Doctor Who still reinventing himself
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- Publication: Toronto Star
- Date: 2013-11-21
- Author:
- Page: E1
- Language: English
Docudrama tribute looks at the 50-year history of the BBC's legendary time lord
The late Sydney Newman, the legendary head of drama for the BBC, is played with an immense, palpable zest by Scottish actor Brian Cox in the docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time.
With his psychedelic bow ties and bright cardigans, Newman comes across as a PT Barnum of the television age, an entirely outlandish figure steering the helm of the stuffy BBC.
The take-away for Canadians may be that the Toronto-born Newman was not only a major cultural influencer of British pop culture, but he was also the father of one of the most iconic television series of all time - Doctor Who, which celebrates 50 years of existence this year.
"We want to do a science fiction series, but no bug-eyed monsters or robots," he demands in the docudrama looking at the origins of the series. "We want history, too. Proper history. The kids at home should learn something."
An Adventure in Space and Time, which airs on Space Friday - one day before the 50th anniversary of the show's debut - is a carefully crafted tribute to half a century of the world's most popular time lord.
The period drama recreates the quirky, cheaply shot BBC series that was originally supposed to be a children's show, but morphed into something much more.
It also captures a fascinating time in the BBC's history, where the Canadian was seen as something of a heretic, producing popular programming that didn't mesh with the broadcaster's vision of itself.
Newman's decisions would alter the BBC forever.
That included inadvertently starting the BBC's first merchandising boom - way before George Lucas got in the game, where Dalek robot outfits and sonic screwdrivers would become a staple of Halloween for generations.
He also promoted his former assistant Verity Lambert to take the reins as the producer, becoming the first female to head up a major series.
The old guard is referred to by Lambert as a "sea of tweed and sweaty men."
And the docudrama shows that the battle for respect is steep in the male-dominated, tradition-bound world that is the BBC.
For good measure Newman also paired Lambert with Waris Hussein, the BBC's first director of East Asian descent.
Newman of course, was already something of a legend, having created the spy-fi series The Avengers, teaming up a top-hatted, umbrella-toting Patrick Macnee as John Steed, alongside a slew of partners, the most famous being Diana Rigg as the stylish and deadly Emma Peel.
In the docudrama, William Hartnell, the first Doctor Who, is played by David Bradley of Game of Thrones fame.
It is a remarkably tender performance, especially since most viewers will remember Bradley as the gloriously evil Lord Walder Frey, the host of the notorious Red Wedding in the popular HBO fantasy series.
Bradley starts off as a curmudgeon and is transformed by the role into something sweeter and lighter as he sees the impact that a seemingly ill-conceived children's show can have. It helps that he gains the kind of recognition given to rock stars. Hartnell was eventually replaced in the series because of deteriorating health and actor Bradley potently reveals the pain the actor must have felt when he was replaced.
"He was born illegitimately behind St. Pancras Station in London. And he never knew his father," Bradley told critics in Los Angeles. "It was just not a very good start in life ... But one feels that it left him with a deep insecurity."
Also lovingly recreated is the retro BBC set where directors were only allowed to stop filming four times per episode because the cameras and equipment were so cumbersome.
Most people didn't know that Newman insisted on reshooting the entire first episode because he wasn't happy with the quality of it, according to director Terry McDonough. And Doctor Who was perilously close to being cancelled if not for Newman's insistence.
His famous instincts were wrong however, when it came to "no bug-eyed monsters or robots."
For lack of a better script, Lambert got her now-famous Daleks, and the rest is history.
The docudrama leads nicely into the culmination of the Doctor Who 50th anniversary celebrations, which includes Space's commercial-free broadcast of the telefilm The Day of the Doctor on Nov. 23.
The show promises to be something of a Doctor Who-lopalooza for hard core fans, with Matt Smith, the current and 11th doctor teaming up with his predecessor David Tennant and another prior incarnation of the time lord (played by John Hurt) to reveal a plot brewing in London's National Gallery.
At half a century, the show is listed in Guinness World Records as the longest-running science fiction show globally. Perhaps accounting for its success is that the premise and promise of Doctor Who has never wavered.
When it was first pitched, it was supposed to be a show where C.S. Lewis meets H.G. Wells meets Father Christmas.
But according to actor Smith, the current Doctor Who, it is a lot simpler than that.
"It's a show about a man, who is over a thousand and travels around the universe in a blue box which is bigger on the inside than the outside," says Smith.
"He can go anywhere in time and space. And he picks up a load of hot chicks and takes them around the world."
Decades Of Doctor Who: A primer for the uninitiated.
Doctor Who is an acquired taste. But the famously cheesy eccentricity hides an unexpected humanity and thoughtfulness in a show originally meant for children.
Doctor Who:
Is not human. He's a time lord, also referred to as something of a "cosmic hobo" who travels through space and time. And by the way, he "regenerates," which means every few years a new actor plays the good doctor.
There have been 11 doctors so far, and we're due for a 12th.
The Blue Box:
Also known as a TARDIS (for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space), this is what the doctor uses to travel with.
It references C.S. Lewis' Narnia wardrobe and Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass and it looks like a British policeman's box, common in the U.K. from the 1930s through the early 1960s. It's also bigger on the inside than the outside.
Daleks:
The arch nemesis of Doctor Who. Looking like giant saltshaker's, the Daleks are why your kids are screaming "exterminate" in a robotic voice at breakfast. They first appeared in episode two and became hugely popular. The Daleks were once humanoid but mutated into their mobile metal shells.
Sonic Screwdriver:
Before there was MacGyver, Doctor Who used a "sonic screwdriver" which he could pick locks, detonate mines or track aliens with.
The companions:
The Doctor always has a companion-slash-assistant. Usually it's as a foil so the audience can understand what the doctor is thinking. Companions also get into a fair bit of trouble and need rescuing, thus helping to nudge along any creaky plots.
GRAPHIC: In an upcoming docudrama about Doctor Who, Brian Cox plays Sydney Newman, the man who got the time lord on the air. In the Doctor Who docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time, William Hartnell, the first Doctor Who, is played by David Bradley, above.
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