heggessey
• Clayton Hickman
• Boyd Hilton
• Bryan Hitch
• Dave Houghton
• Barry Letts
• Shaun Lyon
• Stuart Maconie
• Andy Pryor
• Rob Shearman
• Robin Shenfield
• Elisabeth Sladen
• Edward Thomas
• Jane Tranter
• Mal Young

Notes

• Elizabeth Sladen participates, a year before her return to TV as Sarah Jane Smith in School Reunion (in which she appeared alongside presenter Anthony Head).
• This was the first BBC Audio release connected to the new series. The cover design including fonts, photo placement, etc., would be carried on with future audio dramas and documentary releases under the BBC Audio label well into 2009. The format would also be used by BBC Books when it later launched its BBC New Series Adventures novels and would also be retained when BBC Audio began releasing original audio dramas during the Tenth Doctor era.
• Due to licensing issues, some music had to be changed for the CD release.
• According to Malcolm Prince's liner notes, the 30 minutes of extra material on this CD consists of interviews deleted due to broadcast time constraints, as well as material that would have been considered story spoilers if aired prior to the start of the season.
• Although several version of the Doctor Who theme are heard, including Orbital's cover version, the televised version of Murray Gold's arrangement is not; instead, the pre-broadcast trial arrangement which had been featured in promotional trailers for the show is featured.
• Mark Gatiss' interview was conducted during production of The Unquiet Dead (per comments made by Gatiss).
• Besides being interviewed, Nicholas Briggs also recorded several "bumpers" (introductions) for the show in the Dalek voice.
• This was Anthony Head's first broadcast project related to the Doctor Who revival, but far from his last, as he would go on to narrate episodes of Doctor Who Confidential, guest star as the villain in School Reunion, and voice another villain for Totally Doctor Who's The Infinite Quest, among other projects. His remark in Part 1 about always wanting to say "reverse the polarity of the neutron flow" carries a little irony as he was once considered for the part of the Doctor.