History Film / AnAdventureInSpaceAndTime

-->'''Waris:''' It's what you do so well, Mr Hartnell. Stern and scary! ''(sees Hartnell's expression)''' ...with a twinkle!

%%* DramaticIrony: Plenty of this.

* MoodWhiplash: Lambert ropes in Sydney to butter up Hartnell when he becomes difficult. Sydney expertly flatters his ego, but when Verity thanks him he bluntly states that as producer she needs to handle these things herself, or he'll get someone else. Verity [[SilkHidingSteel takes the lesson to heart]] by forcing the set designers to start working on the TARDIS interior set.

** And of course the ObligatoryJoke...
-->"What character am I playing?"
-->"He's a doctor."
-->"Doctor who?"

** [[CatchPhrase "Pow! Pow! Pow!"]]

* DramaticIrony: Plenty of this, like Sydney Newman reading from the script as JFK is assassinated. "Exterminate, exterminate..."

* DramaticIrony: Plenty of this.

''An Adventure in Space and Time'' is a ninety minute {{docudrama}} about the creation of ''Series/DoctorWho'', and more broadly about [[Creator/WilliamHartnell the First Doctor]]'s era, headed up by Creator/MarkGatiss in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the show's existence. It premiered on {{BBC 2}} on November 21st 2013.

** William Hartnell, just before he films his regeneration scene, looks over the TARDIS to find [[spoiler: [[Creator/MattSmith Matt Smith, the 11th Doctor]], smiling back at him.]]

* IAmNotShazam: Played straight. ''Everyone,'' even people on the show, even William Hartnell himself refer to the character of The Doctor as "Doctor Who."

It stars DavidBradley as Creator/WilliamHartnell, JessicaRaine as the show's first producer Creator/VerityLambert, and BrianCox as BBC Head of Drama Creator/SydneyNewman.

* CastingCouch: Variant: people in the BBC [[DeliberateValuesDissonance assume]] that Verity Lambert got her job as producer of the show because she was sleeping with SydneyNewman. [[AvertedTrope It's not true.]]

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Producer VerityLambert and director Waris Hussein are given a lot of crap for being female and Jewish and gay and Indian, respectively. In an unusual move for the Beeb, an awful lot of smoking is shown, though probably because since ''Series/MadMen'' became a hit, it's become more acceptable to show era-appropriate vices.

* HalfwayPlotSwitch: The first half focuses on producer Creator/VerityLambert and director Waris Hussein's struggle to get ''Doctor Who'' off the ground with actor Creator/WilliamHartnell just being one of many puzzle pieces they must fit together. Then after the Daleks have ensured that the series will be a smash-hit we start to make time-skips following Hartnell and his failing health and how he was forced to bow out from the show in order to save it.

* CastingGag: Current Dalek voice-actor Creator/NicholasBriggs plays then Dalek voice-actor Peter Hawkins. Mark Eden, the title character of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E4MarcoPolo Marco Polo]]" appears as the executive who orders ''Doctor Who'' cancelled. (One scene shows the cast filming "Marco Polo".)

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Producer VerityLambert and director Waris Hussein are given a lot of crap for being female and Jewish and gay and Indian, respectively. In an unusual move for the Beeb, an awful lot of smoking is shown, though probably because since ''MadMen'' became a hit, it's become more acceptable to show era-appropriate vices.

* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Invoked by William Hartnell in the interview footage at the end. He attributes his popularity with childen despite being somewhat [[GrumpyOldMan grumpy]], is being because both he and the Doctor are a mix of "the Wizard of Oz and Father Christmas".
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Sydney Newman zig-zags this trope. On the one hand he gives Verity Lambert the job of producing the show and sees enough potential in the pilot to let it be reshot(which was ''expensive'', and, you know, ''commissioning the show to begin with''). On the other hand he's heavily opposed to the Daleks, and several other aspects of the show which would become popular, though even then he's man enough to admit when he's wrong.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Producer VerityLambert and director Waris Hussein are given a lot of crap for being female and Jewish and gay and Indian, respectively. In an unusual move for the Beeb, an awful lot of smoking is shown, though probably because since MadMen became a hit, it's become more acceptable to show era-appropriate vices.

* GilliganCut: When Verity is trying to sell William Hartnell on the idea of the series. When she describes the "state of the art facilities", we cut to the Lime Grove studio in disrepair and when she talks about how the sound effects are created with the latest technology, we cut to FX wizard Delia Derbyshire scraping metal keys across piano strings to create the signature TARDIS sound effect.

* {{Homage}}: Many scenes from the show were recreated for the docudrama as accurately as possible, including [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOoO6zdP87M the scene of the Daleks on Westminster Bridge]] from ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E2TheDalekInvasionOfEarth The Dalek Invasion of Earth]]''.
** And apparently the Daleks today are just as hard to steer as they were in the sixties.

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: [[ExecutiveMeddling A higher BBC executive wants Newman to cancel the show after the first four episodes.]] Newman is opposed to introducing the Daleks (and gracious enough to later admit he was wrong).
** The "cancel after four bit" really occurred, although the order of events is changed for dramatic purposes - in reality, the show had been ordered to twenty-six episodes when it began transmission.
* {{Jerkass}}: Rex Tucker, the interim producer of the show prior to Verity Lambert being installed in the position, is depicted as being a boorish, sexist idiot who insists on casting a younger actor as the Doctor.
* LargeHam: Sydney Newman. His brash, Hollywood-style personality is in stark contrast to the sedate, by-the-rules approach of the BBC.
** Actually a double helping of ham, as Newman is played by BrianCox.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Sydney Newman zig-zags this trope. On the one hand he gives Verity Lambert the job of producing the show and sees enough potential in the pilot to let it be reshot (that and, you know, ''commissioning the show to begin with''). On the other hand he's heavily opposed to the Daleks, and several other aspects of the show which would become popular, though even then he's man enough to admit when he's wrong.

* RuleOfDrama: Hartnell's departure, due to his deteriorating health, was his own choice, and the casting of Creator/PatrickTroughton was on his recommendation. How it plays out here, however, still conveys how the show has impacted Hartnell, and vice versa.
* SavedByCanon: Verity Lambert's fears that the show will be cancelled are a little anti-climactic when you're watching the special with a big '50TH ANNIVERSARY OF DOCTOR WHO' stamp in the corner of the screen.
** Ditto with Sydney Newman's skepticism that the Daleks will catch on, after they've become so iconic and representative of the franchise.

** JerkWithAHeartOfGold: After Hartnell realised he'd badly upset Carole Ann Ford by taking umbrage with her spending her money on frivolously items and "new togs", she later finds her dressing room table covered with roses and an apology note.
* TroubledProduction: Not with the {{docudrama}} itself, mind you. But since this covers the filming of ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E1AnUnearthlyChild An Unearthly Child]]'' and the early days of the show, this is a major given.
** As for the docudrama itself, getting it commissioned for the 50th Anniversary year wasn't difficult; however, Gatiss originally had the idea for the 40th anniversary back in 2003 before the revival of ''Doctor Who'', and at that time there was far less interest.
* TwoferTokenMinority: Lambert is female and Jewish, Hussein is Indian and gay.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Gatiss wanted to recreate the closing moments of ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E4TheDaleksMasterPlan The Daleks' Master Plan]]'' episode 12, and Jean Marsh had agreed to appear as the older Sara Kingdom, but the budget wouldn't allow it.
** At the BFI, Mark Gatiss commented that he almost said 'sod it, close the door, let's [[TheRemake record]] [[MissingEpisode Marco Polo]]'.
** There were apparently many scenes cut from the final film. Among them was Mark Gatiss himself as Jon Pertwee.
*** And apparently Steven Moffat (Series/DoctorWho show-runner) as ''Tom Baker''.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Producer VerityLambert and director Waris Hussein are given a lot of crap for being female and Jewish and gay and Indian, respectively.
** In an unusual move for the Beeb, an awful lot of smoking is shown.

** JerkWithAHeartOfGold: After Hartnell realised he'd badly upset Carol by taking umbrage with her spending her money on frivolously items and "new togs", she later finds her dressing room table covered with roses and an apology note.

* SurroundedByIdiots: Long after the original production crew have moved on, Hartnell is contending with a new crew he doesn't know very well and who don't know the ins and outs of the show they're producing. They don't even know how to make the glass cylinder in the TARDIS console move up and down. Thorougly exasperated and fed up, Hartnell bellows the question of whether anybody knows how to do anything on the set.
* TookALevelInKindness: Hartnell's character development over the programme, from a brusque, tempremental character actor to a man who became an icon to children across the UK and adored it.

** As for the docudrama itself, getting it commissioned for the 50th Anniversary year wasn't difficult; however, Gatiss originally had the idea for the 40th anniversary back in 2003 before the revival of ''Doctor Who'', and at that time there was far less interest.

* TheCameo: William Russell and Carole Ann Ford, who played the original companions Ian Chesterton and Susan Foreman in the show's first seasons, appear. Companion actors Jean Marsh and Anneke Will appear during Verity Lambert's farewell scene. Anneke Wills, known for her role as Polly Wright, and Jean Marsh (companion Sara Kingdom, Morgana Le Fay) show up in the cheering crowd during the celebrations after finishing "The Web Planet". (In real life, Verity Lambert stayed on later.)

* CastingGag: Current Dalek voice-actor Creator/NicholasBriggs plays then Dalek voice-actor Peter Hawkins. Martin Eden, the title character of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E4MarcoPolo Marco Polo]]" appears as the executive who orders ''Doctor Who'' cancelled. (One scene shows the cast filming "Marco Polo".)

* TookALevelInKindness: Hartnell's character development over the programme, from a brusque, temperamental character actor to a man who became an icon to children across the UK and adored it.