Doctor Who is Doctor New

Well, first off, I'd just like to say that Whovians do not get more obsessed than I am. I've been an honorary Time Lady since I was was a little girl, so there's not a lot of Doctor Who I don't know. Except for one thing: I don't know if it's a good idea to make a big Hollywood movie about the iconic Blue Box and her little puppet pet the Doctor.

 Pictured: why I'm always broke

But it sounds to me like that's exactly what they're planning on doing. I've been reading article after article about big shot director David Yates taking on the Time-Space continuum in the hearty little  police box.

Now, on a whole, I think Yates is an accomplished director, having worked on project after project and doing wonderfully on most. However, I feel that he does best when he has full artistic license and isn't working from something that already exists and is already popular. I am, of course, thinking about Harry Potter when I write this, as I find that Order of the Phoenix was... less than I had hoped it would be upon hearing Yates' name attached to the project. With that in mind, I think it would be a bad idea for Yates to take on something as big and established as Doctor Who. I mean, the show has been running since 1963, before things were even in colour, you'd think it would have a lot of history and story attached to it, and it does.

The thing that makes Doctor Who so unique is how the story has developed so steadily over the years. To just erase all of that and start over, as it's been suggested will happen, would be nothing less than a sin. Even if this movie were to go all the way back to the first Doctor (William Hartnell, you know, the grumpy old man Doctor) and introduce him, the TARDIS, companions and villains, it would still have a hollow feel to it, like it's missing something.

Another concern I have is that it's been implied that Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat, the brilliant men who've revived and revitalised the series so well, will not be a part of this movie. This worries me. The reason Doctor Who has been such a hit is that Davies and Moffat are willing to take risks, and these risks pay off. I feel like it would seem like things were being played safe without one of these toe-the-line writes on the project (I'm thinking of you, Davies, Torchwood is excellent for its scandalously fabulous scenes, you know what I'm talking about). My personal resentment of Moffat aside, he's a brilliant writer who deserves a chance at the big screen, if he wants it.

Which brings me to the question. Were these brilliant, glorious writers offered the chance to be a part of this movie? If they weren't, well, Mr Yates, that is just plain rude. These gentlemen have been the parents and protectors of Doctor Who since the reboot six years ago. It would be insane to not even consult them. If they were offered, and turned it down... well, I wouldn't blame them, I've seen Torchwood: Miracle Day. It appears that these shows do best without being Americanized.

I'd also like to point out that the Doctor Who movie that's already been done, you know, the one everyone's forgotten about because it hurts less that way, was less than brilliant. Doctor Who is fantastic because it fits so much into its one hour slot and always resolves the conflict in one, sometimes two episodes. To draw everything out into a full-length feature would just make it seem slow and empty.

One of my biggest concerns, other than writers, is who they would pick to play the Doctor. My favourite incarnations of the Doctor (2, 4, 6, Fourth is my favourite, for whoever's curious.) have all been sort of childish and outlandishly insane. Lately it seems that the casting's being done based on looks and not insanity-levels. Now, this is not an insult to the new boys, especially not David Tennant, who channeled the Fourth, much to my pleasure. Casting has been done very well so far. So far.

Pictured: Greatest thing to happen to television. Ever.

You see, the best, most popular way to make money, is to bring in a big-name hotshot or a sexy new man to fill the seats in theatres. Now normally, this isn't a problem to me, Johnny Depp is great at everything. Yes I'm a fangirl, shut up. But I'd rather see an old man up on the screen being properly insane than a brooding sparkling vampire brooding and sparkling all over the place. (I swear to god if Robert Pattinson so much as touches this movie someone WILL get hurt XD Great in Harry Potter, now I just can't look at him.) That said, if a big-name actor needs to get attached to the film, why not let it be Alan Rickman? Or, if need be, let it be Johnny Depp. I've seen him be insane more than enough times to know he'd do it well.

This brings me to the issue of fans. You see, the reason I love Doctor Who is that it has such an extensive fanbase of people who know, really know, Who. There's the people who've been there from The Beginning (oddly enough, that IS the name of the box set of William Hartnell's first episodes), and the people the Doctor's picked up along the way, sweeping them off into the TARDIS. The one thing I don't want is people coming to see this movie because an actor like Johnny Depp is in it, never having heard of Doctor Who, and then claiming to be die-hard fans without knowing anything else of the series. I went through this with the Star Trek reboot (which was amazing, you'll never hear me say anything to the contrary, Abrams is a genius) and I don't want to go through it again with my other Fandom.

Maybe I'm just being too protective of my childhood love. Maybe this movie has great potential I just haven't seen yet. The only thing I have to do is wait, since this is a long way off. Maybe it won't happen, maybe it will. I'll just have to go into this with my expectations as they are, that way the movie CAN'T suck. It can only exceed my expectations for it. Only time will tell... guess I'll hop into my TARDIS and see how this movie goes. I'll let you know.. Cheers!