Standing ovation for Adventure at BFI première

The drama An Adventure in Space and Time, which tells the story of the creation of Doctor Who in 1963 in fictionalised form, received a standing ovation from the audience following its première at the British Film Institute's BFI Southbank venue on Tuesday evening. An Adventure, produced by the BBC as part of the celebrations to mark Doctor Who's 50th anniversary this month, will receive its television début on BBC Two on Thursday 21st November at 9pm, before being shown in the US and Canada the following day, and in Australia on the 24th.

Tuesday's screening was the latest in the BFI's own series of anniversary events, which have previously seen each Doctor celebrated with a screening of one of their stories. The screening of An Adventure in Space and Time proved immensely popular with fans, some of whom had waited for eight hours in the queue for returns in order to gain their seats. The screening was introduced by speeches from its writer and executive producer Mark Gatiss, from the BFI's Television Programmer Marcus Prince and from Clare Hudson, the Head of BBC Cymru Wales productions, which made An Adventure in Space and Time.

Among the audience were director Waris Hussein, who appears as a character in the drama played by Sacha Dhawan; former companion actors Carole Ann Ford (also a character in the programme) Louise Jameson, Anneke Wills (who also appears briefly in the drama), Sophie Aldred and Matthew Waterhouse, and 1970s producer Philip Hinchcliffe. Taking part in the panel discussion following the screening, conducted by journalist and Doctor Who fan Matthew Sweet, were Gatiss, stars Dhawan and David Bradley (who portrays William Hartnell), director Terry McDonough and Hartnell's real-life granddaughter Jessica Carney, the latter of whom was clearly very moved by the drama.

A spoiler-free review of An Adventure in Space and Time is now available in our reviews section, here. For our An Unearthly Series features, telling the real story behind the creation of Doctor Who fifty years to the day since each major event occurred, click here.