David Yates to Direct ‘Doctor Who’ Movie

Since finishing with the “Harry Potter” series, David Yates has been linked to a number of projects, including The Stand, Fantastic Four and The Hobbit. Now he has been attached to a big screen adaptation of Doctor Who, and as a fan of the Doctor’s adventures I am already dribbling with anticipation.

Variety reports that Yates has been recruited by Jane Tranter, the head of L.A. based BBC Worldwide Prods. to start development for a movie and the search is on for a writer.

Doctor Who is one of the longest running TV series in history, having an initial run from 1963 to 1989 before getting reinstalled in 2005 by Russell T. Davis and then Steven Moffat (The Adventures of Tintin). The series has been one of the BBC's biggest hits, having fans around the world, making David Tennant a star and being spun off into other series and media.

The Doctor has been adapted into film a few times. In the 60s, there was Dr. Who and the Daleks and Daleks’ Invasion Earth: 2150, starring Peter Cushing in a loose adaptation of the Time Lord and featuring of one the weirdest examples of product placement involving Sugar Puffs. Paul McGann and Eric Roberts starred in the 1996 TV movie, which was a backdoor attempt to restart the series.

There have been rumblings for a while about a new movie adaptation, originally suspected to star Tennant, but Yates is looking to make his own continuity, not linking the movie to the show. Tanter and Yates have stated that they are going to take two to three years to adapt the show to make sure they get it right.

Before directing the “Harry Potter” series, Yates worked on several accomplished TV series like State of Play and Sex Traffic.

Are you excited about seeing the Doctor in theaters or do you think he should stick to the small screen? Sound off in the comments below.