Doctor Who Confidential is a documentary television programme that takes a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Doctor Who episodes. It began in 2005 and is still running as of 2010.
It screens on BBC Three following the transmission of Doctor Who on BBC One. Each episode of the first two series is approximately 30 minutes long; episodes of series 3 and 4 are approximately 45 minutes long, the equivalent length to the episode being featured. Full-hour installments were made to coincide with the 2009 specials. It is also Podcast in a shortened 5 minute format on the BBC Doctor Who Website.
Different narrators have been used for the series, including Who alumni Simon Pegg, Anthony Stewart Head, Mark Gatiss and Noel Clarke. David Tennant directed at least one of the installments himself, and also conducted interviews for several episodes.
It is also subsequently released as part of each series' DVD boxed set in a 'Cut Down' version, with most licenced music removed, as well as clips and interviews from the "classic" 1963-89 series and TV movie. These versions run approximately 10-15 minutes and are often used for the repeat broadcasts on BBC3. (The North American versions of the Series 1-4 box sets grouped the episode-based Confidential Cutdowns on one disc.)
Cutdown editions generally are not included on the single-disc "vanilla" releases issued in the UK and (in the case of Series 1) North America, with the exception of the DVD releases of Voyage of the Damned and The Next Doctor which both included their respective Confidentials.
One special episode of Confidential, "Music and Monsters", looked at the making of the November 2006 "Doctor Who: A Celebration" charity concert. It was the first, and for several years only, Confidential episode to be released in its entirety on DVD.
An installment of Confidential was produced to coincide with the 2008 Christmas special, The Next Doctor, followed by a second non-episode-based installment of Confidential on 3 January 2009, during which Matt Smith was announced as the Eleventh Doctor.
The Confidential installment produced for the 2009 Easter special, Planet of the Dead is significant as it was included at full-length on both the UK and North American DVD releases, including footage from several classic series episodes including the licensing-challenged 1996 TV movie and several snippets of licensed music -- elements that in the past have been removed from the "Cutdown" versions. It was also the first Confidential to be made available in the Blu-Ray format. The subsequent Complete Specials DVD/Blu-Ray box set included the full-length, unedited Confidential installments for the four 2009 specials, plus the one for The Next Doctor (which had been omitted from the standalone DVD release of that episode) which was up-converted to high-definition for Blu-Ray release.
The non-canonical mini-episode Tonight's the Night, which aired in May 2009, was accompanied by a Confidential-style behind-the-scenes segment, though it's not known if the regular Confidential team were involved in its creation.
To date the only installment of Confidential to not be released to home video in some format is the Eleventh Doctor episode that aired in January 2009 to introduce Matt Smith.
The BBC has confirmed that Doctor Who Confidential will return for its fifth full season on 3 April, accompanying the episode DW: The Eleventh Hour.[1]
See also
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