"Drive" Director Turned Down For DW Gig

[StCoop]

"Drive" was one of the best and most acclaimed films of 2011 but it turns out that the BBC/Moffat didn't consider Director Nicolas Winding good enough to direct an episode of DW.

(And he seems to be a card-carrying SF fan as well, as he'd be interested in reviving Blakes 7 too.)

http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/films/nicolas-winding-refn#image-rotator-1

 

[Starkers]

Well until we know why he was turned down its all speculation. Maybe he would have charged too much, maybe the scheduling wasn't right, maybe they'd already hired/contracted the directors they were going to use, maybe he wanted too much creative control, or maybe they just didn't feel his style was right for the show?

In other news the Wane continues...

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

^ From your link:

Her co-star Smith said he had no idea who would replace Gillan when she leaves, but added he was in no hurry to join her in exiting the show.

Another take on will the "he/won't he stay"

 

[Saul]

How could they turn him down?! We could have had an 80s Doctor Who style episode!

 

[23skidoo]

I just went onto his Wikipedia profile. The fellow is Danish. That's pretty much all you need to know. Count how many non-British directors and writers there done Doctor Who for TV. Not a hell of a lot - in fact off hand I know of none, and that includes the Fox TV movie which was shot in Canada but still used a British director and writer. That's why such a big deal was made of Americans being involved in the production of Miracle Day last year.

We don't know why he was turned down. As noted above he might have charged too much, or had ideas that didn't gel with what Steven Moffat wanted to do with the show , or he might not have been available at the right time, or there might have been a union thing preventing it from happening. I see two UK films in his resume, but that doesn't mean anything. For all we know he might have been an ***hole too. And also Drive is the only film on that list that I even recognize, frankly (remake of Logans Run doesn't count). That's like criticizing, say, Star Trek TOS for turning down Steven Spielberg directing an episode back in 1968 (which might have happened for all we know).

Alex

 

[Stevil2001]

Forgot this guy, I'm still ticked they haven't got Hettie McDonald back. She deserves at least half the credit for "Blink," as was definitely proved by "The Time of Angels."