Doctor Perseus Reviews: "An Adventure in Space and Time"

Today saw the American premiere of An Adventure in Space and Time and I'm ready to give my thoughts on it.

For those of you who don't know, An Adventure in Space and Time is a film made in honor of the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary that details the creation of the show back in 1963 and details major events that took place behind the scenes during William Hartnell's tenure as the First Doctor. This movie was simply fantastic. The cinematography was excellent, the feel of 1960's England was captured beautifully, and the acting was superb.

David Bradley (well known for playing Argus Filch in Harry Potter as well as Solomon the Trader in the DW episode Dinosaurs on a Spaceship) gave an amazing and heartfelt performance as William Hartnell and did a great job at showing the man behind the role. He did a great job at showing the struggles and obstacles that Hartnell faced during his tenure on the show. The scene where Hartnell breaks down in front of his wife about not wanting to leave the show at the end of his tenure was truly moving and it was also a great callback to a certain scene in "New Who" (here's a hint:

I don't want to go!

). Jessica Raine (who some of you may remember as Emma Grayling from the DW episode Hide) also gave a really good performance as Verity Lambert, the first producer of the show. She had great chemistry with Brian Cox's Sydney Newman (the co-creator) as well as with Bradley's William Hartnell. The rest of the cast also did fine jobs and I was amazed and how much the actors resembled their real-life counterparts. I'll also note that Reece Shearsmith's short performance as Patrick Troughton was another great performance in the film.

The film did a perfect job at showing the turmoil behind the scenes during the show's beginnings (the BBC originally wanted to scrap the show after the end of the four-part An Unearthly Child and also thought that the Daleks sounded stupid and wouldn't catch on) as well as the eventual craze that spawned around the show. The ending scene was also a truly wonderful piece of film to behold. We see David Bradley's Hartnell preparing to film his regeneration scene and, just before filming starts, he looks across the TARDIS console and both he and the audience sees a certain person that shows that Doctor Who will continue to thrive and live on for a very long time (hint: Bow tie). We then end on a clip of the actual William Hartnell as the First Doctor giving his farewell speech to Susan.

Overall, An Adventure in Space and Time is a marvelous film and a great love letter to a show that's kept people entertained for a half-century. Let us all hope that this show continues to entertain countless others for years to come. Now...onward to November 23 and The Day of the Doctor!