Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the longest running sci-fi TV show, ‘Doctor Who,’ and in celebration of this momentous occasion, BBC has announced that Mark Gatiss (‘Sherlock’, ‘Doctor Who’) will be scribing a new docudrama chronicling the genesis of the show and what it took to bring ‘Doctor Who’ to television.
News of the project was first announced through Gatiss’ Twitter account and later via a press release from the BBC:
The 90-minute television movie, tentatively titled ‘An Adventure in Space and Time,’ will also have ‘Doctor Who’ showrunner Steven Moffat overseeing the project alongside the series’ executive producer Caroline Skinner. The movie’s will explore “all aspects of the series including the many personalities who came together to bring the show to life.”
“This is the story of how an unlikely set of brilliant people created a true Television original,” says Gatiss, “And how an actor – William Hartnell – stereotyped in hard-man roles became a hero to millions of children. I’ve wanted to tell this story this for more years than I can remember! To make it happen for ‘Doctor Who’s 50th birthday is quite simply a dream come true.”
Gatiss has been involved with the ‘Doctor Who’ series since it’s revival in 2005 writing 6 episodes so far and personally appearing in 3 throughout the Nu-Who series’ run (he played Lazarus in ‘The Lazarus Experiment,’ Gantock in ‘The Wedding of River Song,’ and was the voice of Danny Boy in ‘Victory of the Daleks.’). In addition to his writing credits and appearances on the show, Gatiss has also worked on Big Finish audio stories and the P.R.O.B.E spin-off VHS series. He seems to be the perfect choice to scribe this special TV movie.
For those who are familiar with the show’s history, there is plenty of material that can be included in this drama like the show’s budgetary problems, controversy over the amount of horror (i.e. “scare-factor”) that should be in a children’s show, how the use of regeneration came about and the ground-breaking and vital work and support from its original producer Verity Lambert. (On a side note, homage was given to Lambert during the episode called ‘Human Nature’ when John Smith/the Doctor talked about his mother Verity.)
Steven Moffat says of the project:
“The story of Doctor Who is the story of television – so it’s fitting in the anniversary year that we make our most important journey back in time to see how the TARDIS was launched.”
Whovians have been anxiously awaiting any news about what the BBC has in store for the show’s 50th anniversary, and this announcement is unquestionably the first of many of what looks like will be a stellar celebration.
At the moment, no mention has been made if ‘Adventures in Time and Space’ will air on BBC America or Space but it is scheduled to air on BBC Two next year. November 23rd sounds like a good date, don’t you think?
We’ll give you further news about the production, which includes casting, as soon as we get it.
So how excited are you to see this new ‘Doctor Who’ docudrama?