Adventure in Space and Time – Hold Up Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman, Rewind Time Lords!

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Next year, 2013, will be a big one for the world’s longest running science fiction series, Doctor Who. It will mark 50 years of time travel, Daleks, sonic screwdrivers, companions and, of course, Doctors. Doctor Who is currently on its eleventh actor playing the manic space adventurer, and Matt Smith has been doing a stand up job for being the youngest man to take on the role of the Doctor. But what about that very first man brave enough to board the TARDIS? In celebration of the show’s 50^th anniversary, a 90-minute drama is being produced that will take a look back at the genesis of Doctor Who and the First Doctor, played by William Hartnell.

The special, which will be airing on BBC Two some time next year, will be called An Adventure in Space and Time. It will take us all the way back to the 1960s to show us how Doctor Who was created and just how Hartnell came to turn down his usual hard-man roles and become, as writer Mark Gatiss says, “a hero to millions of children.” According to the BBC website, production and casting details are to be confirmed in the New Year. This will be quite a unique experience. Since the series began 50 years ago, there isn’t much in terms of behind the scenes footage for a documentary, so this will have to be more of a biopic.

Doctor Who’s anniversary has me absolutely ripe with glee. Granted, I’m a little young – but not too young – to know the Doctor Who of decades past, but I do know I fell in love with the newer incarnation of the series almost immediately, prompting me to become at least passingly familiar with the Doctor Who of old. For instance, I have seen the very first broadcast of Doctor Who, which aired November 23, 1963. It was a four-part adventure called “An Unearthly Child,” and while it is black and white it is unmistakably Doctor Who.