After rumours floated through the ether in the last few days, official confirmation has now materialised as the man himself talked to Screen International: Ben Wheatley is set to direct two upcoming episodes of Doctor Who{
The man who has so far brought us the domestic terror of Down Terrace, the lethal horror of Kill List,** **the mad murder spree of Sightseers and the mushroom-induced mania of A Field In England, will be launching Peter Capaldi’s run on the show – though he won’t be tackling the Christmas special that will see Matt Smith regenerate into Capaldi.
“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,” Wheatley told Screendaily. “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.”
Given that Moffat is writing the scripts for the new episodes, we’re guessing that unless Steve Oram and Alice Lowe show up as the companions, Wheatley’s episodes won’t feature a series of inexplicable deaths each time the TARDIS shows up somewhere. Still, we’re thrilled with the choice of director and given how well Wheatley has worked with lower budgets on the big screen, he’s perfectly suited to work within the telly finance limitations put on Who. While the show won’t suddenly become dark and murderous, he will hopefully bring some of his style to the series.
Stay tuned to Empire for some big features timed to the show's 50th anniversary episode on November 23.