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Since Doctor Who returned to our screens nearly twenty years ago now, those familiar with its 20th century incarnation have likely had a pecuilair thought from time to time: what would the old series have looked like if it been made like that? In time for Doctor Who's 60th anniversary in 2023, that is exactly what happened with The Daleks in the form of a 75 minute colorized version. Would the final result be blasphemy or a revelation?

To make the idea work, one needs a serial that actually benefits from being given something a more modern polish and pace. That first Daleks serial is such an example. Yes, it's the first Dalek story, a classic, and the thing that perhaps singlehandedly guaranteed that Doctor Who would have a future beyond 13 episodes. On the other hand, given the Peter Cushing film managed to cut Terry Nation's scripts down to about 80 minutes, it's clearly a story with more than a fair amount of padding. This new edit from Benjamin Cook proves that by offering a fast-moving version of it that, honestly, doesn't lose much in terms of actual plot. Indeed, condensing things like the cave trek to the city by Ian and Barbara alongside the Thals improves rather than detracts.

And what of the colorization? On the whole, it looks remarkably good. The color choices are vivid, evoking the Technicolor spectacle of the Cushing film while also making some decisions of its own such as giving Barbara a bright pink blouse. It's something that is immensely effective except in a handful of shots where the original film quality isn't great to begin with. On the audio front, the new sound mix from Mark Ayers adds so much depth, especially considering the "as live" nature of the original recording limited the soundscape beyond what could be played into the studio. Perhaps the prime example of Ayers new work comes in the scene where Ian and the Doctor pull the creature out of the Dalek shell. An already memorable moment, it has never been more chilling than it is with the added creature sound effects. Tip of the hat, too, on the score from Ayers that wonderfully compliments the original Tristram Cary score by and large.

Is it perfect? No, of course it isn't. It does get flashback heavy in places, yes, a necessity to cover some of the editing choices made by Cook. The escape sequence where Ian is in the Dalek plays out as a nice heist like scene but the cutting back and forth is rapid to the point of approaching confusion. It perhaps wouldn't have been a bad thing to take a further cue from the Cushing film and it let run to 80 minutes to give it a bit more chance to breathe. And, like with much of Modern Who, there are times when the sound mix and music does threaten to intrude on dialogue.

Is it a worthwhile venture? For this reviewer, undoubtedly. Can I see why some Classic Who fans feel it to be at best unnecessary or, at worst, an attempt to invalidate a classic? To an extent, yes. It's something that, along with criticism of The Daleks in Color pre-broadcast comes from those who have the view of Classic Who and archive TV in general as something sacred and untouchable. Things which, as Russell T Davies says in the making of included on the Blu-Ray release, it isn't meant to be viewed solely as museum pieces. Or, indeed, lest we forget that museum's renovate to find new ways of presenting things to visitors.

That is ultimately what The Daleks in Color accomplishes. It's an engaging vision of a classic story, one that ultimately preserves the best of what could have been a moribund museum piece and shows it in a whole new light (or, rather, color). Does it replace the original? Nope, it's even included as an extra on the Blu-ray release. The result is a revelation for fans of Classic and Modern Who alike and one that they can relish partaking in for years to come.

With a lifetime spanning across three-quarters of the twentieth century and into the early decades of the twenty-first, Gore Vidal had a ringside seat for much of what came to be termed "the American century." It's perhaps no wonder then that he became an active chronicler of its history and politics in novels, essays, lectures, commentary, and more besides. Nor was he limited to merely that topic, something that this 2013 documentary revels in across its ninety minute running time.

Scaffolded by a series of interviews conducted with Vidal over the final years of his life, Nicholas D. Wrathall explores the life of a uniquely American figure. One that was a vocal critic of the American establishment yet was born into a family that, one of the featured clips notes, made him essentially one of its charter members. Cynical about the nature of politics, yet compelled to twice run for public office unsuccessfully. Armed with a passion for American history and its politics, yet lived for a great deal of time away from the country that he loved as an ideal but frustrated him with its reality. Wrathall uses the interviews of an elderly but still sharp Vidal to look back on the life and the contradictions built around them.

All the while not losing sight of the things that made Vidal the public figure he was: his wit and cynicism. The wit is on display throughout and, via archive interviews, was evident clearly from a young age. Something aided by a gift for mimicry that ranged from the comedic to the dramatic, depending on the anecdote being told. Whether in interviews or in the famed television clashes with William F. Buckley (themselves the topic of the later documentary Best of Enemies), it's something that's aged well. Not to mention something that feels authentic rather than as part of a persona, something that is also evident from interviews with numerous figures in his circle from Burr Steers and Christopher Hitchens.

And the cynicism? In some ways Vidal was on point and, as the documentary argues, more than a little prophetic. It's certainly difficult to argue with his points on America's swing to the political right starting in the late 1960s that led to Nixon, Reagan, and eventually George W. Bush. The latter being the topic of more than a few of the late-in-life interviews presented here (and led to his falling out with Hitchens who spent of his own final decade supporting and defending the Bush administration's War on Terror).. Nor can it be said that Vidal limited his criticisms given the assessments of JFK, Carter, and the newly elected Obama. The documentary, after all, drawing its title from the author's assertion that "We are the United States of Amnesia, we learn nothing because we remember nothing."

Yet, watching the documentary in 2024, it's hard not to wonder how much of Vidal's cynicism might have been misplaced. Or might, in fact, having unknowingly contributed to the current moment in which this review is being written in. What Vidal would have made of things is anyone's guess but, clearly, he'd have had something interesting to say about it all.

And, if nothing else, the documentary offers plenty of interesting things for those both new and familiar with Vidal to discover. One which draws neatly on the life of a man who raged against the dying of a particular light with wit and cynicism. Offering us all a chance to learn something and, hopefully, remember something as well.

John F. Kennedy's presidency has long proven a rich source for dramatists and filmmakers to mine. How could it not be from a dashing and charismatic young president with a beautiful wife? Or the dramatic events of his thousand days in office from Cold War tensions in Cuba and Europe to the struggle for civil rights at home, not to mention tensions between the White House and the powerful longtime FBI director J. Edgar Hoover? Rarely has all that been as well captured as it was in the 1983 miniseries Kennedy with a five plus hour look at the eventful years between election night 1960 and the events in Dallas, Texas a little more than three years later.

Coming when it did two decades on from the president's passing, Reg Gadney's script managed to have some but not enough distance with hindsight. Far enough removed from events for the sheen (no pun intended) to have come off the near-myth of Camelot to allow the writer to explore Kennedy, his family, and the administration as human beings with egos and failings (including JFK's affairs), adding to the sense of verisimilitude. In the four decades since, however, a wealth of archival sources have opened up that have greatly expanded our knowledge on the Cuban Missile Crisis (where we now know that the Cuba-Turkey missile swap dismissed in an EXCOM meeting here was, in fact, part of its resolution) and much of the decision making via White House tape recordings of meetings and phone calls. Gadney's script for Kennedy is caught between the two in its factual content with its presentation of events sometimes overtaken by history.

Yet there is no doubting that when Gadney's script works, it's engaging. The family dynamics, particularly those between the president and his brother but also their father and Jackie, too, are arguably the heart of Gadney's script. Weaving those stories and moments around dramatic moments including the Bay of Pigs, clashes with Hoover, and the aforementioned Cuban Missile Crisis. The latter takes up an hour or so of the miniseries, rightly so given its importance to the administration and representing what Kennedy had earlier termed "the hour of maximum danger." While historical knowledge (and the film Thirteen Days) have widened our understanding of the crisis, its presentation by Gadney and director Jim Goddard remains full of tension and uncertainty. While Gadney's dialogue is sometimes held back by being exposition heavy, it more than serves the purpose of presenting the thousand days of the Kennedy presidency.

Bringing much of Gadney's script to life is Martin Sheen as its central character. More than 15 years before he famously played another (fictional) President of the United States in The West Wing, Sheen took on bringing another Oval Office occupant to life. Like Gadney's script, Sheen's performance benefited greatly from coming two decades after the fact, allowing for a more rounded portrait separating the man from the myth. Sheen brings forward the charm and the brilliant smile, not to mention the biting wit, particularly in the early parts of the miniseries. Yet there's also the man in constant pain and who gradually becomes more thoughtful in the job, a character arc Sheen plays well in dealing with the Bay of Pigs and scenes set in the latter days of the administration. There's also the flashes of uncertainty and anger, the all too human punctuation marks that come to the fore with a volcanic fury. Given much of the five hours of screen time, it's a challenge that Sheen more than rises up to, capturing JFK in all his seasons. Indeed, Sheen's JFK ranks alongside Bruce Greenwood in Thirteen Days as the best of the screens depictions of the 35th President.

Backing Sheen is a solid supporting cast. No depiction of JFK would be complete without his brother Bobby and John Shea proved more than up to the task, presenting a compelling portrait of the younger Kennedy as the right-hand man whose not yet the iconic figure he would become. Blair Brown as Jackie offers plenty of style and sophistication, along with a sense of initially being both out of her depth to a degree while pursuing her own aim of restoring the White House itself even if it means clashing with her husband on occasion. The sense of a loving, if somewhat distant, relationship is present if underplayed, though there's no doubting the chemistry between Brown and Sheen. From there comes the ever reliable E. G. Marshall offering a slightly crotchety take on the Kennedy family's patriarch in early parts, Vincent Gardenia as the slimy and obsessive FBI director, Charles Brown as Martin Luther King Jr, and early TV appearances by Kelsey Grammer and Kevin Conroy.

It's also a solid production, by and large. Not to mention a rather unusual one given its decidedly American subject matter, cast, and filming locations but having been produced (or co-produced) for British television. Not to mention its writer and director also hailing from the other side of the pond. Yet Kennedy holds its own against many of its US counterparts, with an eye for the details of the time apparent in costumes and sets, including impressive recreations of the Kennedy White House and its Oval Office especially. Goddard's direction doesn't go in for flash often which makes touches such as the wipes and fades from one EXCOM meeting to the other or the highly impressive three minute single take shot moving down and then back up the final motorcade at Love Field in Dallas before it leaves all the more impressive. It's only in the depictions of JFK's foreign trips, presented largely as stock footage news reports on TV, that the limits of budget and locations becomes apparent, not an uncommon issue for the era and far from a fatal one.

Indeed, from Sheen's human portrait of an iconic president to the supporting cast and production, there remains plenty to recommend Kennedy for.