BBC Special "An Adventure In Time And Space"

[Coco Pops]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/pro...d-time-pi.html

Did anyone watch the special made about the early history of Doctor Who?

It's an interesting period in history in the 1960s with the story of William Hartnell and how he became Doctor Who... It also had some tragically sad scenes like when he was almost collapsing on the set and forgetting his lines. And then he's on the side of the road looking at a real police box, and a cop asks him to move along. That same scene is how the movie started too.....

Lovely cameo by Matt Smith too.

I did notice the guy playing Hartnell looked like him and also Prince Phillip in some scenes..

[Greenee]

Yes. I got pointed to it by a friend and whached it in the night to the 23. with two frieds who came came to my town just so I would'nt had to go to the movies alone. We loved it. It was good to see the actress from "Hide" again, I realy liked her. The szene about the Tardisdesign was hilarius (and so was the reference in the special) and very sad moments indeed. Watching Hartnell see Smith was hearwarming and -breaking at the same time.

[Gollumpus]

I quite liked this movie, however I did find it a bit distracting at times. Usually (often?) a film examining a particular period of time will focus on a single figure. In this film there was a shift back and forth in who was the focus, Verity Lambert or William Hartnell.

The effort and drive by Verity Lambert was essential to the creation of Dr. Who, however, unless this film was going to end with her departure from the series, then the creators of the film should have given her a less prominent role, and still could have shown the racism, sexism and other failings of society at that time. This would have allowed for a more in depth character study on Hartnell.

I was quite liking the film when all of a sudden we get to the part where Verity Lambert is leaving the series, and after that the story loses a lot of steam. I found myself thinking that I wouldn't have minded if the film continued to follow her career rather than the events of Dr. Who.

Anyhoo, I do recommend this film.


regards.
G.

[cosmichobo]

Blink and you miss it, but William Russell - "Ian Chesterton", one of the original companions - also makes a cameo - as the security guard who wants to see Sydney's ID... (The moustache fooled me!)

It was a very nice piece, with the one major gripe for me being the recreation of actual scenes from Doctor Who... To me, it's almost as if they've been directed to act really flat in those scenes... very wooden...

Having read a lot of this film's background over the years, it was fun to see it playing out on screen... And yes indeed, Hartnell's illness and forced departure is heartbreaking...

Also available over the weekend was a short 5 minute piece about Hartnell, which includes (some of) the only surviving footage of the man himself just being himself - recently discovered and included on the Tenth Planet DVD. It's a very nice snippet of his story...

[Coco Pops]

Having read a lot of this film's background over the years, it was fun to see it playing out on screen... And yes indeed, Hartnell's illness and forced departure is heartbreaking...

Indeed... I too and I've collected the anniversary books over the years though I seem to have lost my 25th anniversary book somewhere.... That scene I mentioned where he seems to lose his lines and soils himself, just had me tearing up... It was very sad to see that played out.

[squirrely1]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/pro...d-time-pi.html

Did anyone watch the special made about the early history of Doctor Who?

It's an interesting period in history in the 1960s with the story of William Hartnell and how he became Doctor Who... It also had some tragically sad scenes like when he was almost collapsing on the set and forgetting his lines. And then he's on the side of the road looking at a real police box, and a cop asks him to move along. That same scene is how the movie started too.....

Lovely cameo by Matt Smith too.

I did notice the guy playing Hartnell looked like him and also Prince Phillip in some scenes..

Yes I just finished this last night and cried on those scenes. And while it was really sad.... I think probably Doctor Who was a wonderful career highlight for him and so for him to have had that chance to play the Doctor and start off this brilliant series he's become quite a legend in his own right. I think even tho he has passed on....his family should be proud of his legacy.

I enjoyed the movie and seeing Verity (a woman who in the 60's breaking into that whole culture did a great job and she didn't have to be all ball busting feminist to do it.) No offense but I did quite enjoy her compassionate, soft sell approach that she used with nurture and understanding. But then she learned quickly when to say NO....and put her foot down. I think it was a nice contrast to the brashness of the Drama Director and think the combination of the two of them together made it the unique show it is today. I don't think anyone else could've pulled it off.

[Coco Pops]

Yes I just finished this last night and cried on those scenes. And while it was really sad.... I think probably Doctor Who was a wonderful career highlight for him and so for him to have had that chance to play the Doctor and start off this brilliant series he's become quite a legend in his own right. I think even tho he has passed on....his family should be proud of his legacy.

I enjoyed the movie and seeing Verity (a woman who in the 60's breaking into that whole culture did a great job and she didn't have to be all ball busting feminist to do it.) No offense but I did quite enjoy her compassionate, soft sell approach that she used with nurture and understanding. But then she learned quickly when to say NO....and put her foot down. I think it was a nice contrast to the brashness of the Drama Director and think the combination of the two of them together made it the unique show it is today. I don't think anyone else could've pulled it off.

I quite agree. I did laugh out loud with the scene where in a grumpy fit that guy came up with the design for the TARDIS ... It looked like a tap fitting? What was it?

[squirrely1]

I quite agree. I did laugh out loud with the scene where in a grumpy fit that guy came up with the design for the TARDIS ... It looked like a tap fitting? What was it?

hahaha Yeah in like 15 seconds he whips up the design It was like a spool of thread and some sort of gadget and then some punched out cardboard

[Coco Pops]

hahaha Yeah in like 15 seconds he whips up the design It was like a spool of thread and some sort of gadget and then some punched out cardboard

I know...... It was an amazing scene... I wonder how much of that was acting or did play out like that for real at the time though. Imagine had he not had those particular items? What the TARDIS might have looked like.

[squirrely1]

I know...... It was an amazing scene... I wonder how much of that was acting or did play out like that for real at the time though. Imagine had he not had those particular items? What the TARDIS might have looked like.

I would imagine there was a certain level of truth to that. Maybe not that spontaneous but still sometimes great things can come from brainstorming on the spur of the moment. I'm and art teacher and artist and some of my best work has been when I just don't "over think it" Or "over work it" I mean there is a lot to be said for spontaneity.

[Coco Pops]

I would imagine there was a certain level of truth to that. Maybe not that spontaneous but still sometimes great things can come from brainstorming on the spur of the moment. I'm and art teacher and artist and some of my best work has been when I just don't "over think it" Or "over work it" I mean there is a lot to be said for spontaneity.

Oh for sure.....

But I'm saying how funny things might have turned out had those items not been there for that spur of the moment thing? Maybe in some other universe the TARDIS design is even more different

[Matt G]

This was an interesting one to watch. Bear in mind that I have actually met one of the companions from the Hartnell era, Anneke Willis(blonde that we saw late on briefly). She and Hartnell did NOT get on...as far as she was concerned he was a grumpy old man and a few other things besides.

She was worried that this piece would whitewash Hartnell. It didn't. Not fully at least.

Did find it very interesting how the production pretty much bet the house on the Daleks...and won! Big time!

[cosmichobo]

I'll have to watch it again... but... they didn't do this bit - did they?

The crew in rehearsals, with Dalek operators trundling around in their bases, but without the top half of the Dalek... Everyone having a bit of a laugh... Then they go to shoot... the tops go on... and everyone got chills... and really did think they had something...

(Not to mention... from memory I think William Russell's kid/s were on set, and ran screaming from the Daleks???)

[Phinguyver]

A couple days ago, this movie. At the end, when Hartnell realized that he could no longer do the show, he broke down, and was saying "I don't want to go." Was that a tribute to Tennant, or was Tennant saying it a tribute to Hartnell? Either way, that scene was heartbreaking.

[Coco Pops]

A couple days ago, this movie. At the end, when Hartnell realized that he could no longer do the show, he broke down, and was saying "I don't want to go." Was that a tribute to Tennant, or was Tennant saying it a tribute to Hartnell? Either way, that scene was heartbreaking.

I'm not sure....... Some lines I missed or just didn't here.... Some of the audio was bad on our broadcast.