Over Christmas I got into an argument with a friend of mine who is convinced that Extras on DVDs and Blu-Rays are useless and should be eliminated, because no one watches them.
I disagreed vehemently, and frankly it's because of things like Tennant's video diaries that I feel the Extra features are often as important as the main program.
Can you imagine the understanding we'd have gained from the making of early Doctor Who if William Hartnell or Patrick Troughton - or Carole Anne Ford, or Verity Lambert - had been given a video camera to record their thoughts and observations and between-scenes events? Forget Doctor Who - I'd give my eye teeth for someone to have done the same on The Prisoner. Or the original Star Trek. We have a few silent home movies, a few rare interview clips, and the Trek bloopers to give us an idea of what things were like in "real life", but that's it.
Tennant really went to town with his video diaries for seasons 2 and 3 and I think future generations who go to watch those shows will be the better for it. (Even the Confidentials are staged to a degree. With Tennant, his diaries let you actually be there.) And if the promo trailer is any indication, Tennant's diaries for the final specials promise to be as dramatic as anything that happens on the stage.
Alex
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