Doctor Who Writer Mark Gatiss Penning Movie About Creation Of The Series
There’s been a lot of discussion about Doctor Who as fans look forward to the long-running show’s 50th anniversary next year. Arguments about which Doctor was the best, which companion was your favorite, which episodes are the cream of the crop. Now Who writer Mark Gatiss will be penning a 90-minute TV movie exploring the behind-the-scenes origins of Doctor Who.
Gatiss is no stranger to the series, having penned episodes including “The Unquiet Dead” and “A Good Man Goes to War.” Current Who showrunner Steven Moffat and executive producer Caroline Skinner will both be helping oversee the project, which will likely air on BBC2 sometime next year to tie in to Who‘s half-century hoopla.
Speaking to RadioTimes, Gatiss said that “This is the story of how an unlikely set of brilliant people created a true television original … And how an actor — William Hartnell — stereotyped in hard-man roles became a hero to millions of children.” The writer also added that he had wanted to tell this story for years, and to get to do so while tying in to the show’s 50th anniversary is “a dream come true.”
Moffat also sounded off, on the project: “The story of Doctor Who is the story of television, so it’s fitting in the anniversary year that we make our most important journey back in time to see how the Tardis was launched.”
In addition to his Who episodes, Gatiss co-created Sherlock with Moffat, and has appeared as an actor in shows such as Being Human and Moffat’s Jekyll, where he played Robert Louis Stevenson.
