Mark Gatiss always wanted to tell the story about the origins of Doctor Who and although this is a well worn tale for die hard fans. For the casual viewer this is based in a time when the television industry was a lot different.
A Canadian Head of Drama with pizzazz has an idea. A Jewish female producer being the first female producer at BBC drama and an Indian Muslim is tasked with directing the first episode.
Maybe this was a series designed to fail rather than last half a century!
David Bradley well known for playing the curmudgeonly Filch in the Harry Potter films plays the curmudgeonly William Hartnell. An actor well known for playing army types and small time hoods before he got the keys for the TARDIS and enchanted children of all ages.
We have recreations in colour of some of the well known scenes from early Doctor Who, some of these episodes now lost in time.
The drama had to be distilled in 90 minutes so a lot of the story had to be left out. Hartnell could be difficult to work with and had abrasive relationships with some of his producers.
Gatiss managed to get cameos from past actors from the early series and used scenes and lines from previous Doctor Who episodes. An example is David Tennant's final line before he regenerated 'I don't want to go' which was reused here when Hartnell discovers he is to be replaced by another actor.
A Canadian Head of Drama with pizzazz has an idea. A Jewish female producer being the first female producer at BBC drama and an Indian Muslim is tasked with directing the first episode.
Maybe this was a series designed to fail rather than last half a century!
David Bradley well known for playing the curmudgeonly Filch in the Harry Potter films plays the curmudgeonly William Hartnell. An actor well known for playing army types and small time hoods before he got the keys for the TARDIS and enchanted children of all ages.
We have recreations in colour of some of the well known scenes from early Doctor Who, some of these episodes now lost in time.
The drama had to be distilled in 90 minutes so a lot of the story had to be left out. Hartnell could be difficult to work with and had abrasive relationships with some of his producers.
Gatiss managed to get cameos from past actors from the early series and used scenes and lines from previous Doctor Who episodes. An example is David Tennant's final line before he regenerated 'I don't want to go' which was reused here when Hartnell discovers he is to be replaced by another actor.