Reeltime Pictures Ltd is a British film, television and video production company and a distributor of the films of other companies, founded in 1984 by Keith Barnfather. As well as producing corporate and business television, it has made a number of broadcast documentary series including ''Lost Trains of Cyprus'' and ''Phoenix – A Story from the Diaspora''. The company is also known for its many documentaries about the long-running television series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' (Barnfather was a founding member of the

Doctor Who Appreciation Society The ''Doctor Who'' Appreciation Society (DWAS) is a society for fans of the television series ''Doctor Who''. It was founded in May 1976, emerging from the Westfield College ''Doctor Who'' Appreciation Society, and the editors and readers of th ...

) and in particular for ''Myth Makers'', a series of interviews with people associated with the making of the series. Many of these programs were hosted by actor

Nicholas Briggs Nicholas Briggs (born 29 September 1961) is an English actor, writer, director, sound designer and composer. He is associated with the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-offs, particularly as the voice of the Da ...

, who provided the voice of the

Dalek The Daleks ( ) are a fictional extraterrestrial race of extremely xenophobic mutants principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. They were conceived by writer Terry Nation and first appeared in th ...

s in the 2005 series of ''Doctor Who''. Reeltime Pictures also pioneered a technique of creating

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...

''Doctor Who'' spin-offs, despite the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's close guarding of the series, by building the spin-offs around incidental characters and monsters licensed directly from the writers who created them. Their first effort, 1987's '' Wartime'', was a small-scale piece built around

Sergeant Benton Unit may refer to: General measurement * Unit of measurement, a definite magnitude of a physical quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law **International System of Units (SI), modern form of the metric system **English units, histo ...

UNIT Unit may refer to: General measurement * Unit of measurement, a definite magnitude of a physical quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law **International System of Units (SI), modern form of the metric system **English units, histo ...

, a recurring character from the 1970s. In 1987, Reeltime produced ''Myth Runner'', a parody of ''

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Di ...

'' written, directed by and starring Briggs, featuring outtakes from the ''Myth Makers'' video series. Later and more ambitious productions include '' Mindgame'', ''

Downtime In computing and telecommunications, downtime (also (system) outage or (system) drought colloquially) is a period when a system is unavailable. The unavailability is the proportion of a time-span that a system is unavailable or offline. This is ...

'', and '' Dæmos Rising''. Despite its non-BBC-licensed status, a novelisation of ''Downtime'' was released as part of the BBC-licensed Virgin Missing Adventures ''Doctor Who'' spin-off novels. The narrative of ''Downtime'' was expanded to incorporate the

Doctor Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

, a character missing from the video version for copyright reasons, with the narrative of the original production forming the middle third of the novel. The success of these ventures inspired and opened the door for later releases by BBV and

Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and radio drama, audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'' ...

with storylines featuring characters and races from ''Doctor Who'', but not necessarily the Doctor himself (although BBV produced two series featuring Doctor-like characters portrayed by

Colin Baker Colin Charles Baker (born 8 June 1943) is an English actor. He played Paul Merroney in the BBC television drama series ''The Brothers (1972 TV series), The Brothers'' from 1974 to 1976 and the Sixth Doctor, sixth incarnation of The Doctor (Do ...

and

Sylvester McCoy Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith (born 20 August 1943), known professionally as Sylvester McCoy, is a Scottish actor. Gaining prominence as a physical comedian, he became best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the long ...

, while Big Finish also obtained a license that allowed them to feature the Doctor). The company continues to output a wide variety of programming, including patient information films for

Moorfields Eye Hospital Moorfields Eye Hospital is a specialist National Health Service (NHS) eye hospital in Finsbury in the London Borough of Islington in London, England run by Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Together with the UCL Institute of Ophthal ...

Video dramas

*'' Wartime'' (1988) – the first independent spin-off production from ''Doctor Who'', and the only one released while the series was still broadcasting. The storyline features

soldier John Benton finding himself trapped in an alternate reality. *''

'' (1995) – more popular characters were revived, as The Brigadier (

Nicholas Courtney William Nicholas Stone Courtney (16 December 1929 – 22 February 2011) was an Egyptian-born British actor. He was best known for his long-running role as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. ...

Sarah Jane Smith Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running BBC Television science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' and two of its spin-offs. Sarah Jane is a dogged investigative journalist who first encounters alien ...

(

Elisabeth Sladen Elisabeth Clara Heath-Sladen (1 February 1946 – 19 April 2011) was an English actress. She became best known as Sarah Jane Smith in the British television series ''Doctor Who'', appearing as a regular cast member from 1973 to 1976, alongside ...

) and

Victoria Waterfield Victoria Waterfield is a fictional character played by Deborah Watling in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. A native of Victorian England, she was a companion of the Second Doctor and a regular in the p ...

( Deborah Watling) all reprised their roles. The Yeti also made a comeback. The story also introduced the character of the Brigadier's daughter

Kate Kate may refer to: People and fictional characters * Kate (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Gyula Káté (born 1982), Hungarian amateur boxer * Lauren Kate (born 1981), American author o ...

who later appeared in the official series from the

Eleventh doctor The Eleventh Doctor is an incarnation (otherwise known as regeneration) of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is played by Matt Smith in three series as well as five specials. As wi ...

onwards. *'' Mindgame'' (1998) – a

Sontaran The Sontarans ( ) are a fictional race of extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial humanoids principally portrayed in the British science fiction on television, science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-off series ''The Sa ...

, a

Draconian Draconian is an adjective meaning "of excessive severity", that derives from Draco, an Athenian law scribe under whom small offenses had heavy punishments ( Draconian laws). Draconian may also refer to: * Draconian (band) Draconian is a Sw ...

and a Human are trapped together by an unknown enemy.

Sophie Aldred Sophie Aldred (born 20 August 1962) is an English actress and television presenter. She has worked extensively in children's television as a presenter and voice artist. She played the Seventh Doctor's companion, Ace, in the television series ''D ...

, who had played

Ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or a club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ...

in Doctor Who, stars alongside the villainous Sontarans and Draconians. *''Lust in Space'' (1998) – a film in which features fictionalised versions of

Katy Manning Catherine Ann Manning (born 14 October 1946) is a British actress. Although she has made many appearances on both screen and stage, Manning is best known for her part as the companion Jo Grant in the BBC science fiction television series ''Doct ...

, Sophie Aldred and

and asks the question "Is ''Doctor Who'' sexist?". It also features Nicholas Courtney and Mark Strickson as Time Judges and interviews with previous companions. *'' Mindgame Trilogy'' (1999) – following up from ''Mindgame'' with three shorts showing what happened to the characters after their escape. *'' Dæmos Rising'' (2004) – the story features Doctor Who monsters The Daemons and was written by David J. Howe, previously known for writing many successful nonfiction Doctor Who books, and for publishing Doctor Who fiction under the Telos Publishing imprint. Released as a DVD. *'' White Witch of Devil's End'' (2017) – an independent drama starring

Damaris Hayman Damaris Ann Kennedy Hayman (16 June 1929 – 3 June 2021) was an English actress, often cast in upper class or eccentric roles. She made numerous performance in films and television series from the 1950s onwards. Early life Hayman was born in ...

as Olive Hawthorne, who made her original appearance in Doctor Who in the

Jon Pertwee John Devon Roland Pertwee (; 7 July 1919 – 20 May 1996), known professionally as Jon Pertwee, was an English actor. Born into a theatrical family, he became known as a comedy actor, playing Chief Petty Officer Pertwee (and three other roles) in ...

story ''

The Dæmons ''The Dæmons'' is the fifth and final serial of the eighth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in five weekly parts on BBC1 from 22 May to 19 June 1971. In the serial, the alien ...

''. This DVD is a collection of monologue stories. Writers are Sam Stone, David J. Howe, Raven Dane, Suzanne Barbieri, Debbie Bennett and

Jan Edwards Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Num ...

; script editors Sam Stone, David Howe and Matt Fitton. *'' Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor'' (2019) – an independent drama starring Nabil Shaban as Sil, reprising his role from the

Doctor Who serials '' Vengeance on Varos'' and '' The Trial of a Time Lord'': ''

Mindwarp ''Mindwarp'' is the second serial of the larger narrative known as '' The Trial of a Time Lord'' which encompasses the whole of the 23rd season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast in four wee ...

''. *'' Anomaly'' (TBA) – a follow-up story to ''Downtime'' and ''Dæmos Rising'' starring Tom Chapman as an adult Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart and Beverley Cressman reprising her role as Kate Stewart.

References

External links

*
Time Travel TV
– ''website for DVD, download, or streaming Reeltime Pictures productions'' {{Doctor Who Film production companies of the United Kingdom DVD companies of the United Kingdom Television production companies of the United Kingdom Video on demand services Mass media companies based in London Entertainment companies established in 1984 Mass media companies established in 1984 1984 establishments in England