The original Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964)
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, a special docu-drama ‘An Adventure in Time and Space’ will be screened. The 90 minute special will feature David Bradley as actor William Hartnell, Brian Cox as series creator Sydney Newman, Jessica Raine as producer Verity Lambert and Sacha Dhawan as Waris Hussein, director of the first Doctor Who story, An Unearthly Child.
Written by Mark Gatiss of Sherlock, League of Gentlemen and Doctor Who fame, the program will recount the making of the program in the 1960’s, calling for the recreation of several iconic moments such as The Dalek Invasion of Earth.
I enjoy the new series and am happy that it has introduced a new fanbase to Doctor Who, but it is so exciting for me to see classic Daleks in a familiar setting, recreating a moment from one of my favorite stories.
The premiere screen date of ‘An Adventure in Time and Space’ is still to be decided, but it will likely occur around the anniversary, November 23rd.
(click here to read my article on The Dalek Invasion of Earth)
The Daily P.O.P. 
Not to be a party-pooper but I’m afraid that An Adventure In Time And Space seems rather pointless. The story of how Doctor Who came to be is interesting but it isn’t *dramatic* and, besides, the series developed over time it wasn’t the same by 1965 as it was at the beginning never mind by 1967 or 1970 or 1975. Despite the publicity (which is useful for diverting attention from the really interesting things ie how the series itself will mark the anniversary) Gatiss is merely contributing to a line of often undramatic or fictionalized docudramas spewed out by the BBC over the past five years. The making of Doctor Who is interesting to *read* about but it ain’t *drama*. Well, rant over. Sorry if I appeared disgruntled about the thing – and I’m sure the reconstructions will be entertaining enough, if vaguely without point – but I care about Art and Drama (cos I’m pa snob, and proud of it, doncha know ;)) and don’t think people should be sold a bill of goods or accept it. Plus I’m contrary.
And NUTS!
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‘An Adventure in Space and Time’ isn’t just about the making of Doctor Who, it’s dramatic centre will focus on William Hartnell’s story (over coming type casting, illness, etc), and covers the period of his Doctor. You’ve also got the drama of Verity Lambert and Waris Hussain having to prove themselves in a BBC dominated by white, middle-aged men. So it’s not just going to be a bunch of people deciding what a Dalek should like over a cup of tea.
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Heh. Well, thanks for that, that’s me told then! A pity, I’d watch the heck out of that, it’d be like Becket. Seriously, as I’m familiar with the history I’m aware of that (not being sarcastic by the way) as well the hype around this thing, it doesn’t change my point of view. There was a similar docudrama about the origins of the British soap opera Coronation Street so it’s not like I don’t know what to expect. And even if I were wrong, why let the facts get in the way of a good rant? 😉
Still, until it airs one can’t say whether it will be bad *or good*. All I can say is that it’s not my thing.
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For me I always find the behind the scenes stuff fascinating. In some cases what went on behind the camera is more interesting than the film itself. So I’m really looking forward to it. And hey the more focus on the Classic series, the better =)
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A good point Chris – it could be a sort of “hey look there’s more to Doctor Who than just the new stuff” to those previously too unadventurous to check out past Who. That’s a positive – even I can’t disagree with that!
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If they do everyone in 1963 a proper service, then I too will enjoy this.
On a random note… someone in another forum had an evil suggestion… “what if” this is a smokescreen… and instead of filming just a documentary about Doctor Who, they also are filming things to be used in a multi-Doctor story.
It’s a clever and “evil” rumor… but would be darn sneaky if they pulled something like that off.
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I’d be impressed if they *did* pull that off. However, casting David Bradley as William Hartnell is already a bit of an insult, he looks more like the crypt-keeper! (he’s not quite as bad a “lookalike” as the Daleks’ robot replica in The Chase!) If he turned up as the first Doctor they’d have to say he experienced a terrible accident in the time vortex or similar. Heh heh heh.
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On that note… I’m sure the BBC doesn’t have the budget, but CGI is getting closer to real-people-looking characters. The recent Tron sequel had a CGI Jeff Bridges that didn’t look that bad, and any flaws were covered by it being a known CGI world. So, the thought occurred to me… IF they set part of a story inside the Time Vortex, they could plausibly perhaps use CGI versions of the older/deceased Doctors in a story.
It is surely VERY expensive to do that, though.
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