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Doctor Who: a prime example of a makeover par excellence

John Byrne talks about telly

Reviewed: Doctor Who (Saturday, BBC ONE)

We're all familiar with the saying, 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it', but if there's one thing that TV companies do far too frequently, it's mess around with a winning formula and then destroy a show that was already doing very nicely.

An example that immediately springs to mind is 'Frasier', which was a fabulous ensemble comedy until some bright spark decided that Niles would tell Daphne that he loved her, ruining a long-standing viewers' in-joke and breaking up the established flow of the show. From that moment on 'Frasier' went steeply downhill.

Out on its own was 'Lost', a show that made a virtue out of messing around with viewers' heads. Most people I know - including myself - stuck with it because it lacked the inner reality that any show, even one as fantasy-based as 'Lost', has to construct to make the storylines believeable. I loved 'Lost', but it annoyed the hell out of me, too.

Then there are the more traditional exceptions: established shows that got a makeover that worked. 'Doctor Who' is a classic, maybe even a definitive, example. Back in the early days of the show its appeal was to young sci-fi fans (and children who liked being scared), but as it went through Doctor after Doctor, and somehere around the mid-80s, it slipped to mere parody, and was a sorry mess by the time it was axed in 1996.

In 2005 those smart heads at BBC Wales gave it a makeover, and suddenly everything changed for the better. Russell T Davies gave it a modern spin; technological improvements meant they could make the show realistic rather than relying on cardboard boulders, flashing lights and extras in masks for action sequences; and - most important of all - they took the Doctor seriously.

Currently, we're up to Doctor number 11, Matt Smith, and I'd be lying if I said I had welcomed his arrival after the fantastic, character-defining role played by his direct predecessor, David Tennant. But I was wrong. Smith has taken to the role with consummate ease. Great casting, once again.

Now in his second season, Smith has already made the Doctor his own and the long-coated Tennant version is now a pleasant but distant memory. Chattier than a room full of Jedwards, dressed in a manner reminiscent of earlier Docs such as William Hartnell and John Pertwee, Smith's version smartly uses sartorial elements of the past to combine with a very modern persona, making the current model possibly the best, and certainly the most complete, in the show's long history.

Add in Karen Gillen as Amy Pond, the most able and apposite companion since the late, great Elisabeth Sladen played Sarah Jane Smith; the wonderful Alex Kingston as occasional ass-kicking sidekick River Song; and great stories such as the season opener (when the Doctor was killed) and last Saturday's (when The TARDIS was reinvented), which are opening the Doctor's mythology to new directions and possibilities.

The rebooted Doctor Who takes nothing - especially its viewers - for granted and refuses to be complacent or creatively lazy. And that's one surefire recipe for great TV.

New this week

Lady Gaga Presents The Monster Ball Tour (Saturday, Sky One)
Just when you think pop music is all done and dusted, that there's nothing really interesting going on, someone comes along and gives it all a spanking. These days, Lady Gaga fits the bill. Sure, the Madonna influence is obvious, but what's best about this one is her flair. Live, Gaga leaves fans gagging for more, and this documentary around her recent Madison Square Gardens' gig is unmissable.

The British Soap Awards (Wednesday, UTV)
Philip Schofield hosts as the stars from Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale, Doctors and Hollyoaks gather together once again for their big night out. Then the following day websites and tabloids will be overflowing with snaps of soap stars looking less than their best while fumbling into a cab on the way home. Would you want it any other way?

Back this week

Louis Theroux - Miami Megajail (Sunday, BBC TWO)
Don't know about you, but I'm starting to get that deja vu feeling about Louis Theroux and prison. The Beeb are dressing this up as different to his 2008 'Behind Bars', which went inside California's San Quentin Prison. They do have a point, but it's pretty tenuous as Miami Megajail is a vast and chaotic holding pen for the unconvicted, so strictly speaking the inhabitants aren't convicted prisoners and are awaiting trial. Talking to Theroux would certainly break the monotony for them, but not necessarily for us viewers.

Prime Time Investigates (Monday, RTÉ One)
What is it about taxi drivers? No one seems to like them and they don't even like each other, judging by this programme as the award-winning PTI returns with an expose of Ireland's taxi industry. Reporter Paul Maguire explores the sinister side of the business where people with serious criminal pasts are driving cabs. The programme also discovers that rogue operators rent out seriously defective cars to reckless drivers. And then there's the tension between drivers which has apparently reached the point where violence may ensue. Yikes!

Worth waiting up for

Bad time. Great show.

The Kennedys (Saturday, RTÉ One)
This eight-part miniseries begins next Saturday in a graveyard slot after the Saturday Night Show, when a Sunday or other prime time slot would seem more appropriate.

Given the well-established interest in the Kennedys amongst Irish people it's certain to hold a certain curiosity for viewers here as it tells the story of perhaps the most iconic Irish-American family, a beloved US President, and his equally famous wife.

But, despite having Katie Holmes and Greg Kinnear in the key roles of Jaqueline Bouvier and John F Kennedy, it didn't get universal approval in the US, with pro-Kennedy commentators livid over what they saw as an attack on the family's memory.

All of which makes it a must-watch series - so don't forget to set the recorder.

Guest stars of the week

Friday night's chat fest on British TV opens with Paul O'Grady (UTV) chinning it with comedian Matt Lucas, who's about to star in Lloyd Webber's Les Miserables on London's West End, as well as Corrie's Katherine Kelly, singer Michael Ball and Irish pop stars, Westlife. Over on BBC ONE, Graham Norton has a cooler collection that includes Snoop Dogg, Cee Lo Green and Elle McPherson.

Meanwhile, on Saturday Piers Morgan talks to a genuine legend of British TV: singer, chat show host and recent 'Countdown' presenter, Des O'Connor, who must have a few dishy tales to tell.

Casting Couch Corner
Who's heading to what show

Things are hotting-up Stateside with many shows shelved and new ones coming on track. Here's just a few tasters of what may (or may not) be on the way . . . NBC's version of the UK hit Prime Suspect starring Maria Bello in the Helen Mirren role looks a certainty, as does Smash, the Glee-style musical produced by Steven Spielberg and starring Will & Grace's Debra Messing . . .

Over at ABC, the pilot for Tim Allen's new sitcom went down a treat and is considered a certainty. It's written by 30 Rock scribbler Jack Burditt, so it might even be funnier than Home Improvements . . .

NBC has picked up the potentially controversial The Playboy Club, a flesh-tastic drama set in 1963 about the first Playboy Club, in Chicago. . . Great to hear that Chuck has been renewed by NBC for a fourth and final season. But they've also cancelled The Event, rejected Wonder Woman and taken up E chatshow host Chelsea Handler's sitcom . . .

Sat Nav
Satellite Highlights

The Good Wife (Thursday, More4)
How brilliant is this show? Not only is Julianna Margulies on top form as Alicia Florrick, the rest of its stunning ensemble cast also sparkles in one of the best US dramas of the last decade. This week, with the nasty State's Attorney election campaign almost over, Alicia is questioned on TV about her husband Peter's infidelity. Elsewhere, Lockhart Gardiner take up the case for a small drilling contractor against the big boys of an oil conglomerate.

Caprica (Monday, Sky One)
If you thought this had been cancelled, you're right. But before its American makers pulled the plug on this OTT sci-fi soap opera prequel to 'Battlestar Galactica' they did complete its solo season and the second half begins more than a year after the first finished. One thing going for Caprica is the presence of Alessandra Torresani as Zoe Graystone. With poor Liz Taylor gone to Hollywood Heaven, she's a ringer for a young ET and the natural heir to her Most Beautiful Woman Alive crown. You'll be seeing more of her, that's for certain.

What You Watched

RTÉ's top 20 programmes (viewed as live) for the week ending 10.04.2011

Figures in multiples of a thousand (eg: 588 = 588,000)

RTÉ One

1 The Late, Late Show 588
2 Fair City (Tuesday) 548
3 The Saturday Night Show 511
4 Fair City (Sunday) 491
5 Fair City (Wednesday) 490
6 EastEnders (Monday) 484
7 Roomers 469
8 Room To Improve 468
9 Prime Time (Thursday) 456
10 Dragons' Den 453
11 Eastenders (Thursday) 451
12 Prime Time (Tuesday) 434
13 EastEnders Tuesday 431
14 Winning Streak 415
15 Fair City (Thursday) 412
16 Reeling In The Years 395
17 Families In The Wild 392
18 EastEnders (Friday) 390
19 Off The Rails - On Tour 353
20 At Your Service 338

Despite a dip of 66,000 The Late Late Show retains its position at the top. The same goes for second-placed Fair City, which maintains its weekly Tuesday night peak. The Saturday Night climbs five places, while Dragon's Den lost 50,000 while slipping from 6th to 10th.

RTÉ Two

1 Desperate Housewives 427
2 Champions League Live 362
3 Grey's Anatomy 274
4 Anonymous 243
5 The Republic Of Telly 229
6 Home And Away (Monday) 200
7 Katherine Lynch's Wagons' Den 197
8 Criminal Minds 192
9 Racing From Aintree 168
10 Home And Away (Wed) 156
11 Home And Away (Tuesday) 142
12 Home And Away (Thursday) 135
13 Heineken Cup Rugby 129
14 The Best Of Podge & Rodge 129
15 Premier Soccer Saturday 127
16 Home And Away (Friday) 118
17 The Simpsons 112
18 Mission Impossible 110
19 Cheetah: Against The Odds 101
20 CSI 98

The ladies of Wisteria Lane continue to rule despite a slight dip, and aside from irrregulars such as the Champions League and Racing From Aintree, the chart's pretty static, although The Republic of Telly climbs once again, this time from 8th to 5th with an increase of 34,000 viewers.

John Byrne