- MediaGuardian,
- Wednesday October 3, 2007
- Article history
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.
"All we can say is that David is a fantastic doctor and that he is doing Hamlet," she said.
Doctor Who series 3 ended in July 2007 with 8 million viewers, a 39% share of the audience.
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