REVIEWED
!!! Warning I'm a life long Doctor Who fanboy, so take review & rating with a huge pinch of salt. !!!
“Kill it Sydney, kill Doctor Who.” - BBC Executive Donald Baverstock (Mark Eden)
'An Adventure in Space and Time' is a BBC TV movie to tie in with their 50th anniversary celebration of Doctor Who. It follows the early 50s-60s history of the show during William Hartnells tenure, and the shows inception by Sydney Newman and his young producer Verity Lambert. Its a lavish production, the BBC really throwing in the lot to honor one of the true jewels in their crown. Its skillfully directed by Terry McDonough and penned by die hard Doctor Who nut Mark Gatiss... I and I'm sure all my old Outpost Gallifrey buddies salute you Mr Gatiss, you really do the fans proud. He even manages to amusingly poke fun of the pomp of the old guards at auntie. And fact the show broke socially unaccepted norms of the time, for being directed by an Indian Waris Hussein and produced by a woman Verity Lambert.
BBC capture their pre internet vintage heyday fantastically. I Loved it, it's a pure treat for fans of the show and retro British television nuts in general. Brian Cox is amusingly brash as the Canadian television executive Sydney Newman, so loved the film name dropped his earlier shows Avengers & Pathfinders, both of which greatly paved the way for DW. Jessica Raine was a joy as Verity Lambert who smoked like trooper. And David Bradley was phenomenal as Hartnell (give him a BAFTA already), he really brought a lump to my throat when he was crying at being forced out of the role he made his own, due to illness. The films final was warmly worked in with him meeting Patrick Troughton (Gatiss's League of Gentlemen co-star Reece Shearsmith) and a dream of Hartnells hopes for the doctor to live on long after he departs, that cuts to current Doctor played by Matt Smith smiling back at him. It was pure magic, its entertaining & insightfull in equal measures. Can't decide between this or Breaking Bads final season as being my favorite moment of tv this year (And I still moan theres nothing on).
[Personal Reasons For Remembering]
Kids being called in from dark wintery nights by their mothers shouting "That show you wanted to watch is on the tele". The legendary Delia Derbyshire making the shows famous theme tune by scraping metal along a grill, it featured in a little vignet showing the BBC's lack of initial interest for the show, by throwing the production into a rat infested grubby warehouse like studio at Lime Grove. Verity Lamberts amazement at seeing children pretending to be darleks while riding the bus to BBC house and Hartnell lovingly playing with a school trip who chance meets him in the park with his lovely wife Heather.
Originally taken from Letterboxd
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