An Adventure in Space and Time: Behind the Scenes

ANNOUNCER: 'This is the BBC.'

WOMAN: 'We're back in the birthplace of a television phenomenon.'

It feels like only yesterday that I was working at TV Centre

on Doctor Who.

And what a role!

The Doctor's granddaughter.

'The original.

'When I walked through those doors 50 years ago, it would've been hard

'to believe that the show would still be going strong now.

'And to celebrate its anniversary, we're back,

'filming An Adventure In Space And Time -

'a drama about the show's remarkable beginnings. And it's something

'writer Mark Gatiss has wanted to get off the ground for some time.'

MARK: I still can't quite believe it

because I first sort of pitched this idea about 13 years ago.

And then I tried very strongly to get it made for the 40th anniversary.

I'm delighted it's all come together for the 50th.

It has a sort of roundness to it

- which is very appealing. - ALL: Cheers!

CAROLE ANN: 'Mark was to kick-start An Adventure In Space And Time,

'but it was a certain man I met in 1963

'that was to get the ball rolling for Doctor Who itself.'

We find ourselves now in Sydney Newman's office

on the seventh floor of TV Centre.

Not the real one,

and I think probably a bit more swish than Sydney's office actually was.

One day, all this will be mine.

HE CHUCKLES

CAROLE ANN: 'Sydney Newman was the man

'who brought together a dream team to put the show on the road.

'And what a character!'

I'd first worked at the BBC in 1965. I was 19.

I met Sydney, very briefly, in the club.

Cos you could always tell Sydney in the club

because he was a very brightly coloured kind of personality

and literally wore cravats.

He wore waistcoats. He was very different.

'I think Sydney really thought of himself as a movie mogul.'

And...action!

Fun. Fun. Have you heard of fun, Mervyn?

CAROLE ANN: 'And Sydney was making some ground-breaking appointments -

'the BBC's very first female drama producer.

'Verity Lambert.

'And the world she was entering was a bit of a challenge.'

There's a line in the script where Verity says,

"It's a sea of fag smoke, tweed and sweaty men,"

'which it clearly was.

'And it was quite hard to penetrate, as a woman,

'because no woman had ever done that before.'

- Can I help you? - I think you're in my office.

To research the role, I...

'did YouTube her to see if there was any footage.

'She was very composed, very classy,'

very warm,

'but you could see a real steel there.'

Not old enough for the Doctor, surely?

CAROLE ANN: 'So, does Jessica feel she's anything like Verity herself?'

That would be very flattering, if anyone compared me to Verity Lambert.

That would be very nice.

CAROLE ANN: 'And despite opposition, Verity Lambert was to fight very hard

'to have a distinguished, older actor play the role of the first Doctor.

'William Hartnell.'

I just think he was one of the great character actors of British cinema.

Settle, please.

'I think he felt rather typecast as authority figures, sergeant majors

'or petty crooks. Doctor Who kind of released'

a kind of playfulness in him.

I think he felt that he was actually born to play the Doctor.

But he had very strong opinions about the way it should be done

and wouldn't take any kind of advice. Quite often,

because I was the smallest person, everybody around me was

taking the light from me, and he'd point this out.

So he looked after me. He was lovely.

Cut.

He was always giving you little tips,

like, "Don't make the gesture like that," he said.

"It'll be out of the camera.

"Make it here, you see?"

The whole thing about Bill was that he was so unpredictable.

There was this mystery about him. I miss that. I mean,

he remains the best Doctor Who for me...

quite naturally.

I can't imagine how I would've reacted

if someone had told me 50 years ago

'that I'd be playing Doctor Who.

'It's been one of those great jobs'

and, er, an experience I'll always remember.

It wasn't just the Doctor or my own character that was new in 1963.

I remember when I met another addition to the cast.

And 50 years on,

London is in for a bit of a treat as they're wheeled out yet again.

Today, we are recreating the famous Dalek invasion of Earth shot

of the Daleks parading across Westminster Bridge.

- This is a really iconic moment. - And...action, Daleks!

CAROLE ANN: 'Who would have thought that an egg whisk and a plunger

'would have made such an impact?

'But these design classics still have one big flaw.'

We've put in a bit where he's sort of veering off towards the kerb.

It was difficult then,

it's still difficult to manoeuvre the bloody things.

MARK CHUCKLES

It gives you an old-fashioned kind of thrill.

SIRENS WAIL

Doctor Who was started by a talented bunch of originals -

the flamboyant Sydney Newman and the remarkable Verity Lambert.

And they were joined by an Asian director,

the charismatic and ambitious Waris Hussein.

What is this?

What are we going to do with this?

Well, I play Waris Hussein, who was the first ever

'director of Doctor Who.'

It's crazy.

Cavemen and disappearing bloody police boxes...

'As soon as I got the part,'

I got in touch with Waris straightaway.

'And our first meeting, actually, we were a bit kind of'

weird with each other.

'He's looking at me going,

"You're watching everything I'm doing, aren't you?"

But, yeah, we hit it off straightaway.

WARIS: 'I said, "Look, play him as someone'

"who's anxious to get things right as a director,"

'because that's what I wanted in those days.'

It'll never work.

"Play it with a great deal of 'What do I do with this?'

"Terrified because I don't know how to cope."

When do we start?

CAROLE ANN: 'It was quite a scary prospect for Sacha, playing Waris,

'especially whilst the man himself was watching closely.'

At the read through, I think that's when I was most nervous.

'He was hearing himself for the first time and he was sitting'

right behind me.

'I was like, "Oh, this is scary." He started welling up'

and getting quite moved by it.

So I hope that was in a good way, not in a bad way.

'But, yeah, I think he seemed happy.'

WARIS: 'I've never been played by anybody before. I'm looking forward'

to seeing myself portrayed when I do see the film.

MARK: The whole thing's been a labour of love for everybody.

Planet Vortis we did yesterday from The Web Planet.

It was conjured out of virtually nothing -

sand, and polystyrene rocks

and painted hardboard, and it looks absolutely beautiful.

Incredible, the attention to detail across the board.

CAROLE ANN: 'Mark is right about the attention to detail.

'I was lucky enough to visit the set during filming, which I found to be

'very emotional.

'What really brought a lump to my throat is when'

we saw David Bradley

'playing Bill.

'They were showing that Bill occasionally forgot his lines.'

- We have no gloves...drugs. - And, er...

..It was, it was difficult to watch it.

'He certainly gets the essence of Bill beautifully.

'It was clear from my visit that filming TV has changed a bit over

'over the years,

'and time-travelling back to 1963 was quite enjoyable for the cast.'

I think my favourite stuff is actually re-enacting the episode,

um, because she has

'some cracking lines and it's really fun to do.'

What are you doing here?

JAMIE GLOVER: 'The world of television in 1963

'seems a million miles away'

from the television that we work in now.

BELL RINGS OK. Into position, everyone.

'They would rehearse it for a week

'and then they'd shoot the episode, and they'd shoot'

like a half-an-hour episode in an hour-and-a-half.

'When you go back and look at some of the earlier episodes, it's a bit

'bumpy in places.'

Move the bloody camera.

Often, one actor's blocking the other,

or someone stumbles on their line.

Is that your excuse for this unwarrantable...

unwarranted intrusion?

You can see them sort off ploughing through.

I know this is absurd but...

CREAKING The doors!

'There's a kind of live, exciting quality.'

That's something that, for good and bad, we've lost nowadays.

CAROLE ANN: 'But the cast and crew

'were keen to get some of that live feel into the drama,

'and were more than happy to record

'some additional dialogue... 1963 style.'

Sorry about that.

I tried to make the thing work but it come off in me 'and.

- Punishment rations all round! - I only asked.

Gold!

CAROLE ANN: 'An Adventure In Space And Time is packed full of

'references to Doctor Who's long history,

'and Mark was keen to cast as many cameos as possible

'from those connected to the show.'

We are at Verity Lambert's leaving party in 1965,

and we're very privileged to have

'with us lots of faces from the programme, from the time.

AMERICAN ACCENT: This is a great party.

'And the party continued with cameos from William Russell,

'who played one of the Doctor's first companions, and Mark Eden,

'who stepped into Marco Polo's shoes in the very first series.

'And someone couldn't resist stepping into the shoes of the Doctor

'for his own cameo.

'Here's a little treat you won't have seen in the show itself.

'Another regeneration.

'Hope you enjoy.'

MARK: I don't know what it is about Doctor Who,

partly childhood nostalgia.

It's partly the fact that it instantly connects with

a very happy time for me and for hundreds of thousands of people.

CAROLE ANN: 'The Doctor has delighted audiences now for half a century,

'and I'm sure we all hope that his adventure in space and time

'will continue for quite a while longer.'

Well, like a great wine, you've survived a very long time.

Doctor Who, happy birthday.

I wish Doctor Who a very happy anniversary.

Here's to another 50 years of Daleks and weeping angels.

And who knows?

Maybe some people watching this will be watching in 50 years' time

to celebrate its 100th birthday.

I hope you're going when I have grandchildren.

And may you continue to travel

through time and space for the next 100 years.

Yeah, happy 50th anniversary. And here's to many more years to come.

I feel more like a dad than a director about this

because I was at the birth of this show.

And that makes me very proud.

I just want to say happy anniversary, Doctor Who.

May I say...on behalf of all the Doctor Whos...

..happy anniversary. Happy 50th.