BBC considers Doctor Who movie
Ben Dowell
Wednesday October 3, 2007
MediaGuardian.co.uk
Doctor Who: Tranter 'would not rule out a film version'
The BBC controller of fiction, Jane Tranter, has left the way open for a movie version of Doctor Who - despite film adaptations of existing BBC dramas not being part of her new strategy for BBC Films.
Ms Tranter told MediaGuardian.co.uk that the move of the BBC films department from central London to a new base inside BBC Television Centre was designed to "cross-fertilise" film production with the expertise from the comedy, natural history and news and current affairs departments.
"This move is not about making feature films about things that are on the television - those ideas are staring us in the face already and may seem too obvious," Ms Tranter said.
However Tranter pointedly refused to rule out the possibility of a film version of Doctor Who, the department's most successful drama series of recent years.
"I would not rule out a film version of Doctor Who, no," she said.
This could see a follow-up to the two previous Doctor Who movies: Dr Who and the Daleks, and Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150AD. Both of these films starred Peter Cushing as the doctor - a part he never filled for television.
Ms Tranter also hinted that actor David Tennant, who plays the current doctor, was likely to return to the role for a fifth series, even though he has agreed to play Hamlet for the Royal Shakespeare Company next year.
His decision means that the fifth series will not be shown until 2010, two years after the fourth series airs next year, effectively creating a "gap year" filled by three Doctor Who specials starring Tennant and overseen by head writer and executive producer Russell T Davies.
Ms Tranter also refused to be drawn on speculation that Steven Moffat was being lined up as a replacement for Davies - who is believed to be on the verge of leaving the show - or that actor James Nesbitt was being lined up take over from Tennant.
"All we can say is that David is a fantastic doctor and that he is doing Hamlet," she said.
Doctor Who's last series ended in July with 8 million viewers, a 39% share of the audience.
http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcas...src=rss&feed=4Is it Time(lord) for a Doctor Who movie?
It has been tried before with not a great deal of success, but BBC bosses have left the door slightly ajar for a Who film.
October 3, 2007 11:10 AM
BBC Fiction boss Jane Tranter has pretty much ruled out making feature films based on the best of BBC drama - except for Doctor Who. What would you think if BBC Films decided to make a big screen tale of the Timelord?
Well, it might be an idea to know who will be in it and writing it. The Beeb first has to sort out once and for all whether David Tennant will return for series five once he's finished playing Hamlet on the RSC stage.
Here's hoping the indecision of the Danish Prince, or indeed a taste for live performing, won't rub off on him too much. He's brilliant. The good news is that I got the distinct impression from speaking to Tranter yesterday that he will come back. Other BBC sources have suggested this to me as well.
But what about Billie Piper, currently playing TV's Belle du Jour, getting off her scented couch and returning as companion Rose as the News of the World recently reported? This may sound like sacrilege but I preferred Freema Agyeman's character Martha (minus those pained I-am-romantically-in-love-with-the-Doctor looks she had to flash two or three times an episode). There are rumours that both will be coming back. Some people - and papers - have even talked about James Nesbitt taking control in the Tardis but I have it on good authority that he has no intention of putting himself forward. Like most people, he probably can't imagine a better Doctor than Tennant from the current crop of British actors, but you could well disagree.
But before a decision is made about a film, the direction of the show certainly needs to be sorted out, as does the creative leadership of the series. Will Russell T Davies, the series' effective show-runner, stay on? And if not, will his write hand (see what I'm doing there?) partner Steven Moffat step up?
The real question, though, is whether a film would work? Let us forget a minute the fondly remembered but (if you have seen them in the last 20 years) unutterably dated two films starring Peter Cushing. Time has also moved on since Paul McGann took on the role in the 1996 blockbuster BBC/US co-pro that simply looked a bit naff compared with the crop of great US sci fi dramas around at the time.
Now the Doc is back, and bar the odd sabbatical, for good. It looks brilliant...is brilliant. But would a film be one step in the space time continuum too far?
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/organgri...e_tranter.html
) and Who is aimed at a family audiance. That means there are some adult themes in it, people die (sometimes grizzly deaths) and it is more mature than anything that would be shown on CBBC (usually, though some of RTD's Who certainly wouldn't be out of place there), but it is still suitable for the whole family to watch. I don't know if it started as an educational show, I think I heard one of the staff that worked on the original say it was initially during a documentary on a Who night, but needless to say, it evolved beyond that.
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