David Bradley as William Hartnell

David Bradley as William Hartnell

David Bradley gave a "wonderfully touching" performance as the First Doctor in 'Doctor Who' biopic 'An Adventure in Time and Space'.

The 71-year-old star is to portray actor William Hartnell in the docudrama - which will help celebrate the hit BBC sci-fi show's 50th anniversary - and his acting has been highly praised by the one-off special's producers.

Mark Gatiss, who also wrote the script for the eagerly anticipated TV movie, said: "David Bradley brings every ounce of his talent, humour and presence to the role of William Hartnell. It's a wonderfully touching and subtle performance and I'm immensely proud of both him and the film."

'An Adventure in Time and Space' will chronicle the commissioning of 'Doctor Who' in the early 1960s, which was considered quite a gamble for the BBC, as well as the cultural phenomena it would become when it hit screens in 1963.

Joining David in the drama will be 'Call the Midwife' actress Jessica Raine - who also guest starred in an episode of the recent seventh series of 'Doctor Who' - as Verity Lambert, the show's first producer, and Brian Cox as BBC executive Sydney Newman.

The one-off TV film will screen on BBC Two later this year as part of Doctor Who's 50th anniversary celebrations.

Meanwhile, BBC One will air a special feature-length episode of 'Doctor Who' starring Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith.

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