Senna fights back

Duke Marketing. 90 mins, £12.99.

Senna Fights Back, eh? Now what could that be about?

Turns out that its the official FOCA review of the 1993 F1 World Championship (winner: A Prost). The heading, one presumes, is a passing reference to Senna’s momentary lapse into pugilism at Suzuka.

Misleading title apart, this, as it usually is, is a decent production. Even though TV directors don’t always make full use of the facilities at their disposal for live broadcasts, the proliferation of cameras means that virtually all major incidents are captured nowadays. Sure enough, here they all are, crammed into an hour and a half, which is no mean feat: just over five and a half minutes per Grand Prix does not offer great scope for detailed analysis, but precious few of the year’s talking points are missed.

The result is a Zap! Pow! delivery worthy of a 1960s Batman movie, but we recommend you watch it with the commentary turned down (ideally replaced by a musical substitute of your own choosing). The policy of having guest commentators has worked in the past, most famously with Clive James, who was allowed to inject some of his own personality into the role. The latest incumbent, Jonathan Ross, merely follows a fairly plain script, delivered in a monotone which completely fails to match the glitzy action sequences.

Good footage; shame about the voice. S A