BIG SCREEN BECKONS FOR DOCTOR WHO
David Tennant is keen to play the Doctor in the movie version
THREE years after making a triumphant TV comeback, Doctor Who is heading for the big screen.
The programme’s future boss Steven Moffat says he supports a movie version of the Timelord saga.
Moffat, who is to replace Welsh writer Russell T Davies at the helm of the hit series next year, has strong Hollywood connections having adapted the adventures of Tintin for directors Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg.
He says: “A movie is a one-off 90 minutes a year. So yes, as long as it never gets in the way of the show. It would be good to see it in the cinema, so long as it’s great and fantastic.”
The news comes more than 40 years after the Doctor last appeared in the cinema played by Peter Cushing.
While there has recently been speculation over how long current Doctor David Tennant, right, intends to stay in the role on television, it’s widely expected he would play the part in a future film.
“It’s well known that David would love to play the Doctor on the big screen,” says our series mole. “David has obviously played such a huge part in Doctor Who’s success recently and he certainly wouldn’t want to pass up on the chance of appearing as him in the cinema.”
Moffat, meanwhile, will take over as lead writer and executive producer for the fifth series, due to be shown on BBC1 in the spring of 2010.
He has already made an impact on Doctor Who, picking up a best writer Bafta earlier this year for the series three episode Blink.
He also acknowledges that Tennant’s eventual replacement will be another youthful actor.
“It’s a practical issue,” he explains. “This is a show that’s hard even for the young, super-fit David Tennant to keep up with. It might kill someone over 60!”
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