An Adventure in Space and Time

An Adventure in Space and Time ~ Written by one of the current stable of writers for "Doctor Who" (which I cover for Biff Bam Pop!), Mark Gatiss, this is a docudrama about the creation of that series back in the early 1960s. These types of shows are done all the time, but what better time to do this one than during The Doctor's fiftieth anniversary, right?

Not just a novelty piece for the Who fans, this is also a British "Mad Men" nostalgia time capsule piece, full of semi-harmless cigarette smoking, sexism, and racism. Ironically, this is like the lighthearted good sister to "The Hour," a recent show about the same era, which coincidentally starred Peter Capaldi, the next Doctor Who come Christmas.

The cast is just full of fun and great characters. I loved Jessica Raine as Verity Lambert, Brian Cox as Sydney Newman, and David Bradley (Filch from Harry Potter) as the First Doctor William Hartnell. And Sacha Dhawan, who I loved as Manmeet in the short lived American "Outsourced," is great as first director Warris Hussein. All terrific actors bringing this fun production, and nostalgic reproduction, to life.

The movie is also a bittersweet journal of the early years of the TV series, through Dalekmania and William Hartnell's deterioration. You'll laugh and you'll cry. I think I liked this timely tale almost as much as I liked the 50th anniversary special itself. Great fun.