"An Adventure In Space & Time", drama by Mark Gatiss

Das Kitty

How good was that?!

I got a bit misty a couple of times. Susan's departure always gets me from the character point of view, and it got me here too.

The little behind the scenes part after the credits was really special.

Christmas has come a month early for me.

Killer_banana

For various reasons I'm haven't got the highest expectations for the 50th. I am excited but not as excited as I would have been a year or so ago. As disgustingly cheesy as it is, I'm glad we got this. It really is fantastic.

Now, if you excuse me, I've only got The Smugglers and The Tenth Planet left to watch out of Hartnell's episodes so I think I'll watch them all through tonight.

flazio

Watch all of the Tenth Planet? Is there something you want to tell us?

In relation to that finish scene

I thought it was beautiful, and I loved that they got Matt to fiddle with the controls a little, not run around like a madman with a box, just, hold the controls. It's making me even more sad about Matts impending departure. Also I do think this means we won't see this Tardis set in the 50th Special, I know people were crying out for Moffat to use this set for the 50th special so for me this is a good compromise.

Patty O Furniture

That was a wonderful but poignant story of the obstacles they faced in bringing Dr Who to screen & the love they had for the show.

I havent seen Dr Who from the start but was avidly drawn in to this story of the love they had for the show & Hartnell's hartbreak of not wanting to leave the show, after the people he had adored left before him.

Rigor Mortis

That was really special.

The

Matt Smith

moment, I still cant figure out how I felt about that, I want to roll my eyes and yet somehow it seemed to add to the whole sentimentality of it.

I hope that Saturday is great, but even if it isn't the anniversary has been properly marked by this.

8mv

I enjoyed that a lot, especially the last 10 minutes. What upsets me is that the cars and costumes were so old - was I really approaching my first birthday when the first episode aired? I'm feeling really old this morning!

MrVestek

Onions. Somebody was cutting onions towards the end of that docudrama, I'm sure of it.

I don't get why alot of people didn't like the Matt Smith cameo. The scene was already very upsetting and you could see that Hartnell was upset about having to leave. I didn't see it as an 11th Doctor cameo as some people are suggesting, I rather saw it as Matt Smith the actor giving a nod to Hartnell, letting him know that without him there wouldn't have been a show and that the show will go on for a very very long time... that he was leaving his legacy.

Took me a good twenty minutes to get over that, I found the overall scene very very touching. I can see why some people may have thought that it was cheesy or just an excuse to have him there but to me the writers behind the episode thought about it much deeper than that.

Suffice it to say it really has ramped up my excitement for tomorrow.

Doctor DooM

Achilles wrote: »

Onions. Somebody was cutting onions towards the end of that docudrama, I'm sure of it.

I don't get why alot of people didn't like the Matt Smith cameo. The scene was already very upsetting and you could see that Hartnell was upset about having to leave. I didn't see it as an 11th Doctor cameo as some people are suggesting, I rather saw it as Matt Smith the actor giving a nod to Hartnell, letting him know that without him there wouldn't have been a show and that the show will go on for a very very long time... that he was leaving his legacy.

Took me a good twenty minutes to get over that, I found the overall scene very very touching. I can see why some people may have thought that it was cheesy or just an excuse to have him there but to me the writers behind the episode thought about it much deeper than that.

Suffice it to say it really has ramped up my excitement for tomorrow.

I read it the exact same way. I saw it as Hartnell realising despite being heartbroken, that he had begun something amazing and that others would always owe him a debt, and he took some level of comfort in that. That wasn't actually the

11th Doctor

there.

Mr Bloat

It was really enjoyable and like others, I began to roll my eyes

when Smith appeared towards the end

but within seconds I realised it was really poignant and understood what they were trying to say with the scene. I was glad that the BBC announcer mentioned sticking around after the credits because I had the remote poised to switch over to BBC4 to watch the actual episode of An Unearthly Child. I would have missed the interview with Hartnell's granddaughter if I had switched too fast.

The Master

Doctor DooM wrote: »

That wasn't actually the

11th Doctor

there.

Well technically it is and it isn't
That's Bradly playing Hartnell playing the 1st doctor and it's Matt playing the current Doctor. It's showing both the actor and the character.
Gattis has already said as the actors weren't on set together for that scene whenever the show is rebroadcast whoever the current Doctor is can be cropped into the scene

Sleepy

Damnit. Forgot all about it. Will have to try get a copy for tonight.

Will it absolutely bore the pants of my non Doctor Who fan wife?

Mr Bloat

Sleepy wrote: »

Damnit. Forgot all about it. Will have to try get a copy for tonight.

Will it absolutely bore the pants of my non Doctor Who fan wife?

My wife is kind of a sci-fi fan but not necessarily a Doctor Who fan but she enjoyed this.

cml387

Not ashamed to say that I had a few welling up moments during this superb drama.

The part that got me going was when

Verity Lambert was called to Sidney Newman's office (again) and he looked up after a few moments and said "ten million" .

SparklersJo

Darn it! I missed it as well! If anybody knows of it being repeated anytime soon let us know!

Killer_banana

flazio wrote: »

Watch all of the Tenth Planet? Is there something you want to tell us?

Only that I was counting the reconstruction as an episode.

In regards the ending

I saw it as Matt, not the Doctor and I got the motivations behind it but it still didn't work for me. It just seemed...well silly. Maybe if it were played differently, if Hartnell hadn't smiled, hadn't appeared to take comfort in something we know he didn't see I could get behind it but it was played as if Hartnell actually saw him and I felt like such a fiction in something based on real events made no sense and took away from the sadness of the scene. But as I said earlier that just me, I understand why others liked it.

dball

Sleepy wrote: »

Damnit. Forgot all about it. Will have to try get a copy for tonight.

Will it absolutely bore the pants of my non Doctor Who fan wife?

brilliant bbc drama - doesn't matter if it was Dr who or not - great bbc production and anyone who enjoys television should enjoy this

rossie1977

very enjoyable watch. i thought david bradley was superb in his role

Killer_banana

Sticking this here because don't know where else to ask, sorry if it's too off topic; We've never been told what happened Susan have me? It's been implied she's dead but we've never been told anything else have we?

The Master

We've never been told explicitly what happened to her but the 9th doctor said his whole family were killed during the time war, he also once said he used to be a father and a grandfather but not anymore...

mach1982

I was streaming it using an app on my Raspberry Pi , the dam thing kept crash( about 6 times) at ever important part , lucky I also set the sky box to record it , will later.

Skid X

That was a lovely programme, and a tribute to the people who who got Doctor Who started (against huge obstacles) and sowed the seeds for its incredible longevity.

A very nice addition to the 50th anniversary celebrations, and a programme which I think would be enjoyed by people with only a passing interest in Doctor Who, as well as committed Whovians.

mike65

The Master wrote: »

Well technically it is and it isn't
That's Bradly playing Hartnell playing the 1st doctor and it's Matt playing the current Doctor. It's showing both the actor and the character.
Gattis has already said as the actors weren't on set together for that scene whenever the show is rebroadcast whoever the current Doctor is can be cropped into the scene

That makes sense,

it struck me at the time that dropping in the current doctor would look rather arbitrary in years to come.

As for the drama, wonderful telly and more proof if it were needed that Mark Gatiss is himself a bit of a gem in the dirt of modern television.

That continuity had to tell us not to switch away at the end was indicative of our impatience as credits roll but also that the interviews should have been incorporated into the end of the drama. I bet some people missed the bit that really made the whole enterprise.

Also I think I fell in love with Verity Lambert last night

MrVestek

mach1982 wrote: »

I was streaming it using an app on my Raspberry Pi , the dam thing kept crash( about 6 times) at ever important part , lucky I also set the sky box to record it , will later.

Sorry to go off topic but what app would this be?

mach1982

Achilles wrote: »

Sorry to go off topic but what app would this be?

Flimon

http://www.filmon.com/

pixelburp

The Master wrote: »

We've never been told explicitly what happened to her but the 9th doctor said his whole family were killed during the time war, he also once said he used to be a father and a grandfather but not anymore...

It was a bit of an odd leaving all the same, with Susan deciding to stay on a dalek-ravaged Earth; hardly the nicest spot in the universe to pitch your tent (the peace is often as difficult as the war after all) One of the BBC novels involved a return to that era of Earth, with the 8th Doctor meeting an older Susan helping out with the rebuilding. Pretty sure the books are counted as canon though ...

flazio

In relation to Susan, there's a few Big Finish Audios you might want to hear

Featuring The Eighth Doctor, Susan and her son played by Paul McGann's real son.

In fact they are going to be on Radio4 Extra this weekend.

Killer_banana

pixelburp wrote: »

It was a bit of an odd leaving all the same, with Susan deciding to stay on a dalek-ravaged Earth; hardly the nicest spot in the universe to pitch your tent (the peace is often as difficult as the war after all) One of the BBC novels involved a return to that era of Earth, with the 8th Doctor meeting an older Susan helping out with the rebuilding. Pretty sure the books are counted as canon though ...

She appeared again though, in an anniversary special I think. I haven't seen it so I don't know what happened.

I just always presumed she stayed on Earth so not knowing how she died in the time war bothers me.

Mr.Saturn

Yes, Susan reappeared in the 20th special. Absolutely nothing about her life was expanded upon though, and, if anything, it pretty much served to ignore the context in which she and The Doctor parted.

pixelburp

flazio wrote: »

In relation to Susan, there's a few Big Finish Audios you might want to hear

Featuring The Eighth Doctor, Susan and her son played by Paul McGann's real son.

In fact they are going to be on Radio4 Extra this weekend.

Cool, more reason to jump back into the Big Finish range again, especially as they're now more canon than ever

Killer_banana wrote: »

She appeared again though, in an anniversary special I think. I haven't seen it so I don't know what happened.

I just always presumed she stayed on Earth so not knowing how she died in the time war bothers me.

Ah yeah I know she had a cameo in that, but it never made any attempt to put context on the point in time she appeared from. In terms of what happened her, well it's possible the Time War came to Earth; after all, the invasion was foiled by two Gallifreyans, and the daleks probably sent a force to see what happened after the first was defeated...

aidan_walsh

Just finished this.

Fantastic period piece, though I expected nothing less after seeing their similar work on the story of Tony Warren a couple of years ago.
I was a bit more surprised by how affecting I found it, especially the final third. Some seem to have found the working of classic Who lines into the script cheesy - I agree, though also somewhat cute and well placed (and lets face it, its Mark Gatiss - there is no way any were coincidental).

Very enjoyable.

One thing though. The roll call at the end before the credits with cast member and historical figure side by side - are we sure, like really sure, they didn't have a cast of Autons?