Edgar Wright has revealed how one particular Doctor Who episode influenced his 2013 movie The World's End. The World's End follows a group of now middle-aged childhood friends who all return to their hometown to discover that the population has been replaced by automatons. Wright has roots in British television, beginning his career by directing the hit comedy Spaced (1999-2001), starring future "Cornetto Trilogy" stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who, like almost ever British actor has, have also gone on to have featured roles in Doctor Who.
Edgar Wright's latest film, the psychological horror Last Night in Soho, also has strong links to the long-running BBC science-fiction programm, starring Eleventh Doctor actor, Matt Smith. The film, a love-letter to the Swinging '60s, follows Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie) as she inhabits the body of Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy), a 60's night club singer, in her dreams. Clearly, Wright is a filmmaker who enjoys pulling from the past, and as Doctor Who is one of the longest running sci-fi programs around, it isn't too surprising to learn the show influenced one of his movies.
In an interview with /Film, Wright revealed the impact that Doctor Who has had on his career, specifically citing the episode The Android Invasion as an influence for The World's End. Although he had only read the novelization prior to making The World's End, Wright admitted similarities between his film and the episode as both entail an invasion of alien robots seeking to take over the human race. Check out Wright's comments, below:
"I was such a big "Doctor Who" fan growing up, and I think in a weird way, to the point where I would read the novelizations. I would read the Target novelizations, and sometimes the Target novelizations would conjure images in your head that the TV show could not live up to. I know the Autons are great, but reading those books, my image of what the Autons would be like in 'Spearhead from Space' or 'Terror of the Autons' would not quite match when I watched the actual episode. But strangely, they then sort of had an influence on things like "The World's End." And bizarrely, when [my film] 'The World's End' came out, somebody said, 'Was this based on the Tom Baker episode 'The Android Invasion'?', and I was like, 'I've never seen that one.' But then I thought, wait, I've read the novelization. And then I watched it, and watching 'The Android Invasion,' it was kind of like, this is like watching a very low budget version of 'The World's End.' [laughs]
"Bizarrely, a lot of those Tom Baker ones in the '70s were ripped off from Quatermass or some Hammer films, and Nigel Kneale was apparently sort of furious with the 'Doctor Who' team for what he thought that the '70s period of "Doctor Who" was ripping off 'Quatermass.' There's a movie called 'The Earth Dies Screaming,' directed by Terence Fisher, which has exactly the same plot as 'The Android Invasion.' So it's kind of that strange thing where these ideas bounce around in the subconscious, and you're not even aware that you've maybe ripped something off."
Wright's love of classic British popular culture becomes even more apparent as he references old episodes from the Tom Baker era of the series and evokes the 1964 low-budget British science-fiction film, The Earth Dies Screaming. As for if he'll ever get the chance to bring his talents to an episode of Doctor Who, Wright mentions how his friend, Russel T. Davies, is returning as showrunner, but remains noncommittal by saying "it's a schedule thing". But he does joke about playing the next incarnation of the Doctor, "Can I be The Doctor? If the headline is 'Edgar Wright Would Like to Play 14th Doctor', I'd go along with that."
Whether Wright will ever actually end up directing an episode of Doctor Who remains only a fantasy for the time being, but it would certainly be an interesting prospect. Knowing the directors proud "geekiness" and penchant for homage, it is likely that Wright would revive a beloved villain from his childhood that only a handful of dedicated Whovians would remember, or perhaps he'd reimagine a classic caper involving the Daleks or Cybermen. With so much about the future of Doctor Who in the air at the moment, with even the current star Jodie Whittaker not knowing who will be the next Doctor, it is interesting to imagine what's next for the long-running show.
Source: /Film
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