Celebrate Dr. Who’s 50th With ‘An Adventure in Space and Time’
BBC Home Entertainment has announced the release of the feature drama “An Adventure in Space and Time,” available in a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack on May 27, 2014. Travel back in time over 50 years to witness the creation of an icon – the birth of Doctor Who at the BBC – with this film from award-winning writer and executive producer Mark Gatiss (“Sherlock,” “Doctor Who”) and director Terry McDonough (“Breaking Bad”).
What do you get when you mix C.S. Lewis with H.G. Wells, and sprinkle in a bit of Father Christmas? An alien Time Lord exploring space and time in a Police Box spaceship called the “TARDIS” (Time And Relative Dimension in Space). On November 23, 1963, a television legend began when the very first episode of Doctor Who was broadcast on BBC One. Actor William Hartnell (David Bradley, the Harry Potter films, “Game of Thrones”) felt typecast by a succession of tough-guy roles. Wannabe producer Verity Lambert (Jessica Raine, “Call the Midwife”) was frustrated by the TV industry’s glass ceiling for women. Both of them were to find unlikely hope and unexpected challenges in the form of a Saturday afternoon drama filled with time travel and monsters. Allied with a brilliant creative team, including novice director Waris Hussein and Head of Drama for the BBC Sydney Newman (Brian Cox, “The Bourne Identity,” “X2: X-Men United”), they went on to introduce the world to the longest running science fiction series ever. But all good things come to an end. How will Hartnell face leaving behind the part that has made him a hero to millions of children? And can the show survive without him?
Extras: The very first Doctor Who adventure, “An Unearthly Child,” on a bonus disc with its own bonus content (including “The Pitch of Fear,” a sketch starring Mark Gatiss and David Walliams that takes a comedic look at the creation of Doctor Who); “The Making of the Adventure” behind-the-scenes featurette hosted by Carole Ann Ford, the actress who played the First Doctor’s companion; deleted scenes; reconstructions; “William Hartnell: The Original” featurette.
