When Yee Jee Tso was cast as Chang Lee in 1996’s Doctor Who TV Movie, he saw the role as just another job. He didn’t realise that, once Doctor Who gets its claws into you, it doesn’t let go easily. The series followed him and changed his life forever. “People told me it would,” he laughs, “but I was like, ‘Eh, whatever. That’s not going to happen...’”
Of course, as this whole issue of DWM proves, it did happen – and now, 20 years on from the TV Movie, Yee Jee proves his own devotion to Doctor Who in a new book, Time and Spaces. At the heart of the book are a series of photographs taken by Yee Jee during the movie’s production, which, after laying forgotten in a box for years, are seeing the light of day here for the first time. The book also features snippets taken from Yee Jee’s collection of production documents, along with some new photos taken by the actor of locations used during filming in Vancouver, Canada, his home town.
Although the photos make up the core of the book, it also features new text by Yee Jee, guiding the reader around Vancouver and reminiscing about his time on the Doctor Who set. It’s been a labour of love for the actor, who has revelled in the chance to go back to where his travels with the Time Lord began…