‘AN ADVENTURE IN SPACE AND TIME’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
The Origins of ‘Doctor Who’ – Celebrating 50 Years of ‘Doctor Who’
For Timelord007
“One day I shall come back! Yes, I shall come back!” – William Hartnell as the First Doctor, ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’.
This is ‘An Adventure in Space and Time’, a docu-drama shown on BBC2 on the 21st of November, 2013 to celebrate 50 years of ‘Doctor Who’. I watched this very special drama on the night it was shown. I enjoyed seeing how the history of ‘Doctor Who’s creation was dramatized before my eyes.
The original DVD of ‘An Adventure in Space and Time’ was a 1-disc DVD set. ‘An Adventure in Space and Time’ has now been re-released as part of the ’50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition DVD’ of ‘Doctor Who’ and is on Disc 4.
This docu-drama is beautifully written and well-produced by Mark Gatiss. Mark is currently a writer on the new series of ‘Doctor Who’ and it’s great he produced this for the show’s 50th anniversary.
I was aware of the origins of ‘Doctor Who’ from watching the ‘Doctor Who: Origins’ documentary on ‘The Edge of Destruction’ DVD in ‘The Beginning’ DVD box set. I discovered more behind-the-scenes stuff about William Hartnell’s tenure in ‘The End of the Line’ documentary on ‘The Gunfighters’ DVD.
This special docu-drama begins with a prologue scene in 1966 with William Hartnell on his last day making ‘The Tenth Planet’. Bill Hartnell has his life flashing before his eyes as we’re taken back 1963.
The story of how ‘Doctor Who’ was created begins with Sydney Newman, the Head of BBC Drama. He comes up with an idea for an educational science-fiction children’s show and calls Verity Lambert to help him produce it before they cast William Hartnell, a former movie star to play Doctor Who.
I was impressed by how Mark Gatiss dramatizes the origins story and imbues it with such love and affection that is brought to life by the actors. This is the story on how a successful TV show was created and how the producers and the director struggled against pressure to make this show work.
As well as featuring the Daleks in this docu-drama, there’s also the Menoptra from ‘The Web Planet’ and the first Cybermen from ‘The Tenth Planet’. It was a delight to see the behind-the-scenes making of ‘Marco Polo’, ‘The Reign of Terror’ and ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’ featured in this docu-drama.
This docu-drama stars David Bradley as William Hartnell. I’ve seen David in a BBC production of ‘Our Mutual Friend’ and the ‘Harry Potter’ films. He was also in the ‘Doctor Who’ episode ‘Dinosaurs on a Spaceship’ and voiced the Shansheeth in ‘The Sarah Jane Adventures’ story, ‘Death of the Doctor’.
David is brilliant as William Hartnell, looking and sounding like him! I was terribly impressed with David’s performance as Bill Hartnell There’s a moment when he has his eyes wide open as Hartnell does. I really like how Hartnell’s career is touched upon before becoming a world-famous child’s star.
There’s Jessica Raine as Verity Lambert, ‘Doctor Who’s first producer. Jessica has appeared in ‘Doctor Who’ with Matt Smith in the episode called ‘Hide’. Jessica delivers a remarkable performance as Verity, who is a woman struggling in a man’s world and becomes a female producer for the BBC.
There’s also Sacha Dhawan as Waris Hussein, the first ‘Doctor Who’ director. I really like how Sacha plays Waris as someone who doesn’t know what to do when getting the scripts of the ‘cavemen’ story and sharing a good working relationship and friendship with Verity Lambert when they start.
There’s also Brian Cox as Sydney Newman, the BBC’s Head of Drama and the man who originated ‘Doctor Who’. Brian does a convincing and authentic performance as Sydney who gets people like Verity Lambert to produce ‘Doctor Who’ work. He’s very blunt when pushing her forward to make it.
And there’s Lesley Manville as Heather, William Hartnell’s wife. I really like how Hartnell’s family life is touched upon in this docu-drama. Heather is concerned for her husband when he’s out of work from the start, and is pleased for him when he’s called to do a leading part in a children’s TV series.
The cast also includes Jamie Glover as William Russell; Jemma Powell as Jacqueline Hill and Claudia Grant as Carole Ann Ford. There’s also Nicholas Briggs as Peter Hawkins the original Dalek voice.
There are cast playing behind-the-scenes BBC personnel. These include Jeff Rawle as associate producer Mervyn Pinfield; Ian Hallard as director Richard Martin and Andrew Woodall as Rex Tucker.
There are also cameos of real ‘Doctor Who’ stars. There’s William Russell; Carole Ann Ford; Jean Marsh; Anneke Wills and script editor Donald Tosh. There’s also Toby Hadoke as a BBC bartender.
It was nice to set some of the drama filmed at the BBC Television Centre in London. This is after all where ‘Doctor Who’ started and it’s such a tribute to a place where many classic ‘Doctor Who’ stories were filmed, although many of William Hartnell’s stories were filmed in Lime Grove Studios.
As the story concludes, Bill Hartnell’s ill health is depicted as he’s getting flat out from the busy work schedule and his bad-temper grows worse which was very sad. The BBC producers including Sydney Newman consider what to do as they can’t have ‘Doctor Who’ without ‘Doctor Who’; can they?
There’s a heart-breaking scene where Bill Hartnell meets Sydney Newman is in his office. Sydney tells Bill about their plans to ‘regenerate’ the show, but not with him. Bill is heart-broken when he discovers they want to carry on without him and the scene is beautifully played between the actors.
The scene where Bill Hartnell comes home to tell his wife Heather about what’s happened is equally heart-breaking. Bill is accepting of his decision to leave, but it’s also clear that he was reportedly heartbroken. Bill breaks down in tears saying, “I don’t want to go” and it’s really moving to watch.
The story returns to the making of ‘The Tenth Planet’ where Bill Hartnell does his final scene and meets Reece Shearsmith as Patrick Troughton. I found the meeting between these two men really charming and touching. Patrick is so humble towards Bill Hartnell and Hartnell is pleasant towards Troughton.
There is then a final moment which I did not expect to see when Bill’s at the TARDIS console. He looks up and sees Matt Smith before him. It’s a lovely moment where the two Doctors without saying a word and it acknowledges Bill Hartnell’s legacy as ‘Doctor Who’ still carries on without him.
There are then words of tribute given to the real Sydney Newman; Verity Lambert; Waris Hussein and William Hartnell before the end credits. Then we see actual footage of William Hartnell making that famous speech to Susan from ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’. It’s a lovely way to end this docu-drama.
The DVD/Blu-ray special features for this docu-drama are as follows. There’s the ‘William Hartnell: The Original’ featurette with behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast and crew, and there’s ‘The Making of An Adventure’ documentary with behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast and crew. There are ‘reconstructions’ scenes, title sequences, and two deleted scenes from ‘An Adventure In Space and Time’. On the ‘An Adventure In Space and Time’ disc (Disc 4) of the ’50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition DVD’ of ‘Doctor Who’, there’s ‘The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot’ that stars and is written and directed by Peter Davison. There’s the ‘Doctor Who At The Proms 2013’ programme which was performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London in the summer of 2013 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ‘Doctor Who’, which I enjoyed immensely on TV and on DVD.
‘An Adventure in Space and Time’ is a wonderful and touching tribute to ‘Doctor Who’. This docu-drama is a brilliant dramatization of how ‘Doctor Who’ was made back in the 1960s and I thank Mark Gattis for coming up with this wonderful drama. It’s a great tribute to people like William Hartnell.
‘An Adventure in Space and Time’ rating – 9/10
| Return to Doctor Who |
| Return to Sci-Fi |
Bradley's Basement 
Thanks for the dedication Tim that’s so kind.
Weird eh David Bradley plays William Hartnell & now The First Doctor in Twice Upon A Time & BIg Finish audio in fact the entire main cast do which is surrealistic to say the least.
I love this story i like how we see the Doctor’s humble beginnings written & how Bill Hartnell was cast as the Doctor, such a shame when his health declined & those scenes when he was told he was being replaced were heartbreaking but when he seen Matt Smith’s Doctor appear i literally had tears rolling down my face it was such a poignant moment.
The scenes were Cybermen actors are smoking was funny, the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s were notorious for smoking, you were frowned upon if you didn’t smoke how times have changed.
I like how they added how the pilot didn’t test well & given a chance to reshoot writer Mark Gatiss knows all the intricacies making for a more factual adaptation.
Fantastic review Tim, your nickname ought to be the postman because you always deliver the goods.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Simon.
That’s okay. Glad you like the dedication I made to you in this review.
I find it amazing and wonderful that David Bradley has done more ‘Doctor Who’ related stuff since doing ‘An Adventure In Space and Time’ such as ‘Twice Upon A Time’ on TV and ‘The First Doctor Adventures’ by Big Finish. I have the first box set of ‘The First Doctor Adventures’ along with ‘The Eleventh Doctor Chronicles’ ready to listen to. I hope I’ll get onto those box sets very soon. I’m looking forward to hearing them.
I really like how this docu-drama dramatised the behind-the-scenes origins of ‘Doctor Who’ from 1963 onwards right up to the end of William Hartnell’s era. I recall remembering certain facts about the behind-the-scenes origins in many DVD extras and it was nice to see that portrayed in a drama by actors. I also enjoyed how William Hartnell’s career in ‘Doctor Who’ began with him rising to fame before declining in health until he got replaced by another actor which was pretty emotional and heartbreaking by the drama’s end.
I found it off-putting when I saw a ‘Tenth Planet’ Cyberman smoking at the beginning of the drama. I can imagine how things must’ve been different in those days. I recall seeing a 1980s ‘Doctor Who’ convention panel of the Fifth Doctor era with all of the regular cast there and some of them like Janet Fielding and Matthew Waterhouse were smoking away. Thankfully, Sarah Sutton wasn’t smoking which is a relief for me. 😀
I think most of this docu-drama was correct in its facts about ‘Doctor Who’s history by Mark Gatiss. Although I’m sure Anneke Wills would disagree on that since I heard her say there were errors in the docu-drama according to a panel she did when I attended the ‘Regenerations 2016’ convention in Swansea.
Many thanks for your comments, Simon. Very pleased you enjoyed my review on ‘An Adventure in Space and Time’.
Brace yourself for tomorrow! The final review of this 55th anniversary celebration season of ‘Doctor Who’ is going to be mega-epic!
Tim. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is my favorite 50th Anniversary special for Dr. Who. Specifically for how it so easily refreshes the most original appeals of this sci-fi universe during the mid 60s. It was good that actors from William Hartnell’s time were able to make special cameos and I’m especially glad that they could include Jean Marsh, who I often thought might have made a good Doctor herself. It’s always nice to have reminders of how our favorite shows or films had first impacted us many years ago. An Adventure In Space and Time will always be the hardest to match in that regard. Thank you, Tim, for your review.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi scifimike,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on ‘An Adventure In Space and Time’. I managed to see this on BBC Two when it was transmitted on the 21st of November 2013. Glad this is your favourite 50th amniversary special of ‘Doctor Who’. I enjoyed watching it again earlier this year on Britbox along with the two ‘Doctor Who’ movies starring Peter Cushing.
‘An Adventure In Space and Time’ is certainly an enjoyable historical renactment of what happened when ‘Doctor Who’ was made in the early 1960s. It’s generally well-written by Mark Gattis and it features great performances from the cast, including David Bradley as William Hartnell. I’m pleased he went on to play the First Doctor on TV and in the Big Finish audios afterwards.
Many thanks for your comments.
Tim 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
James Dreyfus played a prequel Master for Bradley’s 1st Doctor stories. But as I just learned, Dreyfus’ Big Finish work was subjected to cancel culture because someone had taken a comment by Dreyfus out of context. The overwhelming issues that are plaguing our entertainment world can be very depressing and especially when the issues somehow reach our favorite shows like Doctor Who.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi scifimike,
Yes, it is a shame that James Dreyfus has been subjected to ‘cancel culture’ lately. I enjoyed him as the Master in ‘The Destination Wars’, ‘The Home Guard’ and ‘The Psychic Circus’. I don’t think what he said should have been said, since it has jeopardised his career. I don’t know much about James Dreyfus, but I’d like to think he’s a decent person. It is sad we live in a world where people can be easily affected by PC issues, since I’ve enjoyed Bruno Langley, John Barrowman and Noel Clarke in their ‘Doctor Who’ roles and I’ve enjoyed Gareth Roberts’ efforts as a ‘Doctor Who’ writer. It seems a shame their ‘Doctor Who’ careers have been tarnished by what they’ve said and done in recent years.
Thanks for your comments.
Tim 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Tim,
I hope to rewatch ‘An Adventure in Space and Time’ soon in order to review it, and I’ll leave another comment on your review once I’ve seen it.
I’ve had a look at ScifiMike and yourself’s comments on James Dreyfus. I have the First Doctor box set in which he first played the Master, and I hope to listen to it soon. I can see your POV, and you’re free to disagree with what I’m about to say, but I don’t think James Dreyfus is all that innocent. Not to mention, he went on GB News, which is a pretty awful channel, and expressed his views on there.
I usually try and stay away from issues like these, although it’s not always easy. I agree that some PC issues can get ridiculously at times, but people who are against PC issues can be equally toxic a lot of the times, and hypocritically act much the same as the people they criticise. You and I have seen this with people who harass Chris Chibnall and Jodie Whitaker over their era. There’s actually been claims that Chibnall was aware of what John Barrowman had done, but I reckon they’re just trying to make Chibnall look as bad as possible.
I’m sorry for my long comment, and I hope you find my thoughts fair enough.
Xavier
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Xavier,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this matter. I greatly appreciate them. I admit, I’m not an expert on these issues and sometimes I get things wrong when it comes to understanding what happened with people like James Dreyfus and John Barrowman who have been under scrunity lately. I try to be open-minded about this and my main priority is to review more pleasant things about ‘Doctor Who’ and other TV/film productions.
If I have to bring up something controversial, sad or horrible, it’s only brought up because it’s important to know for a TV show or film e.g. for ‘Doctor Who’ there’s Roger Delgado’s tragic death and what happened during the 1985-86 period of the TV show with John Nathan-Turner, Eric Saward and Colin Baker. I hope I’m fair in my judgement on these things as I’m sure you’d like to be too. It’s not always easy trying to understand these things, but I hope I don’t have toxic views like others seem to.
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Tim,
Many thanks for your reply. That’s alright, your views are not toxic at all. You simply stated what you thought was right. 🙂
Whilst it’s not as bad as it used to be, I can still see traces of internet wars over this sort of issue. I mentioned the 13th Doctor and its controversial reception earlier, as it sadly seems that the RTD2 era is receiving the same kind of reception. Also, I have a question. Do you think a female/non-white Doctor would have been received differently if it had been done in the classic series?
I of course try to ignore this kind of thing when it comes to movies, tv etc. as it can really put me off wanting to engage with something when I do see it. Both sides are generally as bad as each other at this point.
It hasn’t helped that when I had COVID. It caused me to go through a great deal of stress and anxiety, which I’m still recovering from.
Xavier
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks Xavier,
Yes, I’ve briefly seen a few remarks made by some YouTubers where they’re criticising the RTD2 era already before it’s even started. I know I have my reservations about the upcoming neo-RTD era, but I’d like to see it first before I can make any judgements on it. It’s like some viewers/fans have already made up their minds about certain eras and aren’t changing their minds about them in the process like with the Jodie Whittaker/Chris Chibnall era and the upcoming David Tennant/Ncuti Gatwa/RTD era. Their opinions don’t seem to be well-balanced enough with positives and negatives, which is why I don’t tend to watch them on YouTube.
I don’t know if a female/non-white Doctor like Jo Martin would have been receieved differently if it was done in the classic TV series. It probably would have been frowned upon to a great extent and even then, the concept of a female Doctor was joked about but not taken seriously in the 1980s. The fact is, the Doctor had always been considered male in the classic TV series and the idea of the character changing gender and changing colour would not have been thought of and would be unheard of in 20th century society. They were different times and I don’t blame anyone for not even contemplating these notions as the strictness of the Doctor always being male was considered normal. I don’t know if I’ve expressed myself well here, but that’s what I think.
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Cancel culture naturally runs the risk of becoming a witch hunt, which is why it can be wise to oppose it. As for all the issues for fans about Jodie’s era, it can come down to whether fans should enjoy the era for the stories or for the Doctor. We’ve seen actors in the role find the best ways to shine even during the troubling stories and seasons. Certainly Tom Baker who was always most formidable in how he could throw his weight into the story. It’s another benefit to the unique flexibility of the show. Jodie for a first female Doctor already had support from other actresses, in fan films or Arabella Weir for Unbound, who could in their own rights find fruition as female Doctors. But she deserved a much better showrunner than Chibnall.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Hi scifimike,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Jodie Whittaker/Chris Chibnall era. I can’t entirely agree with your comments, since I’ve enjoyed the Thirteenth Doctor era to a great extent. I admit there are flaws in terms of the writing of some of the episodes, but I’ve found it a more interesting and more compelling era compared to the efforts of Steven Moffat’s tenure as a showrunner. I know that’s something not everyone will agree with me on, but it’s how I feel and I find there’s much good as well as bad in each era of the TV show depending on how you perceive the series and how it should be done.
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
There was enough for me to enjoy about Jodie’s era for personal reasons. I also liked Jo Martin’s role as the Fugitive Doctor. The Timeless Child drama may have been a timely homage to the mind-bending contest twist in The Brain Of Morbius. But me along with some friends have frequently discussing the obvious upsets for fans who like to praise William Hartnell as the original. I was actually hoping for the Fugitive Doctor to be an Unbound Doctor. Certainly in honor of Unbound Doctor David Warner who just before passing had his final story with Big Finish alongside Eccleston’s Doctor. But indeed the mix between the good and the bad for each Doctor’s era is worth noting. Chibnall may have had his reasons, but I often wish that Verity Lambert could have lived to produce Jodie’s era.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi scifimike,
Thanks again for sharing these thoughts about the Jodie Whittaker/Chris Chibnall era. I hope after Russell T. Davies’ neo era, there’ll be a female showrunner with a female Doctor to contrast how things would have been done differently compared to Chris Chibnall’s efforts. It would be very interesting to see. I’m surprised a female showrunner hasn’t been considered so far in the new TV series since, as far as I’m concerned, Verity Lambert is the only female producer to do that so far and she was the first ‘Doctor Who’ producer back in 1963.
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
In my case, cancel culture has nothing do with it, as I am in fact against it. I don’t care about James Dreyfus as a person, but I wouldn’t refuse to watch/listen to something just because he’s in it?
Xavier
LikeLiked by 2 people
Not caring about actors so much as people but still giving attention to their work makes sense to me too. Because I’ve still re-watched films like The Usual Suspects and A Time To Kill despite all that’s happened with Kevin Spacey. The best reason of all to be against cancel culture is because it presumes to tell us what we should give our attention to and that’s an infringement on a most basic human right. We all have our own individual ways of facing worldly issues, even with all that’s flooding our media, and in the name of fairness, that must always be respected.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi scifimike,
Very well said. I still enjoy ‘Fawlty Towers’ as a comedy series despite the scrunity it’s had with ‘The Germans’ episode containing some racial slurs and the series not being available to stream on sites like Britbox in the UK. I’m sure I’ll enjoy revisiting ‘Fawlty Towers’ when I go for my ‘Doctor Who’ convention weekend in Scarborough in November and I’m sure I’ll enjoy the upcoming ‘Fawlty Towers’ sequel series by John Cleese and his daughter when it’s completed and available to watch.
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Xavier,
When I get to checking out and reviewing ‘The Sarah Jane Adventures’, I’m sure I’ll enjoy James Dreyfus in ‘The Man Who Never Was’, which he did way before playing the Master in the Big Finish audios.
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people