David Bradley is William Hartnell...

[The Nth Doctor]

And Brian Cox as Sydney Newman. (So is all the main cast going to consist of people who were already in DW?)

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/0201...ls-casting-for-an-adventure-in-space-and-time

That seems to be the trend considering Jessica Raine, who will be portraying Verity Lambert, is going to guest star on Doctor Who when series 7 returns.

David Bradley is a great choice to portray William Hartnell as is Brian Cox.

I'm still crossing my fingers that William Russell and Carole Ann Ford will make a cameo appearance in it.

 

[StCoop]

Not that there was any real doubt:

http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophen...enture-in-space-and-time-for-doctor-who-50th/

 

[Orac]

No he isn't! I am! I'm William Hartnell! I'M WILLIAM HARTNELL!!!

 

[MacLeod]

I just hope BBC America airs this presentation.

(I suspect it will. Seems like it may doing more with DW this anniversary year than the BBC itself.)

Sincerely,

Bill

I suspect that the BBC will have a DW themed night, and perhaps as it gets closer to the actual anniversary to perhaps a story from each Doctor on BBC three.

 

[davejames]

Wouldn't it be interesting if he played Hartnell in the documentary and played the 1st Doctor in the anniversary special? Nice way to tie into itself! But, I'm getting ahead of myself there!

That would be pretty cool. And even better if Moffat took advantage of the same sets and had Smith's Doctor visiting the old console room as well.

 

[Iamnotspock]

I suspect that the BBC will have a DW themed night, and perhaps as it gets closer to the actual anniversary to perhaps a story from each Doctor on BBC three.

Probably, although I'd have thought BBC Two or Four would be better suited.

From this week's Radio Times; An Unearthly Child director Waris Hussein meets actor Sacha Dhawan, who'll be playing him in the drama.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Has BBCA run any of the previous BBC biopics (or 'Comedy is Misery', as they got nicknamed): The Curse of Steptoe (Phil Davis and Jason Isaacs as the two stars of Steptoe and Son), Fantabulosa (Michael Sheen as Kenneth Williams), Sooner You Than Me (David Walliams as Frankie Howerd), etc etc? Not that it would stop them taking the Who one if they didn't.

In answer to your question, no, they haven't. One-off films like that, if they show up here at all, show up as direct-to-DVD features.

I could see BBC America picking this up because there's a marketing hook for it.

I don't think most of the BBC America audience would be familiar enough with the source material to find those films interesting.

 

[Candlelight]

Wouldn't it be interesting if he played Hartnell in the documentary and played the 1st Doctor in the anniversary special? Nice way to tie into itself! But, I'm getting ahead of myself there!

Moffat isn't that smart to join the dots.

 

[Saul]

I just hope BBC America airs this presentation.

(I suspect it will. Seems like it may doing more with DW this anniversary year than the BBC itself.)

Sincerely,

Bill

I suspect that the BBC will have a DW themed night, and perhaps as it gets closer to the actual anniversary to perhaps a story from each Doctor on BBC three.

BBC haven't done a themed night for a long long time. I think they stopped doing those sorts of things. They were fun to watch, the Star Trek night, Red Dwarf night, Godzilla night.

Might be funny to stick a Police Box in the background of Eastenders.

 

[Starkers]

Wouldn't it be interesting if he played Hartnell in the documentary and played the 1st Doctor in the anniversary special? Nice way to tie into itself! But, I'm getting ahead of myself there!

Moffat isn't that smart to join the dots.

Seriously wouldn't it bother people seeing an actor playing another actor playing a character, then seeing the actor just playing the character? Never mind breaking the fourth wall that's smashing it down with a mechanical digger!

 

[Konata Izumi]

Never mind breaking the fourth wall that's smashing it down with a mechanical digger!

Sounds fun to me.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^Not quite the same but when they did The Road to Coronation Street a few years ago, the son of William Roache (Ken Barlow) played the young William. He was almost concurrently playing Ken's long-lost grandson in Corrie, opposite William.

Adding to the confusion, William's other son Linus was appearing as Ken's son and the father of the long-lost grandson. Linus in the 1960s played Ken's other son, Peter Barlow, who still appears in the show but is played by another actor.

The only other similar example I can think of is in Jolson Sings Again, the sequel to The Jolson Story. In JSA, it has a scene where Jolson, played by Larry Parks, meets the actor who is going to play him in a proposed movie called The Jolson Story. The actor is a Larry Parks and is played by, er, Larry Parks.

 

[Mr Awe]

Wouldn't it be interesting if he played Hartnell in the documentary and played the 1st Doctor in the anniversary special? Nice way to tie into itself! But, I'm getting ahead of myself there!

Moffat isn't that smart to join the dots.

Seriously wouldn't it bother people seeing an actor playing another actor playing a character, then seeing the actor just playing the character? Never mind breaking the fourth wall that's smashing it down with a mechanical digger!

That wouldn't be my impression.

Mr Awe

 

[Brendan Moody]

The main cast for the docudrama now seems to be complete: Bradley as Hartnell, Claudia Grant as Carole Ann Ford, Jamie Glover as William Russell, Jemma Powell as Jacqueline Hill, Brian Cox as Sydney Newman, Jessica Raine as Verity Lambert, and Sacha Dhawan as Waris Hussein. Also-- and this is probably the coolest part-- William Russell himself will appear as "Harry." Presumably just a cameo, but a very nice touch. Maybe they can work Carole Ann Ford in as well?

 

[Candlelight]

Just heard that too, great that Russell will be there.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Awesome! I was hoping they would get him in there for a cameo. Hopefully the same thing can be worked out for Carole Ann Ford.

Where did you read about this?

 

[Brendan Moody]

^Could have sworn I replied to this yesterday, but I guess not: it's from the Doctor Who News Page, which got it from the website of Russell's agent.

One more new bit of casting today: Sarah Winter as Delia Derbyshire.

 

[Christopher]

^Oh, it's nice that they're acknowledging Derbyshire's contribution. I hope we see others like Ron Grainer and Ray Cusick.