While speculations of a 'Downton Abbey' movie went viral over the past weeks, 'Doctor Who' has also been rumored to receive an upcoming film treatment. However, series creator Steven Moffat explains that the BBC series merely relies on public funding and such status will not ensure permission for a spinoff movie.
Several speculations about the 'Doctor Who' film also placed emphasis on the producers' "interest" in getting to work on the idea. However, Moffat announced that a 'Doctor Who' movie would not be possible.
One of the possible reasons for the rumors of a movie version may be developed could be actor Peter Capaldi's comments as he stated that it "would be fun" to undertake such project.
"If it's going to be a different Doctor, are we going to try and sell two Doctors at the same time? I know there's been loads of Doctors, but there's only been one at a time," Moffat explained, while adding: "You don't have a James Bond on TV and one in the cinema."
Other television series from BBC have been previously turned into feature films. One of the latest shows to receive the treatment is cult comedy 'Dad's Army', which has been developed into a feature film starring Bill Nighy and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
A 'Doctor Who' movie in 1996 was also created as a collaborative effort between BBC, Fox and Universal Pictures; it was developed to help promote a new show with actor Paul McGann portraying the eighth timelord. Despite garnering positive reviews for such TV movie and being watched by 9.1 million viewers, the network did not reboot the series.
After almost a decade, it was Russell T. Davies who was able to successfully bring back 'Doctor Who' in TV while Christopher Eccleston joined the cast as Tardis' new captain.
'Doctor Who' continues to draw in major ratings for BBC America with which the last season has become the most popular among viewers in the United States as it appealed to approximately 2.3 million viewers.
"Ten years on, our ratings are pretty much the same," Moffat said in an interview with 'Doctor Who'magazine. "Actually, internationally, bigger. No show does that! You're meant to go down! Doctor Who just stays. It's extraordinary!"
Meanwhile, its latest season is currently being filmed in Cardiff in Wales. Just this March, it was announced that actress Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark in HBO's 'Game of Thrones', is one of the guest stars whom fans can look forward to when 'Doctor Who' makes a comeback this fall.
