An Adventure in Space and Time (4 Stars)

This made-for-television film tells the story of the first three years of "Doctor Who" from 1963 to 1966. More than that, it's a tribute the William Hartnell, the first actor to step into the title role. I'll probably make thousands of enemies for saying this, but he wasn't a very good actor. If he had been a top actor the BBC couldn't have afforded him on the show's shoestring budget. I've seen some of his films that he made before 1963, and it's difficult to call him an actor at all. He was typecast as a grumpy old sergeant, which seems to have been his real life personality. In 1963 his career was at an end, when he was offered the role of the Doctor in a revolutionary new science fiction series. Describing "Doctor Who" that way makes it sound like something spectacular, but when it was first conceived it was just an attempt to fill a hole in the Saturday evening television schedule.

With some reluctance Hartnell took on the job, and it was a marriage made in Heaven. He was perfect for the role, and the role was perfect for him. He was allowed to be himself for the series, and his likeable personality won the hearts of millions of people, children and adults alike. He was the grumpy old grandfather that kids love even when he tells them off.

In many ways, the series should never have been successful. It had a woman as producer and an Indian as director. The unacceptability of this is emphasised in a bar scene where the barman serves white men first and lets the others wait. It was an uphill battle to make the show on its minuscule budget of less than £100 per week. Problems were made by Hartnell's failing memory and his inability to remember lines. Some of his mistakes made their way into the broadcast episodes, because it was too expensive to refilm scenes. What really saved the series from early cancellation was the appearance of the Daleks in the fifth episode. These "monsters" captured the imagination of the viewers in a way that no television creatures have ever done, before or after 1963.

After three years William Hartnell was fired from the series. This was heartbreaking to him. He lived for "Doctor Who". It was his life.

The film's casting is excellent. David Bradley stands out as the perfect representation of William Hartnell. All the other main characters look uncannily like their real world counterparts. The only mistake made is using Reece Shearsmith to play Patrick Troughton. He looks much too young for the role.

I have to warn the viewers that there's a long after-credits sequence, a six-minute mini-documentary that's not worth missing.