An Adventure in Space and Time (2013)

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Boring

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Today, more than fifty years after it started, Doctor Who is a worldwide phenomenon. When it started though in 1963, no one was certain that the show would make it to the end of the year let alone run for decades. Indeed, the show faced troubles before it ever got to the screen. An Adventure In Space And Time presented viewers with a dramatization of those early years of the series ahead of the show's fiftieth anniversary in 2013. Even two years later, it remains a watchable and informative account of those early years of the show.The script by Mark Gatiss, who has written episodes of the revived Doctor Who as well as numerous novels and audio dramas based on the series, does a superb job of condensing the events of over three years into a ninety minute production. For anyone who knows at least some of the early behind the scenes history of the series. While the running time means that the film can't give everyone their due but many of the people get their moment with references to theme tune arranger Delia Derbyshire and the series original associate producer Mervyn Pinfield. Gatiss wisely chooses to focus on a handful of people involved with the series including its original producer Verity Lambert and First Doctor actor William Hartnell. By choosing to focus the film's attention, it allows for a tight narrative that also gets to feature events such as the show's aborted first pilot, its near cancellation as well as presenting off told anecdotes about the early production of the series. While it does make sweeping generalizations at time, it remains true to events by and large to great success.Along with Gatiss' script, a large part of the success of this production comes from the casting. David Bradley as Hartnell was a masterstroke of casting and while Bradley doesn't have his voice and might be just a tad bit taller than the real Hartnell, he captures the spirit of the man well such as in moments such as his first lunch meeting with Lambert and director Waris Hussein. Speaking of Lambert and Hussein, both are well cast with Jessica Raine (who was soon to guest star on Doctor Who itself in the episode Hide) in particular shining as Lambet who finds herself fighting tooth and claw to get her first series as a producer off the ground. Lambert finds an ally in Hussein, played by Sacha Dhawan who bares a strong resemblance to the real life director. A surprising addition to the cast is the noted actor Brian Cox who appears as Sydney Newman, the Canadian born head of BBC Drama who essentially created Doctor Who as part of a major shakeup that followed his coming to the BBC. Cox's Newman bares some resemblance to the real man though Cox doesn't seem to act much like the Newman who can glimpsed in a couple of the DVD documentaries but he certainly has a presence which benefits the production.There's also a solid supporting cast as well. There's Lesley Manville as Hartnell's wife Heather who urges him to take the part and watches his rise to recognition before his health begins to suffer in a major supporting role which helps as well. Rounding off the original cast of the series are Jamie Glover as William Russell, Jemma Powell as Jacqueline Hill and Claudia Grant as Carole Ann Ford with a number of non-speaking actors and actresses playing the various companions from the remainder of the era. Doctor Who fans will spot a number of actors from the show's history in smaller roles such as the real life William Russell as a BBC security guard, companions actresses Anneke Wills and Jean Marsh as party guests, comedian and Doctor Who fan Toby Hadoke as a BBC bartender and modern day Dalek voice actor Nicholas Briggs playing his 1960s predecessor Peter Hawkins. While some of the casting is less than successful (such as Reece Shearsmith as Patrick Troughton who pales in comparison with Bradley's Hartnell), on the whole the cast is strong and does an admirable job of bringing their real life counterparts to life.The other admirable aspect of the film is its production values, especially its sets and costumes. For Doctor Who fans, part of the thrill of watching the film is its recreation of the long lost but familiar sets of the show's early years including the original TARDIS console room set which is recreated in splendid detail. There's also recreations of sets, props and costumes from a number of stories from the show's early years including the first Dalek story, the lost historical adventure Marco Polo, The Web Planet with its Menoptra and the Cybermen from their debut story The Tenth Planet. Outside of the elements and sets from the series, the film does a good job recreating its 1960 settings from the Hartnell home to the offices at BBC TV Centre. The latter of which is helped in its verisimilitude by actually filming at and inside the real TV Centre, being the last in a long line of productions filmed and recorded there. The latter fact, while sad, also seems fitting given how much of a tribute it plays to the designers and people who worked there on Who and other programs.Indeed, An Adventure In Space And Time is very much a tribute. It's a tribute to the people like Verity Lambert, William Hartnell and Sydney Newman who are amongst many of the people who helped to launch what would become a worldwide phenomenon. It does so with much love and attention for detail that's clear throughout. It's also an impressive piece of docudrama that serves as an example of how to bring a sometimes complex story of real events and bring them to life on screen. What more can you ask of it?

An Adventure In Space And Time is a relatively straightforward retelling of the birth of the Doctor Who TV series, recounting both the sequence of events at the BBC which led to it being commissioned, followed by the stories of the early days, up to William Hartnell's forced retirement as the first Doctor.One of the events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the show, it was filmed at the Wood Lane BBC TV Centre before it was disposed of, and is a superb portrayal of the era in which it is set. Exceptionally well cast (David Bradley, best known as Argus Filch in the Harry Potter films, is superb) and affectionately written by long-standing Doctor Who fan Mark Gatiss, this film - which features a number of cameos form people associated with the programme at the time - is a treat for long-standing fans.My only reservation is how well it will go down with non-Who fans: it is a good film in its own right, so one hopes that it will be appreciated across the board.

Overall, this is a very well-done movie detailing the early days of the Doctor Who series. It is well written, well acted - especially by a touching David Bradley and a sharp, funny Brian Cox - and moves well.In fact, I would argue that, even though it sometimes relies on a little Whovian knowledge on the part of the viewer, this is a solid portrayal of an adventure in broadcasting that is fun even if you aren't a Doctor Who fan.And that's why the last part of the movie bugs me. First off, near the end there's a cameo that makes no sense in terms of the movie itself. That is, if you haven't been watching Doctor Who the last few years you'll be perplexed. It's out of place, because there's no setup for it and it is there as very much a fan thing instead of a movie thing. It undercuts the emotional power of the scene and, even if you know who the actor is, just seems weird and pointless.After the movie ends, there is an immediate mini-documentary on William Hartnell. I don't know if this is officially part of the movie or just something the BBC stuck in to fill in the time, but if the former, it's a problem yet again. It's not that it's uninteresting, but that it once again says, "this wasn't a real movie, it was just this thing to appeal to Doctor Who fans."This movie is good enough that it didn't need to pander to its likely audience. And it doesn't, until the last 15 minutes.

Mark Gatiss always wanted to tell the story about the origins of Doctor Who and although this is a well worn tale for die hard fans, for the casual viewer this is based in a time when the television industry was a lot different.A Canadian Head of Drama with pizazz having an idea, a Jewish female producer being the first female producer at BBC drama and an Indian Muslim tasked with directing the first episode. Maybe this was a series designed to fail rather than last half a century.David Bradley well known for playing the curmudgeonly Filch in the Harry Potter films plays the curmudgeonly William Hartnell, an actor well known for playing army types and small time hoods before he got the keys for the TARDIS and enchanted children of all ages.We have recreation in colour of some of the well known scenes from early Doctor Who, some of these episodes now lost in time.The drama had to be distilled in 90 minutes so a lot of the story had to be left out. Hartnell could be difficult to work with and had abrasive relationships with some of his producers. The writer managed to get cameos from past actors from the early series and used scenes and lines from previous episodes such as Tennant's final line before he regenerated 'I don't want to go' which was reused here when Hartnell discovers he is to be replaced by another actor.