Ein Abenteuer in Raum und Zeit

I only started watching the new series just this summer, but I'm hooked! In Belgium, Doctor Who isn't well known, so that explains a lot why I'm a rather new fan. I've wanted to start watching the Classic Who's, but I never got to it.

After seeing this, I just can't say anything else but WOW! I now understand that Doctor Who has such a legacy and we are so priviliged that it's still on! I loved the cast and how they showed us even the dark side of themselves, by showing us that they didn't really care about the budget of the show when it just started.

The movie was fantastic, it really touched me, I cried... a lot!

So I think I'm ready now to watch the Classics, but now, first of all, the 50th, so every Whovian out there, young, new, classic fan or new fan, Happy 50th, Happy Day of the Doctor!!!

May we have 50 years and more!!

I was privileged to attend the premier at the National Film Theatre. The audience was asked not to give away any spoilers, so I'll respect that wish (not that I wouldn't have done so anyway, of course).

The programme was far more emotional that I had expected and the audience's reaction - laughs, tears and much rapt silence - showed I wasn't alone. Admittedly, the place was packed with Doctor Who fans, so it was hardly going to send any of them to sleep, but they could also have been counted on to be highly critical of any factual errors.

The time frame covers 1963 to 1966 and is as much a biography of William Hartnell, the first Doctor, as the early years of the show he fronted. The Doctor is played by David Bradley (no complaints from me about his crotchety but committed portrayal) and is pretty much throughout seen as ailing in physical health or mental agility, which seems like a true depiction but is rather unfortunate for his legacy as someone often described, in his earlier years, as a fine character actor. Hartnell's granddaughter, who was in attendance at the post-screening Q&A) referred to the fact that prided himself on remembering his lines, so his problems with this as depicted here should be taken into context, although it would have been a tall order for the programme to have tried to focus on any more of the man's life without overrunning its 90 minute time.

Many of the key production staff have key roles, although (as writer Mark Gatiss acknowledged during the Q&A) not all of them were included as to do so would have been made the programme too difficult to follow. Thus there is no David Whitaker, for example, but there is much screen time for the Sydney Newman, the Canadian Head of Drama at the BBC, amusingly played by Brian Cox. His pivotal role in appointing and supporting Verity Lambert, the Doctor Who producer, was one of the unexpected revelations here.

Without giving away any really key moments (and there are plenty of lovely surprises) the show is both reverential of the programme as well as poking fun at the ridiculousness of making a prime time science fiction programme on a BBC budget with no computer technology and live editing. Plenty more such contrasts abound: the daleks are both funny and awesome at the same time; Hartnell's crotchety but committed personality is shown to be a benefit and a hindrance.

If you are even slightly interested in Doctor Who I'm sure you'll love it as much as the audience who gave it a standing ovation. Young children would probably be unlikely to find much of interest in it but older ones with more than a 30 second attention span may well enjoy it. Considering that much of the story of the programme is known to many of us and that there are no deaths or love affairs involved (that's not a spoiler - surely you weren't expecting that?) it is to its credit that it managed to be so entertaining for a film-length duration.

Faithful and loving recreation of those early days of "Doctor Who", when William Hartnell(played excellently by David Bradley) first took on the mantle of that mysterious wandering time & space traveler the Doctor, with a fine supporting cast portraying his costars(William Russell, Jacqueline Hill, and Carole Ann Ford) and real-life production crew(like producer Verity Lambert, young director Waris Hussein, and their boss at the BBC Sydney Newman.) Behind the scenes turmoil and uncertainty are well portrayed, and were quickly settled once the Daleks debuted, and the ratings climbed to ten million...

The script by Mark Gatiss is quite good, with nice touches that long-time fans will appreciate, though at only 90 minutes, it does move along a bit too fast, with other key participants(like script editor and writer David Whitaker) left out altogether, and the final little nod to the "future" will either leave viewer hot or cold, since not all fans like what the series later became(I stopped at Peter Davison), but those are small complaints in this otherwise worthwhile special, which also gives a most interesting view of the private side of Hartnell, with his loyal wife and granddaughter. Most effective and moving.

As part of the 50th anniversary celebration of Doctor Who, the BBC has produced this movie about the origins and Bill Hartnell years of the TV show. Writer Mark Gatiss, a longtime Whovian, has dug through all the stories and legends and has produced a fine script.

The thesis of the movie is that Sydney Newman chose a novice producer, Verity Lambert, who proceeded to build an unlikely team: the first Indian director of the BBC; an actor frustrated at his lack of advancement; and the already worn out facilities at Lime Grove. Somehow she managed to hold this together long enough to create a series which has prospered for half a century, despite the best the suits at the BBC could do.

There's some fine casting in this one, especially David Bradley as William Hartnell. It's rather shocking to me to see him, clean-shaven and well dressed and he gives a fine performance as the William Hartnell of the standard story: old, collapsing under the impact of ill health, but unwilling to give up his claim to fame.

That's not precisely the reality of the matter. Doctor Who ran on a killing schedule during Hartnell's term: forty episodes a year, dialogue filled with scientific bafflegab. Almost anyone would have crumbled under it.

Still, the story as written is cogent and should please the series' fans. the production values are top notch and the actors are excellent and look like the ones who played the original roles. I'd like to give a shout out to the stand outs, but I'd have to name just about every member of the cast.

This movie probably won't appeal to people who are not rabid fans of the show, but for those who, like me, are, it's a great treat.

When the success of a show is defined by its main protagonist for 50 years, then there is no better tribute then this drama movie. Based on true events, this movie/documentary focuses on the first actor and producer that defined and shaped the first doctor of the British television show Doctor Who. It shows how the production got started back in the 60's and how the actor William Hartnell (beautifully portrait by David Bradley) opened the minds of children and adults to fantasy and sci-fi.

It is however not entirely a happy story, for all good things must come to an end. Without spoiling it for everyone I would like to say that the end is very heart-breaking but filled with hope for the future.

In short, the movie was beautifully told with a fine pace. The acting was good conveying emotions at the right time. Furthermore, I'm very happy that this movie used almost no CGI and a lot of props which I think is becoming a lost art.

I give this movie an 8.

People I really recommend this movie if you want to see a good drama.