Posted in : BBC , Doctor Who , TV| Tagged : ben wheatley , doctor who , generation z
As Doctor Who fans speculate over who will succeed Russell T. Davies as showrunner , we make the case for Ben Wheatley ( Generation Z ) .
Article Summary
There ’s been a tidy sum of speculation about the future ofDoctor Who , andRussell T. Davieshas said he has no design of being the current showrunner incessantly . That makes sensation . He has a whole career outside ofDoctor Whowriting drama and socially relevant drama and is already go away back to that with a young Channel 4 drama that ’s been greenlit . Fans have been speculating who could be a good showrunner after he leave behind . Steven Moffatalready said he ’s not in the running play and is too fussy with his own projects . intimate names have been bandy about , mostly writer who have already write for the series , likePete McTighe , Toby Whithouse , and several others . Here ’s another name you might not have thought of : cult horror directorBen Wheatley .
Who is Ben Wheatley?
Ben Wheatley is a talented and alone director of mostly horror and surreal cult British movies … and the Chinese - funded giant dinoshark blockbusterMeg 2 : The Trench . His secure films let in the secret criminal offence horror thrillerKill List , the consecutive killer dark comedySightseers , one of the few good adaptations ofJ. G. Ballard’sHigh Rise(starringTom Hiddleston , no less ) , the surreal and phantasmagorical historical supernatural thrillerA Field in England , the voluminous accelerator action at law offense caperFree Fire , the COVID - era supernatural ecothrillerIn the Earth , and most of late , the Channel 4 apocalyptic zombie dismal drollery seriesGeneration Z. All of these are deserving seeing if you have n’t already .
Wheatley has steer at least one installment ofDoctor Who , after all . That was " Deep Breathe , " the first sequence feature Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor . That installment had a harder edged tone to it that ’s consistent with the toughness in his storytelling and directorial flair , especially in the climatical opposition between the freshly - regenerate Doctor and the episode ’s scoundrel , the Half - Face Man . The only fight here is a war of parole , mostly from the Doctor , when he tells the monster that he ’s probably start to have to pop him , and that may not make him a right military man , but a necessary one . It ’s one ofSteven Moffat ’s many brilliant scenes , and Wheatley lets the moral weight and force of the Doctor ’s words behave the drama and the darkness of that conniption . The lighting was insensate , noirish , and abrasive , unlike from the usual hopeful primary colour , befitting Wheatley ’s predilection for repugnance and noir thrillers . His installment was also one of the most cinematically and visually stylish episode .
Why Ben Wheatley Might Make a Great Season of Doctor Who?
Wheatley has a native grasp of closed book and cosmic revulsion that very few God Almighty and storytellers empathize on top of deep noesis of the genre , include Science Fiction . He has a unique articulation in musical genre storytelling when he writes his own account . It was the premier ofGeneration Zon Channel 4 in 2024 that made him search like an challenging pick to be the showrunner forDoctor Who . Generation Zis a uniquely British view of the zombie apocalypse with a strong streak of social commentary that British Science Fiction often has . Wheatley mixes dark drollery with horror and violence with a idea of government cruelty and how a residential district answer to an apocalyptical event as he grapple with the allegoric paper of the older generation flow off the immature to ride out alive and in restraint . It ’s not pernicious , but Science Fiction and Horror are n’t supposed to be . It even featuresAnita Dobson(Mrs . Flood inDoctor Who , and sprout in the same period she made her two new season ) , who is simultaneously uproarious , ferine , and terrorise as she embody the theme of the write up . And technically , they ’re not zombie as they ’re not all in , they ’re ghouls because they ’re still intelligent as they crave human flesh .
As a film writer and film maker , Wheatley is the whole package . He has direct Science Fiction , Horror , Crime , Action , an FX - intemperate blockbuster and frequently write his own hand with his every bit talented spouseAmy Jump , herself a film producer , sometimes Centennial State - writing his projects . The two of them were of late developing aTomb Raidermovie before that undertaking was cancelled . He see genre storytelling , themes , metaphor , symbolism , and social comment , and he has also directed one sequence ofDoctor Who . He gets the societal commentary , plotting , humour , and scariness without overloading on clique cutesiness that has lately menace to overtake the modern epoch ofDoctor Who . He possess a sense of British surrealism and rebellious eccentricity that is gross for the serial publication . He would know what to do if he was render the job of taking over the series .
The question is , would Wheatley even want to be the showrunner forDoctor Who ? It ’s a very hard caper because it ’s not just writing the story ; it ’s also grow while having to make do with budget limitation and answer too many administrator breathe down his cervix . The search for a new showrunner for this serial is an specially difficult one and you may reckon the BBC has approached every red-hot showrunner in British idiot box , disregarding of whether they were the right ones for the caper or not . Sometimes , it feels like the skillful showrunner for Doctor Who might be like trying to incur the best candidate for the British Prime Minister or President of the United States – the 1 who really want the job might be the big candidate , and the only ones who do n’t require the job might be the most suitable .
propagation Zis now stream onPrimein the US . You should watch over it if you did n’t get to see it on Channel 4 in the UK . At the very least , you get to see a dependable in darkness comic British apocalyptic zombie show , and you could debate whether Wheatley is a good nominee .
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