By Richard Marson

Miwk Publishing, out now

A no holds barred account of Richard Marson’s time at the helm of the BBC’s flagship children’s show.

Obviously, the majority of this book isn’t about Doctor Who, but the show has had a major crossover with Blue Peter over the years, and the sections within this highly informative and entertaining read which cover the times that Blue Peter dealt with Doctor Who are very interesting. From the battles Marson faced in covering it at all (How could they possibly show a clip showing Leela using a knife on a children’s show at teatime? he was asked, to which, quite rightly, he pointed out that it was a clip from a children’s show that was aired at teatime originally) to a meeting with incoming producers Russell T Davies and Phil Collinson that seemed filled with laughter to issues over Eccleston and Piper’s (and later Tennant’s) appearances to promote the show, there’s new insight into the way Doctor Who was regarded by the BBC, and how that changed massively with the success of the revitalised series.

But the Who references are just a tiny part of the story that unfolds in these pages. Marson doesn’t spare anyone, least of all himself, with the text based on the diaries that he kept along the way. There are moments when you’ll laugh aloud at the utter stupidity and arrogance on display, others where you’ll wonder how the hell certain people got to the positions they held. You’ll certainly not look at some people in the same way as public personas are ripped apart and motivations revealed – but in some cases, that works to their benefit. Marson brings the same forensic eye to his own career that can be seen in his biographies of both John Nathan-Turner and Verity Lambert, and I’m sure this will be uncomfortable reading for some.

Verdict: A fascinating and eye-opening read; you may well be drawn in to reading it by the Doctor Who links, but you’ll be grabbed by the ongoing drama involved in creating a non-fiction programme! 9/10

Paul Simpson

Click here to order The Blue Peter Diaries from Miwk