Fifty years and eleven doctors later, the story of Doctor Who and how it all began is finally going to be told.  The 90-minute film An Adventure in Space and Time will document the creation of one of the most watched and beloved characters in all of television, whose constantly regenerating form has been portrayed by a myriad of actors from William Hartnell in 1963 up to the modern era of Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant and Matt Smith.

An Adventure in Space and Time has been written by Mark Gatiss, current Doctor Who writer and Sherlock scribe, and will include Steven Moffat and Caroline Skinner as executive producers.  For more on the project, hop in the TARDIS and hit the jump.

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Gatiss, speaking to the BBC, said of the film:

"This is the story of how an unlikely set of brilliant people created a true television original. I've wanted to tell this story this for more years than I can remember! To make it happen for Doctor Who's 50th birthday is quite simply a dream come true."

The movie will focus in part on how William Hartnell went from playing "hard-man" roles to becoming, more or less, a children's hero.  The franchise has grown in leaps and bounds since then, of course.  Its last season was one of the most-watched ever on BBC America, and boasts an incredible number of iTunes downloads.

Moffat added,

"The story of Doctor Who is the story of television - so it's fitting in the anniversary year that we make our most important journey back in time to see how the Tardis was launched."

Additional details about the production, including casting, will be confirmed next year, when the drama is set to air on BBC Two.  The next series of Doctor Who starts in the UK this month, and will follow on BBC America in the fall.

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