Exhaustive and extremely readable, Dylan Rees tells the history of Reeltime Pictures as he reviews virtually every one of their 250 plus interviews, documentaries and dramas. It’s a big undertaking but the result is a book that is going to be a useful reference for years to come for fans.
I must admit I had no idea there were so many titles. My memories of Reeltime are mostly caught up with the Eighties releases, when a shiny disc filled with accompanying extras to the main feature was the stuff of SF. Back then the keen fan had a limited set text of interviews drawn from the Radio Times, Peter Haining hardbacks and the monthly. The convention scene was smaller too, and mostly centered in the South East it seemed to this Lancashire fan. So there was definitely a place for interviews with the cast, and later makers of Doctor Who, and fortunately in Keith Barnfather we had someone with the determination, business sense and programme making skills to produce a series of VHS tapes that often produced original stories and a new insight into these names as real people. In the nineties I watched the odd documentary like “Patrick Troughton in America” and the dramas. Plus I was one of the handful of people who bought their author Raymond E Feist tape. Therefore I was unprepared for just how many interviews this company has made. Apparently Robert Dick is their most prolific interviewer now and I’ve never seen a single one of his. Sorry, Robert.
Each interview programme get a description of its style, essential dates, and a little bit of behind the scenes memories from the makers, before the author delivers a personal judgement. Clearly Dylan is determined to find good in every title and none of them receives a really stinging verdict. But there are definitely some he recommends above others. The dramas tend to receive more detailed coverage, most of them getting their own chapters. But then there’s likely to be more stories about filming a cast in a full adventure over multiple days, rather than one day’s work in a hotel room.
Dylan interviews all the major players in the Reeltime history and everyone seems happy to be honest about the highs and lows. It’s a well written book that gets the balance right between anecdotes and information, so it that is feels like engaging biography of a team of ambitious creatives, rather than a dry catalogue. It’s an excellent follow up to his earlier book of the expanded universe of Doctor Who – Downtime. Well worth a read whether you’re a regular Reeltime viewer or a more casual fan of the timelord. As Dylan observes at the end, with over forty years of work, Reeltime have created nothing less than a history of British television, seen through the lens of one unique series.
