Curtis says 'Who' is TV's 'Hamlet'

Oscar-nominated writer Richard Curtis has compared Doctor Who to William Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Curtis has written the tenth episode of the current series, 'Vincent and the Doctor', in which the Doctor and Amy join forces with famous artist Vincent Van Gogh, played by Tony Curran, to battle a dangerous alien.

Speaking to the Radio Times, Curtis compared the role of the Doctor to playing Hamlet, saying: "It is a pivotal, career-making role, to be reprised over the years with different actors, always the same, and yet metamorphosing radically with each new incarnation."

Curtis also explained that he was not a dedicated fan of the show in his childhood, revealing that he had wanted to write an episode to please his children.

"We all watched the Christmas special two years ago and my children said I had to do one," he said. "Scarlett, our eldest, pointed out that while I’d always promised I would write a children’s movie, by the time I do, she won’t be a child any more. And the great thing about telly is how swift it is by comparison with films."

'Vincent and the Doctor' is due to air this Saturday at 6.40pm on BBC One.