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Wait, you have watched EVERY episode of Doctor Who and it's spin-offs, meaning around 1000 individual episodes, and you dont consider yourself a fan?
Thor, that is mental!
I know! 
I'm a fan of the 2005 reboot, and watched all the rest for context. So you could say I'm a context fanatic.
I'm watching a few choice eps from each Doctor era because of context, and finding some a chore to sit through. (the supposedly brilliant Genesis Of The Daleks dragged and dragged and dragged)
I can't imagine going through the whole thing.
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Posted: |
Nov 23, 2013 - 10:42 AM
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By: |
johnjohnson
(Member)
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Lovingly crafted and beautifully executed An Adventure in Space and Time – the 50th anniversary docudrama about the group of unlikely outsiders who through ingenuity, hard work and no small amount of serendipity broke boundaries and created Doctor Who – was a triumph.
Unsurprisingly then, when it came to life-long fan Mark Gatiss telling the story of the Doctor’s inception both in terms of science fiction and historical context – the heart ruled the head.
That decision lead to the show receiving an audience of 2.2 million viewers (a 9.7% share of the audience), according to unofficial overnight viewing figures.
Billing the special as ‘the ultimate Hartnell historical’ SFX gets to core of what made Mark Gatiss’ script so special; letting a very human tale of spirited defiance come to the fore:
Mark Gatiss’ script is a fistful of love letters: to the spirit of the BBC, to the fallen kingdom of Television Centre, to the clever, risk-taking outsiders who gave us Doctor Who, to that quiet British bravery that insists the best defence against bad news is to say “I’ll make us a nice cup of tea.” It takes familiar facts and anecdotes – the scrape of key on piano wire that became the uncanny howl of the TARDIS, Sydney Newman’s immortally earthy description of Verity Lambert as all “piss and vinegar” – and stitches them into drama, giving a human face to the holy writ of fandom.
And central to that drama was the pitch perfect roster of outstanding performances given by the able cast – The Telegraph managed to distil what makes those behind the scenes characters so compelling, while praising each performance for capturing that essence:
It was essentially a triumph of four outsiders. Hartnell felt typecast in hardman roles (“All they ever offer me is crooks and sergeant bloody majors”). Brash Canadian executive Sydney Newman (Brian Cox) had arrived at the staid old Beeb from ghastly ITV and was desperate to inject new ideas. Budding producer Verity Lambert (Call The Midwife’s Jessica Raine, in the standout performance alongside Bradley’s) was frustrated by the industry’s glass ceiling. “It’s a sea of fag smoke, tweed and sweaty men,” she said. The young director was Indian-born Waris Hussein.
Lambert called their double act (look away now, PC police) “the posh wog and the pushy Jewish bird”. All four were misfits in different ways, yet found unlikely salvation in a Saturday teatime sci-fi romp, dreamed up to plug the gap in the schedules between Grandstand and Jukebox Jury.
Ultimately, this was the tale of one man’s journey from crotchety, typecast actor to an embraced cultural icon, and as Digital Spy note, the one bone of contention with the adaptation may just be the portrayal of the Doctor himself – William Hartnell:
Here, the actor resembles the popular image of the first Doctor – crotchety and irritable, but with a good heart. Gatiss didn’t want this to be a “hatchet job” and in this anniversary year, it’s only natural to want to give any Doctor Who-related programming a celebratory slant.
But the darker elements of Hartnell’s personality are somewhat glossed over and the closest we come to one of his famed on-set altercations is a brief scene in which he brusquely tells co-star Carole Ann Ford (Claudia Grant) that she shouldn’t spend her cash so quickly.
Did Hartnell really go on quite such an obvious emotional journey – from snapping at his granddaughter to larking about with kiddies in a park? Was his bad behaviour really just the result of an unquenchable feeling of loneliness, amplified by Doctor Who’s endless stream of cast and crew changes?
You could easily pick at the veracity of the script, but to do so would be rather missing the point of what Mark Gatiss was setting out to achieve. An Adventure in Space and Time isn’t meant to be taken as a historical document.
And it’s the final image – a spiritual link between where we have been and what lies ahead that may be the specials biggest concession to fans, and its most touching moment – as The Independent observes:
In Doctor Who, an end is always a beginning, and so it was with Mark Gatiss’s cleverly resonant script. Not only did we have the always exciting opportunity to see two Doctors share a screen, but Hartnell’s pathos-tinged handover to Patrick Troughton (a cameo from Gatiss’ League of Gentleman chum, Reece Shearsmith) was also followed by the apparition of a rather more recent incarnation.
http://www.kasterborous.com/2013/11/adventure-space-time-reaction/
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Wait, you have watched EVERY episode of Doctor Who and it's spin-offs, meaning around 1000 individual episodes, and you dont consider yourself a fan?
Thor, that is mental!
I know!
I'm a fan of the 2005 reboot, and watched all the rest for context. So you could say I'm a context fanatic.
I'm watching a few choice eps from each Doctor era because of context, and finding some a chore to sit through. (the supposedly brilliant Genesis Of The Daleks dragged and dragged and dragged)
I can't imagine going through the whole thing.
I've been watching the BBC America Who: Revisited specials all year. The only really watchable eras were #7 and the #8 TV movie. All the other serials were just a chore to watch. Even by the standards of their respective times, they were only really watchable 1/2 hr at a time once a week.
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Like was mentioned above this is a love letter and tribute rather then a factual documentary, and all the better for it.
Jessica Raines is excellent as Verity Lamberts and David Bradley deserves a BAFTA nom with his very moving performance as William Hartnell.
Two moments where the film could have been lost in fan references ("I dont want to go" and Hartnell having a vision of the Doctor's future) become deeply emotional rather then a "spot the reference" trick. Mostly thanks to Bradley
Superb tribute, but most of all a superb drama.
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Wait, you have watched EVERY episode of Doctor Who and it's spin-offs, meaning around 1000 individual episodes, and you dont consider yourself a fan?
Thor, that is mental!
I know!
I'm a fan of the 2005 reboot, and watched all the rest for context. So you could say I'm a context fanatic.
I'm watching a few choice eps from each Doctor era because of context, and finding some a chore to sit through. (the supposedly brilliant Genesis Of The Daleks dragged and dragged and dragged)
I can't imagine going through the whole thing.
Stefancos do you want to know something even more mental? If I'm not mistaken, Thor (and Thor please correct me if I misheard this) told me a few weeks ago that included in his mega-Who watch were the fan reconstructions of the black and white William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton stories that are currently missing from the archives. These are labours of love, but are essentially slide shows with the existing soundtracks. And he STILL says he's not a fan! lol! If you think the old (Classic) series is heavy going, think about trawling through these. One of the Hartnells is 12 episodes long!!!
Sorry Thor. Only a fan would do this, but as you say you're a context fan. I'm a genuine fan, and I too have started a from-the-start viewing, including the recons and am up to Hartnell's last The Tenth Planet. I'm having to wait for it because it's a Christmas present so I'm on hold. But guys, seriously, any true fan will tell you Genesis of the Daleks is indeed a mega-classic, and there are many others throughout the Classic Series. But maybe you have to grow up with it as we Brits did. Those of us old enough that is. And I was four when the third ever Dalek story aired. This Hartnell serial - The Chase - is actually acknowledged by Who fans as a bit of a turkey, but I love it for the above reasons. My earliest memory is of the last (6th) episode featuring a climatic battle between the Daleks and the robot Mechanoids. Who heaven!
I can understand American viewers finding the old show hard going to be fair. The classic American tv shows of the sixties were of course on film, so even the black and white ones like The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits are much slicker, being basically Hollywood productions. Doctor Who was the BBC trying to make Star Wars (certainly in the case of The Daleks Masterplan) on the budget of a videotaped sitcom!
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I'd also like to add my recommendations to the above concerning An Adventure in Space and Time. Another labour of love.
My only reservation is that while Bradley's portrayal is I agree Bafta-worthy, I was slightly disappointed by his performance of the Hartnell Doctor during episode recording. His delivery didn't capture the fluffiness that was also a trademark of the otherwise gruff First Doctor. Bradley still retains his own slower drawl during these moments.
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The regeneration scene from the second to the third Doctor is interesting. No idea how they could have featured it in the movie though.
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It did strike me, that with The Day Of The Doctor, The Night Of The Doctor, An Adventure In Space And Time and The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot all the actors (with the exception of Eccleston, wo declined) got their moment either by contributing or being played by another actor.
Pertwee is the exception.
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Posted: |
Feb 28, 2014 - 7:23 PM
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By: |
johnjohnson
(Member)
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Last December we passed along word that the Best Buy chain in Canada temporarily had exclusive rights to sell DVD releases of Doctor Who - Story #040: The Enemy of the World as well as the recent docudrama "An Adventure in Space and Time." Two days ago we reported that Enemy of the World is getting a "wide" general retail release on May 20th, in both the USA and at all other Canadian stores. At the time we mentioned that there was no word yet about Adventure, however. Well...now there is!
A short time ago this afternoon, BBC Home Entertainment sent out an email to folks signed up on their mailing list a notice that fans can "...help select the DVD cover for An Adventure in Space and Time...We're looking for your feedback..." They offer an opportunity to save money buying at the online studio store if you participate, but you can get all the details here at this page. They also show off the 4 possible cover art choices (see below) for the general "wide" release of this title, one of which is the same as what Canadian shoppers at Best Buy were able to pick up. There are no other details about the general release of title (no date, price, etc.), but clearly that isn't too far away! We'll bring it to you once it's available, so stay tuned.
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Doctor-Adventure-In-Space-and-Time/19525
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