The BBC has announced that a special, 90-minute drama that tells the story of the origins of Doctor Who, and of the people who created it, will be shown to mark the 50th anniversary of the series in 2013.

Entitled An Adventure in Space and Time - the tag line used to promote the original launch of the series - this one-off drama is being written by Mark Gatiss, who has had a long association with Doctor Who. Mark Gatiss has written several stories for the show including the 2010 Eleventh Doctor story "Victory of the Daleks" and the 2011 story "Night Terrors".

‘The story of Doctor Who is the story of television’, Executive Producer Steven Moffat has stated. ‘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’.

An Adventure in Space and Time is the latest of several BBC dramas in recent years that have been based on the true events and real relationships behind popular television shows and comedy acts. These include: In 2008 The Curse of Steptoe which focused on the relationship, both on and off-screen, between Harry H Corbett and Wilfrid Brambell, the stars of Steptoe and Son; 2010's The Road to Coronation Street; and Eric and Ernie, which was shown in 2011 and dramatised the early days of comedy double-act Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise and garnered a BAFTA for Daniel Rigby for his performance as Eric Morecambe.

However, the idea for a drama based on the genesis of Doctor Who actually pre-dates all of these productions. Kevin Davies, who produced the 1993 documentary 30 Years in the TARDIS, had originally proposed a 'docu-drama' about the series to be produced for the show's 30th anniversary – however, this proved unsuccessful. Happily though, with the passage of time and the return of Doctor Who as a mainstream television hit, the attitude of the BBC has changed.

Further details of the production, along with casting, will be announced in 2013. It is expected that An Adventure in Space and Time will be broadcast on BBC Two, and although the time and date of transmission have yet to be announced, it is anticipated that it will be close to the 50th anniversary of the show - on Saturday 23rd November 2013.