Instant Favorite.

hyped garbage

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Okay, I watched this quite a while ago and the reason is that I am becoming a fan of Doctor Who, old and new. William Hartnell's Doctor is actually one of the few that takes a bit of time to get used to. If you haven't seen them then... He isn't as likable of a character as his later incarnations. Why am I bringing this up? Well if this movie can get me teary eyed about Hartnell leaving then I congratulate them for succeeding as well as they did.It's 1963 and Sydney Newman, being a well respected show-runner has a new vision in mind for a kids show to pass the time, nothing really special. About a centuries old alien that takes his granddaughter and her 2 Earth teachers on adventures on any point in the universe at any time, at first it doesn't go right with the original pilot having an almost unlikeable title character so after re-shooting the Kennedy Assassination occurs, so they decide to do what they can to make sure it lasts past them in cavemen times trying to search for fire again. So their next story, much to the dismay of Newman is about intergalactic exterminating aliens, They're called Daleks. You wouldn't know them. The rest seems to be history.Before I start giving this praise across the board on other things. The casting is brilliant. Everyone looks like the people they're playing and David Bradley does an A+ performance as William Hartnell, getting down the mannerisms and the way he talked to a tee. If anyone didn't do a good job, it was the guy they got to play Patrick Troughton. They look nothing alike, I don't think he even acted like him, either his persona of The Doctor or otherwise (I've seen interviews with him). But the best thing about this movie is by far how they portrayed Hartnell, not only in acting but in writing. You feel the fact that while Hartnell was a grumpy old man, he towards the end loved doing the show and to see him want to go on but has to face up to the fact that he can't, it's done perfectly. Actually, maybe not perfectly but I'll get to that.Probably the worst thing about it is that it drops some hints towards the new show and the fact that yes, Doctor Who is the most replaceable TV character of all time. Repeatedly Hartnell says he's irreplaceable even dropping it in conversation, It just sounds very stilted and it's almost like "Yes, we get it!". Oh and I also didn't like the Matt Smith cameo. I get it was the whole "look how far this show has come" but he's just thrown in there. Maybe something better would be that he looks at all the Doctors from 3 onwards to 11, I don't know - I just think it dated an otherwise timeless television movie.So, I would recommend it to anyone who's a fan of either show, people wanting to see a phenomenally well done underdog story or people wanting to see a well done true story movie, even if sometimes it took liberties with that happened. Either way, most of my complaints were me nitpicking because there is a lot that this does right.

Being a newcomer to this legendary time honored series, I was never quite convinced to watch nary a rerun let alone a new series. Whatever could be the commotion over a low budget, strange scenario, teckie talk scripted old geezer. Well, after some prodding by a dear fan/friend I decided to indulge the lad and give it a whirl with this fine docudrama.I was flabbergasted by how endearing this show was to so many generations of fans, ala Star Trek in the States. This film captured so many interesting angles of production, casting, design challenges, and camaraderie on set that completely took me by surprise, completely! Turns out this program, so unique with serious entertainment and educational value, is developed by folks who put heart and soul into it's creation. Extremely impressive was the Doctor and his initial reluctance to becoming the most beloved character in BBC history and then migrating to dissolving into tears upon his last performance. So touching and very effective for the simpatico effect.I was also impressed with the directing and multiple views of each set piece, intimate moments, wide angle shots and discriminating close-ups. Kudos to all involved in this production! I now maintain an avid interest in this program, have watched a few previous episodes on Amazon Prime and look forward to the new season. Now that I have some background information on basic terminology and history I look forward to enjoying the series, well...forever! High recommend for BBC fans, early TV sci-fi, great acting, directing, set production, you name it, I truly enjoyed this film.

It's 1963. Head of BBC drama Sydney Newman (Brian Cox) wants a new sci-fi show for both kids and adults. He brings in young Verity Lambert (Jessica Raine) who worked under him before to produce it. She's given an Indian director Waris Hussein (Sacha Dhawan) and a crusty character actor William Hartnell (David Bradley) to play Doctor Who. They struggle with limited resources, the old guard, racism, sexism, and everything else. On top of it all, the first episode goes on at the same time as the Kennedy assassination. Sydney is pushed to drop it after 4 episodes but then the show becomes an overnight hit with the introduction of Daleks.This is a very touching tribute to the old show. David Bradley is brilliant. His deterioration is heart breaking. It has the underdog aspect. It's a great story even if you're a passing viewer of the show.

Faithful and loving recreation of those early days of "Doctor Who", when William Hartnell(played excellently by David Bradley) first took on the mantle of that mysterious wandering time & space traveler the Doctor, with a fine supporting cast portraying his costars(William Russell, Jacqueline Hill, and Carole Ann Ford) and real-life production crew(like producer Verity Lambert, young director Waris Hussein, and their boss at the BBC Sydney Newman.) Behind the scenes turmoil and uncertainty are well portrayed, and were quickly settled once the Daleks debuted, and the ratings climbed to ten million...The script by Mark Gatiss is quite good, with nice touches that long-time fans will appreciate, though at only 90 minutes, it does move along a bit too fast, with other key participants(like script editor and writer David Whitaker) left out altogether, and the final little nod to the "future" will either leave viewer hot or cold, since not all fans like what the series later became(I stopped at Peter Davison), but those are small complaints in this otherwise worthwhile special, which also gives a most interesting view of the private side of Hartnell, with his loyal wife and granddaughter. Most effective and moving.