Report: BBC And Sony Keen On Doctor Who Movie, Show Runners Less So

Movies of TV shows sound like a good idea, but they don’t always pan out. If handled improperly, they can easily feel like two episodes strung together, rather than a cohesive, blockbusting whole. Sony and the BBC are keen to give the latter’s flagship franchise, Doctor Who, the silver screen treatment, however, the creative forces behind the show are not so eager.

The recent release by Wikileaks of confidential documents and emails from Sony reveals a plan to get a Doctor Who movie done within an “8 year timeline”, according to a story by The Telegraph’s Daniel Bates.

It’s mentioned that BBC Worldwide is rather taken by the idea and Sony’s very interested too, but the minds behind the series “feel very clear that they don’t want to do one at this moment”:

“That said, over the course of the coming months, the show running team is coming up with an 8 year timeline for the brand – laying out all that will happen with it. He [BBC’s Director of Television, Danny Cohen] says that a film will certainly be a part of that timeline.

So the answer is that a film won’t happen in the next year to 18 months, but it is expected that it will happen after that within the 8 year horizon.”

The article states that the idea to produce a film sooner rather than later had Doctor Who’s show runners “very hot under the collar” and that “their position on it is not being listened to or accepted”.

Being at the helm of the BBC’s treasured sci-fi franchise might be a dream come true for some, but having to contend with executive heavyweights threatening to dismantle everything the show has built up over the last 50 years would certainly grind your gears.

Eight years is a long time to get a great script together, sure, but even with the best concept in the world, should the Doctor Who canon remain movie free regardless?

It’s done pretty well so far.

[The Telegraph, via Blastr]

Image: BBC


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