Absolutely Brilliant!

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

For those who believe Sylvester McCoy didn't play the Seventh Doctor on screen in the years between his final TV outing, Survival and the 1996 TV Movie- Allow me to introduce Dimensions In Time, a charity special aired in 2 parts in November 1993. McCoy and Ace actress Sophie Aldred reprised their roles for this mini-reunion that reunited all the living actors to play Doctor Who alongside many of their old companions from the original series. Kate O'Mara (a recurring villain from the Sixth and Seventh Doctors eras) returned as the Rani in a new scheme to control the nature of evolution. While clearly not to be considered on the same scale as a normal production of Dr Who or even previous specials like The Five Doctors, this skit is still fun to watch as it is the last time we see Jon Pertwee as the flamboyant Third Doctor (he passed away three years later) and very likely the final time we will ever see McCoy, Tom Baker, Peter Davison and the much lamented Colin Baker play their interpretation of the character on screen. The new series, which began transmission last month, is not likely to utilise their talents as head writer Russell T Davies has stated he wishes to not focus on the past so much in his reinvention of the series. So taken for what it is- this is a good if all to brief celebration of the first 26 years of the legend that is Doctor Who.

I've been a Doctor Who Fan since Tom Baker and was unsure about Peter Davidson when he took over. It was never ever about the actors who tried their best to make the lead their own and Tom, Peter and Jon Pertwee all did a wonderful job. I don't feel embarrassed about this adventure but more angry and annoyed. I thought Sylvester McCoy was pretty dodgy as the doctor until I saw the feature film with Paul McGann and then saw him in the Scottish comedy Still Game when I realised he had the ungodly task of trying to work with poor scripts for the series. Turns out that Sly was actually an exceptional actor forced to make the best of a shockingly poor script. This is absolutely without any doubt no exception and it would seem that anything the late John Nathan Turner wrote or had anything to do with turned to sh}te. This segment in the Doctors long history once again treats the Doctor as nothing more than the court jester brought out to play the fool yet again and is best left to drift into the mists of time as the script is diabolical since the BBC tried to cram what should have been a 120 minute adventure into two five minute cans of worms. At best this is a pantomime and that's exactly how Kate O'Mara and John Pertwee treat their characters and manage to pull the best out of a bad job. Far too much has been crammed into such a short period of time as this and it's just like the parody of Star Wars in 30 seconds only not at all funny. I only hope that Russell T. Davies is a good enough writer to bring the Doctor out of the hole that has been mercilessly dug for him and so far seems to be doing a really good job. Be warned that this is without doubt undeniably awful and should only be viewed by the most die-hard insatiably curious amongst Doctor Who fans.

"Dimensions in Time" is not really a proper Doctor Who episode; it's a charity skit. The way fans talk when they bomb it, you'd think it was the pilot for a new series!As a fan, I enjoyed seeing all the Doctors again, even if they were paired with strange companions (note that Louise "Leela" Jameson clearly out-acts Sylvester McCoy). The Rani's looking a bit long in the tooth, and she appears to have acquired a gimp servant, but on the whole it's nice to see her, too. Tom Baker makes his only return appearance as the Doctor, hamming it up like a loon while a duff special effects vortex whirls around him. I wonder why he refuses to wear anything but the purple costume these days? Maybe the old one reminds him too much of his heyday...Overall, a fun time-killer that was more than welcome when it debuted during Doctor Who's long (and mercifully over!) period of purgatory.

I wish to confess to being a DOCTOR WHO fan but when I see something like DIMENSIONS IN TIME I feel nothing but shame and deep embarrassment at being a fan . Okay I know that this nothing more than a filler during the BBC`s annual children In Need appeal that is not to be taken seriously but that didn`t stop my skin turning an extremely deep shade of red at watching it . DIT is possibly the worst thing I have ever seen under the DOCTOR WHO banner as Doctors , companions and monsters come and go for no apparent reason . Nice to know that most fans I`ve discussed it with also despise it