This little 8-minute special, which exists chronologically right between the third and the fourth seasons of "Doctor Who", is quite possibly the best thing that the new series has offered us so far. I laughed out loud, I cried (I've never even watched a single episode of the old series - and yet David Tennant's "All my love to long ago" at the end had more emotional power than, say, the Doctor-Rose farewell scenes at the end of "Doomsday"), I had my mind boggled in a way only "Blink" (also written by Steven Moffat) had managed to do before, and I admired the subtle way Tennant breaks out of character at the end to express his own personal feelings. This special celebrates not only a part of "Doctor Who" history, but also the past in general, the things that shape and define us. The ONLY reason I'm deducting half a star is because of the reference to L.I.N.D.A: first of all, how could the Fifth Doctor know about them, and second of all, who wants to be reminded of the worst episode of the entire series ("Love And Monsters") while they are watching the best (this one)? ***1/2 out of 4.

When a young David Tennant watched Dr Who his favourite take on the hero was that of Peter Davison. As the then-current star, Tennant got the chance to work with him for this short and what does his character say to the man who would later be his father-in-law? You were my doctor. Inside references are the best aren't they?So, what's this about? The Tenth and Fifth Doctors meet each other, that's what! If two of the finest actors ever to grace our screens coming together as the same character isn't enough to grab at you then I don't know what is."Two minutes to Belgium!" As in, an explosion the size of. The TARDIS can't cope with being in the same place as its past self and it's up to the two incarnations to stop that from happening. Doing so will separate the two again and Ten has some important parting words to Five first. It's great to see the classic doctors getting the respect they deserve. This probably led some young fans to investigate the older Dr Who serials for the first time and that's only ever a good thing.Moffat delivers the goods again. Shame we couldn't see them team up for a whole episode.

Of all the 'Doctors' to follow Tom Baker's epic ( seven year ) run, Peter Davison was for me the most impressive. His boyishly charming, cricket-loving Time Lord made a nice contrast to his grinning, scarf-wearing Bohemian predecessor. Alas the actor was served appalling scripts of the calibre of 'Time Flight' and 'Warriors Of The Deep', and after three seasons beat a hasty retreat to the cosy Sunday evening world of James Herriot.'Time Crash', written by Steven Moffat before he became producer, was a short ( 8 minutes, to be exact ) episode that went out as part of 'Children In Need' in November 2007. It was not the first 'Doctor Who' to have that honour - the last one was in 2005 when the show still basked in the glory of the Eccleston/Piper combo, and featured David Tennant's debut in the role. Chronologically, it takes after 'Last Of The Time Lords' ( what a horrible season finale that was! ) and before the 'Voyage Of The Damned' Christmas Special.After seeing Martha off, the Doctor is alone in the Tardis once more. But not quite. A stranger has mysteriously slipped aboard. An older-looking Fifth Doctor, still wearing that Edwardian cricketing costume, and baffled by his predicament. The episode then becomes a two-hander, loaded with continuity references, but still managing to satisfy young viewers not readily acquainted with '80's 'Who'. The exchange was easily the best since the 'dandy and the clown' of 1973's 'The Three Doctors'. I liked the way The Tenth Doctor spoke of his delight at being The Fifth. The line "You were my Doctor!" was delivered with absolute sincerity.Graeme Harper, who directed the final Davison story 'The Caves Of Androzani', drew from the actor one of his very best performances in the role. Like a fine wine, his Time Lord had mellowed with age. I was touched when he doffed his hat in respect, before vanishing into the ether. They should do a sequel one day.

"Doctor Who" was back for all of eight minutes, as part of "Children in Need" night, in a mini-episode, written by Steven Moffat and directed by Graeme Harper, entitled "Time Crash". I've already seen it described, subsequently, as "Time Crap" but I thought it was good fun with a rather poignant final minute. My favourite line was actually one given to tenth Doctor David Tennant, and thus the obvious choice for the title of this post, but, overall, I thought fifth Doctor Peter Davison out-acted his successor. He was "let's be honest, pretty sort-of-marvellous"! Readers may think I'm prejudiced in his favour because I prefer the classic series to Russell T. Davies' reinvention but that isn't the reason. Peter wasn't "My Doctor", just the better actor on this occasion. They really only got it spot on, during his era, in his final story so it was intriguing to see the actor reunited with the director of that story, "The Caves of Androzani", for this little, well-balanced, excursion.While David may have had the best line, the one tinged with A. E. Housman-style regret of a past long since lost, the fifth Doctor had the leading question, and the one I've been asking myself for the last two years, when he asks the tenth, "Is there something wrong with you?"! Perhaps David is "the decorative vegetable" rather than Peter's stick of celery!! Steven Moffat summed up the current Doctor's predilection for "ranting in my face about every single thing that happens to be in front of him" perfectly!!! My only regret about "Time Crash" is that it wasn't a full-length episode. Having gone to the trouble of rehiring a popular former-leading man from the series, together with the programme's best director of that period combined (for the first time) with the writing skills of the current series' best author, it would've been nice to see the central relationship developed further… as in "The Two Doctors", one of my "Blue Remembered Hills". I echo the sentiment, "All My Love To Long Ago".