David Bradley has been confirmed as the actor who’ll portray William Hartnell in An Adventure In Space And Time, a biopic specially being made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Dr Who.

Hartnell was the first actor to bring the Doctor to live on television screens back in 1963, and the Mark Gatiss-penned biopic will focus on the creation and making of that first series of what would go on to be one of the most popular science fiction names in the world. Bradley, one of the stars of Harry Potter, was understandably thrilled to have signed on for such a role. "I'm absolutely thrilled," said the 70-year-old actor in a statement reported by Digital Spy. "Mark has written such a wonderful script not only about the birth of a cultural phenomenon, but a moment in television's history. William Hartnell was one of the finest character actors of our time and as a fan I want to make sure that I do him justice. I'm so looking forward to getting started."

Other stars who’ve been named in the project include Jessica Raine, who’ll be playing Doctor Who’s first producer Verity Lambert. Brian Cox (not the science guy) will be playing Sydney Newman, the Canadian producer who helped devise Doctor Who, and Sacha Dhawan, who directed the first ever show.