AN ADVENTURE IN SPACE AND
TIME chronicles the first years of the making of DOCTOR WHO which captures the
wonder of the being a fan of the program while telling a piece of history
through the screenplay written by longtime DOCTOR WHO fan Mark Gatiss. It
sometimes gets the real story correct
while blending some elements and adding things to tell the origins of the
making of the show back in the 1960s.
Sydney Newman was a larger than life guy who had the dream of coming up
with a new children’s sci-fi program called DOCTOR WHO and he got a woman
(filled with piss and vinegar) named Verity Lambert- who was his former
production assistant on a TV show. Then
you have William Hartnell who felt he was being typecast by the roles he got
when he was offer the part of the Doctor.
Hartnell set the standard for the mysterious authority figure that would
save worlds and people along the way.
He was also the gateway to exploring history in the early years of DOCOR
WHO. Hartnell was forced to step down
after playing the part for three years, but it also paved the way for the
continuous reinvention of the series which has let it stand the test of time
since 1963.
AN ADVENTURE IN SPACE AND
TIME brought to life for me all of the behind-the-scenes drama that went into
making the show and made me love the show as much as I did when I first
discovered ARK IN SPACE Part 1 on PBS back in 1983. It is one of few shows
that I still have a
passion for through today and I have been an avid reader of DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE
since 1989. I have read about all of
the behind-the-scenes stories and even heard about them through countless
DOCTOR WHO making-of documentaries on the classic series DVDs. Verity Lambert
and Sydney Newman were both
looking to shake things up, and Sydney
was a legend in his own right while Verity became a formidable producer during
her long career. I may have had a few minor
nitpicks (the actor cast as Patrick Troughton, Cyberman smoking outside the TARDIS)
about the docudrama, but it captured the feel of the period and the struggles
of the people making the iconic show
SPECIAL FEATURES:
WILLIAM HARTNELL: THE ORIGINAL- interviews with
his
granddaughter and William Russell on their memories about the actor who played
the First Doctor in addition to people from the TV movie including David
Bradley giving their insights and observations on Hartnell
THE MAKING OF AN ADVENTURE narrated by Carole
Ann Ford (who
played the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan) which is a promo piece on the origins
of the TV movie and the production of AN ADVENTUR EIN TIME AND
SPACE
THE TITLE SEQUENCES- comparing the first DOCTOR
WHO title
sequence to the beginning credits sequence of AN ADVENTURE IN TIME AND
SPACE
Reconstructions of various DOCTOR WHO scenes
using original
Marconi cameras- SCENES FROM AN UNEARTHLY CHILD AND
THE PILOT, REGENERATIOSN of the Second and Third Doctors, FAREWELL TO SUSAN,
and a recreation of the FESTIVE GREETING from THE DALEK MASTERPLAN
Two Deleted Scenes: THE RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP
and a cut
moment from VERITY’S LEAVING PARTY
AN ADVENTURE IN SPACE AND
TIME on DVD in Standard Definition with the same
extras as the blu-ray disc
AN UNEARTHLY CHILD (the first DOCTOR WHO story)
on DVD
EXTRAS- the original PILOT studio recording
Theme Music Video
Comedy Sketches: THE PITCH OF FEAR, THE CORRIDOR
SKETCH, THE
WEB OF CAVES, THE KIDNAPPERS
Audio commentary for the Pilot Studio Recording,
and AN
UNEARTHLY CHILD episodes 1 and 4
Information Text track option
Photo Gallery
FINAL ANALYSIS: AN ADVENTURE IN SPACE AND
TIME is a wonderful look at the origins of the show while retaining the wonder
of the show the first cast and crew set out to make. The behind-the-scenes extras
aren’t bad, but
I wish they were more extensive in the making of the docudrama.
This review is ©6-14-2014
David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments
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