Doctor Who: The Film

Movie version of the series currently in development...

11:06 15 November 2011

A film version of Doctor Who is in development, it has been revealed.

David Yates, the director of Harry Potter, will develop the film alongside BBC WorldwideÂ’s Jane Tranter, reports Variety.

Yates is said to be looking for writers according to the publication, explaining:

"We're going to spend two to three years to get it right. It needs quite a radical transformation to take it into the bigger arena.”

The director explained that the film will not follow on from the TV show, which currently stars Matt Smith as the centuries old Time Lord, and instead will take an entirely new approach to the classic sci-fi show:

"Russell T Davies and then Steven Moffat have done their own transformations, which were fantastic, but we have to put that aside and start from scratch.

"We want a British sensibility, but having said that, Steve Kloves wrote the Potter films and captured that British sensibility perfectly, so we are looking at American writers too."

Describing his reasons for taking on the project, Yates revealed:

"The notion of the time-travelling Time Lord is such a strong one, because you can express story and drama in any dimension or time."

A BBC spokesperson added:

"A Doctor Who feature film remains in development with BBC Worldwide Productions in Los Angeles. The project is unlikely to reach cinemas for several years and as yet there is no script, cast or production crew in place."