Last week there was a rumour that Ben Wheatley, the ace director of a number of the Quietus’ favourite films, including Kill List, Sightseers and this year’s A Field In England, will be directing an episode of series eight of Doctor Who, set to air next year.
It’s now been confirmed that Wheatley will in fact direct the first two episodes of the series, starring Peter Capaldi in the title role, which will be broadcast in autumn 2014.
Talking to Screendaily, Wheatley said: "I am very excited and honoured to be asked to direct the first two episodes of the new series of Doctor Who. I’ve been a fan since childhood – Tom Baker is my Doctor if you are asking. I’ve been watching the current run of Doctor Who with my son and have discovered it all over again. The work that has been done is amazing. I’m really looking forward to working with Peter Capaldi and finding out where Steven Moffat is planning to take the new Doctor."
As Doctor Who TV point out, Wheatley has previously talked about being a fan of the programme, saying to Uncut magazine: "All the Doctor Who stuff is really scary around [the Tom Baker] period. I’ve been re-watching a lot of the Tom Baker stuff with my son, and it’s so spooky. They’re actually shooting on location in nuclear power stations, running around inside these reactors… I’m ready to be proved wrong by legions of Whovians, but it certainly looks like it to me, it looks dangerous wherever they are. I was watching ‘Genesis Of The Daleks’ this morning. It’s so moody!”
Wheatley currently has a couple of other projects in the works: a horror film, Freakshift, and Silk Road, a TV series for the US network HBO. Have a read of our interview with him from around A Field In England‘s release here.
