Doctor Who Live: The Afterparty
Doctor Who Live: The Afterparty was a BBC Events Production that went out live from the BFI on BBC Three following the BBC One premiere of The Day of the Doctor. It involved cast members from the whole history of Doctor Who, from William Russell to John Hurt.
Infamously featuring a disastrously flawed live satellite hookup with the boy band One Direction in Los Angeles, the programme was widely derided by fans.[1][2]
The press were no less disapproving. Radio Times panned the show as "that embarrassing BBC3 interlude", saying "the treatment of the former companions was unforgivable" and noting that the 15-second delay on the interview with One Direction created a situation in which "the Moff had his head in hands in horror".[3] The Guardian called it a "debacle" and said "it could only be downhill" after the failure of the live link to Los Angeles.[4]
Main subject
The main reason for the gathering was to celebrate The Day of the Doctor. Accordingly cast and crew of that episode were given pride of place on the interview couch.
The people receiving the longest interviews were therefore Matt Smith, Jenna Coleman, John Hurt and Steven Moffat.
Also, the presenters made an effort to solicit opinions about the 50th anniversary special from "ordinary fans" who were gathered in what was described as a "social media zone". In reality, just a part of the BFI reception area that was physically separate from the area where the former companions and Doctors were mustered. Most questions to ex-companions were also skewed toward getting some comment about the story just aired, and how it compared to stories in their era of the programme.
Additional topics covered
Another key focus for the episode was in promoting The Fiveish Doctors Reboot, allowing Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy some greater interview time.
People interviewed
In credit order — which, oddly, was alphabetised in order of first names — the guests who attended were:
People appearing by video
A number of Doctor Who alum specially recorded segments that were played into the live event, including:
In addition some British celebrities not directly associated with Doctor Who taped special inserts as well. Perhaps the highest profile ones were Graham Norton and the judges from Strictly Come Dancing.
Crew notes
The credits are ambiguous as to the producer and director. While it appears that Victoria Simpson is the piece's director, and Russell Minton its producer, the credits additionally have the following, mysterious entry:
- Producer/Director
- Chris Chapman
- Paul De Freitas
Other notes
The show implied that Jake Simmonds was a companion of the Doctor, something that is not usually asserted by fans or by reference works. This was the second time in 2013 that actor Andrew Hayden-Smith got a gig on television because of his 2006 Doctor Who role. Earlier, he had appeared as Nicola Bryant's partner on Pointless Celebrities.
Home video releases
Home video from this event is unlikely, due to the sheer volume of the "cast" and its major technical flaws. Certainly, not even digital releases have been announced as of January 2014[update].
External link
- Official page at bbc.co.uk
Footnotes
- ↑ Kavanagh-Sproull, Patrick. "Doctor Who Live: The Afterparty Review". doctorwhotv.co.uk. 27 November 2013.
- ↑ Bryan, Scott. "One Direction Were Interviewed During the 'Doctor Who' Afterparty And It Was a Hilarious Disaster". buzzfeed.com. 24 November 2013.
- ↑ Mulkern, Patrick. "A Day in the life of Doctor Who: A 50th anniversary review". Radio Times. 24 November 2013.
- ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/nov/25/one-dimension-doctor-who-matt-smith Monkey. "One Direction add another dimension to Doctor Who debacle" theguardian.com. 25 November 2013.]
