The Kidnappers

This amusing sketch from 1999 sees two comic actors Mark Gatiss and David Walliams take the actor Peter Davison hostage. Why? Because he was the 5th Doctor in Doctor Who, that's why.

It's worth pointing out at this point that Gatiss and Walliams are both proper fanboys of the show (both have started in guest roles, Gatiss has written several scripts) so their mockery of the obsessive fans manages to be funny without being mean spirited. That's quite an achievement!

It's amazing that Davison could be convinced to star in it. His performance is actually really really good despite only having his eyes to work with.

I recommend this to fans all the time as many are unaware of its existence and it's always fun to see their reactions to it. Especially that ending. I won't ruin it for you but that ending is so hilarious and out of nowhere yet feels perfectly in keeping with the rest of the sketch that it clearly couldn't end in any other way even though there's no way you could possibly see it coming. Watch it. You won't regret it, I promise!

This is a send up of fan-aticism, by pros who are fans themselves. I still can't believe they got Peter Davison to do this. In its understanding of fan-nature, it is not far behind William Shatner's famous appearance on Saturday Night Live, in the Star Trek convention sketch. As a Fifth Doctor fan-girl, I can happily watch this over and over and over. I would rather not say why. :) I have heard that this is captioned incorrectly for one line of dialog. Mark Gatiss is not saying 'Oh my god' on being suddenly awakened, but is referring to the villain from 'The Three Doctors' and 'Arc of Infinity'. This short film is included with the extras as one of the sketches on the William Hartnell DVD, Doctor Who: The Beginning Collection box set.