Doctor Who An Adventure In Space And Time: 5 Things We Are Excited To See Again
2. David Bradley as The First Doctor
This only sunk in recently while watching ITVs Broadchurch which stars David Tennant and David Bradley in a scene together and it was weird to think that technically this was the First and Tenth Doctors together, or as near as we are likely to get. The same effect can also be felt in 'Dinosaurs on a Spaceship' to a degree, even if David Bradley's Soloman is the main villain. Now this isnt the first time the First Doctor has been replaced. I am of course referring to The Five Doctors where in a canonical story the Doctor was recast. Personally I find this quite tasteless and should never have been done, the Fourth Doctor was more or less completely absent but he wasnt replaced purely because Tom Baker was still alive.
However in this case, we are not replacing anyone, David Bradley is playing William Hartnell, playing the Doctor, which weirdly justifies it. The same with each of the characters, we are going to see the original Doctor and his companions brought to life again almost as if this was a reboot of the series, but not a reboot. Its an oddly comfortable grey area. Its looking unlikely well have a multi Doctor story or see past companions and even if they do, they wont appear as we remember them.
This is an excellent way of returning to the roots and bringing out memories back to life. Its nothing short of a nostalgia fest and any recreated scenes will be like an official fan film. Does that make David Bradleys Doctor canonical? Of course not. But it would be beautiful if in the drama we get to see David Bradleys Doctor side by side with Matt Smith. As exciting as it will be to see the First Doctor live and breathe, we will get to see the Second Doctor played by Reece Shearsmith for the regeneration scene at least. Not forgetting of course all the companions along the way, Ian, Barbara, Susan, Vicki, Steven, Katarina, Dodo, Ben and Polly. Heres hoping for a second documentary of the 70s years and Sean Pertwee portraying his father and showing the production of 'Genesis of the Daleks'. Although personally I wouldnt say no to a biopic of Jon Pertwee on its own.