David Bradley will play the first-ever Doctor, William Hartnell, in BBC America and BBC Cymru Wales’ 50th anniversary Doctor Who TV movie, An Adventure In Space And Time. Also joining the movie about the genesis of the Doctor Who series are Brian Cox (The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Identity) as BBC drama head Sydney Newman, who is credited with the creation of the show; Jessica Raine (Call The Midwife), who will play producer Verity Lambert; and Sacha Dhawan (After Earth) as Waris Hussein, director of the first ever episode ‘An Unearthly Child.’ Character actor and TV vet Bradley is best known to global audiences as curmudgeonly caretaker Argus Filch, who stalks the halls of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies. Bradley said today, “I’m absolutely thrilled. I first heard about this role from Mark [Gatiss] while watching the Diamond Jubilee flotilla from the roof of the National Theatre. When he asked if I would be interested, I almost bit his hand off!”

he movie is a co-production between BBC America, which has had great success with Doctor Who in the States, and BBC Cymru Wales. The script is by Gatiss, who, along with Steven Moffat is also the creator of Sherlock. Gatiss, Moffat and Caroline Skinner are exec producing. Matt Strevens (Misfits, Skins) is producer and Terry McDonough (Breaking Bad, The Street) directs. Shooting starts early next month for air later this year.