With the recent news that Matt Smith and Peter Jackson would be keen on working together on an episode of Doctor Who, the “What If?” door has been thrown wide open, leaving Whovian imaginations spinning! If there’s any field of speculation bigger (or as big) as who would play The Doctor, it’s got to be who would give The Doctor his next adventure. That in mind, here’s a list of Science Fiction and Fantasy luminaries that should be considered theoretical shoo-ins for becoming notable guest collaborators. 6. J.K. Rowling Qualifying CV Entry: The Harry Potter Series This entry, as well as the entry at the top of the list, are both prime examples of “what might have been?”. In the case of Ms. Rowling, she was written in as a featured guest star of a later aborted version of the 2008 Christmas Special, which would eventually be replaced with “The Next Doctor”. (Also, who can forget the climax to “The Shakespeare Code” where The Doctor drops some well timed references to the Potter books.) Granted, Books to Television would be a huge jump for an Author, but still imagine what would happen if J.K. Rowling actually penned an episode or two? Not only would Rowling’s sense of “unexplained” phenomenon be a good fit for the various aliens and civilizations we encounter in the show, but it would also bring something the show doesn’t really explore that much of: magic. Except for “Shakespeare”, and “The Christmas Invasion”, magic really isn’t explored all that much in the modern era of Who. Better still, if Rowling wanted to just stretch her writing chops and explore what she could do in more Sci Fi friendly waters, fans would be just as excited to see that happen. But perhaps one of the storylines that could predictably mix the historical, the mystical, and the British, is also the most suited for a comfortable overlap between both halves. The story: a little tale about some kid who plucked a sword out of a stone. Some may recall there was a rather powerful wizard mixed up in that same said tale. Who better to drop in on Camelot than our bowtied friend. 5. David Yates Qualifying CV Entry: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1-2. If one is to talk about the rumor mill and Doctor Who’s relationship, we must also mention the negative aspect of the pairing. Indeed, there have been plenty of rumors as to what was going on with the show at any given time. Perhaps one of the weirdest (and depending on how you look at it, most harmful) rumors that has ever been was the rumor that David Yates (of Harry Potter Years 5-7 fame) was going to direct a film for Warner Brothers…a film that rebooted the series. A film with a different actor as The Doctor , starting a new continuity. Now that’s not to say that David Yates wouldn’t be an awesome choice, it’s just that his approach was kind of insulting to the work Steven Moffat has put into the official universe. So, why not invite Yates to oversee an actual, official Doctor Who episode? Hell, give him a Two Parter, should they ever come back to the format. Yates did wonderful things once he hit his stride in the Potter series, most notably balancing the light hearted/comedic nature of Hogwarts with the chilling darkness that surrounded (and ultimately overtook) our favorite witches and wizards. That balance has always been the bread and butter of classic Whovian lore, and to have Yates on board would not only make up for the reboot incident, it’d be pretty fun to watch. 4. Steven Spielberg Qualifying CV Entry: The Adventures of Tintin – The Secret of the Unicorn Another director who’s tried to resurrect Doctor Who in his own image is none other than “The Beard” himself. The big difference between Spielberg and Yates though is that Spielberg was going about it the official way, which shows in his early negotiations at Ambiln Entertainment to bring the series back around the same time that the Paul McGann TV movie was produced. Not to mention, the two Stevens had worked together (along with Peter Jackson) on the exemplary film, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. (Which would have been a three picture relationship, if Moffat wasn’t invited to become the show-runner of Doctor Who.) Indeed, Steven Spielberg’s trademark whimsy and science fiction sensibilities would fit well in the New Who universe. Spielberg’s classic blueprint of an adventure that comes off as sentimental and emotional, yet full of wise cracks and high adventure is something that Whovians are no strangers to on a weekly basis. (As well as a director/writer who has the ability to milk a human tear duct on a somewhat regular basis.) If anything, this could be considered a thank you for all of the Indiana Jones parallels that have been drawn between that franchise and Series 6. (Rewatch “The Wedding of River Song”, and try not to imagine the sequence in the skull laden crypt as an homage to Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade.) 3. Gullermo Del Toro Qualifying CV Entry: Hellboy 2: The Golden Army Dark faeries, nature gone wrong, secret organizations that police supernatural/extraterrestrial entities…you could apply those descriptors not only to the works of Guillermo Del Toro, but you could also apply them to not only Steven Moffat’s work on Who, but also Russell T. Davies. Also much like Who, his approach to the oddities of the world as cleverly hidden beings/artifacts from other realms would be welcomed in a universe where fat suits compress aliens and a fob watch isn’t only a fob watch. Del Toro is a fanboy of Science Fiction and Fantasy through and through. These also happen to be the two major genres that Doctor Who has combined to its great success over nearly five decades of existence. Also, Del Toro has shown himself adept at telling stories dealing with the Supernatural, Science Gone Wrong, and Fairy Tales that are more grim than one could expect. To have him working with Steven Moffat would be the Doctor Who equivalent of Tony Stark and Bruce Banner setting up a laboratory together. (In fact, were “The Angels Take Manhattan” not the “final” episode with the Weeping Angels, one could say that GDT would be perfect for a stand alone adventure with everyone’s favorite stone terrors.) 2. Christopher Nolan Qualifying CV Entry: Inception Quite a few episodes of Doctor Who (Amy’s Choice and The Doctor’s Wife come to mind rather quickly) involve the questioning of reality. The notion that what’s standing plainly in front of us might just be our mind playing tricks on us is something that Doctor Who loves to play around with from time to time. If there’s a U.K. based mind bender that could out do Steven Moffat in a contest to see who can frak the most minds in a day, Christopher Nolan would be the man to sit on the opposite side of the table. Nolan seems ripe for the New Who approach, especially after his success with Inception and The Dark Knight Legend. In fact, one could only imagine that his approach would be darker and more action oriented than most others. What’s more, Nolan has another angle that has been often revisited with Doctor Who: the lone hero who every now and then has anti-heroic tendencies to make tough decisions borne out of their own moral code. This could create an adventure where The Doctor is so out of his league (yet so convinced he’s in the right) that it would threaten to put him on the outs with the audience. (In other words, picture a Nolan scripted/directed version of “The Waters of Mars”.) Serious introspection in a world where normal rules do not apply seems to be Nolan’s forte, and to bring that to the Whovian table would make for a rather interesting one off. (Also, maybe we’ll get the first Who episode filmed in IMAX and shipped out for theatrical viewing. Just saying…) 1. Stephen Fry Qualifying CV Entry: “Untitled 1920’s Story” – Intended for Doctor Who, Series 2 Now this one is a bit of a cheat, considering Fry had written an episode for the Ten/Rose run. However, his episode was bumped out of the Series 2 schedule, and was never adapted for the Ten/Martha cycle. (Oh what the online community wouldn’t give for Fry to pull a Shada and release the story as a novel. Or better yet, a radio play!) Nevertheless, it would be amazing (and not that far fetched) to solicit Fry to do another episode in the modern era. Just in case there are still some Doubting Thomases out there, two credentials should be able to sell his ability to play in Steven Moffat’s sandbox. 1.) He is a very well written author, taking on everything from pitch black revenge to satire on the world at large to even his own life’s events. He’s even pretended to be his own wife on Twitter and created a book from Mrs. Fry’s perspective. The point remains that no matter what genre he dips his toe into, you can guarantee it will be well written and at the same time well serving of its conventions. 2.) He was “The Guide” in The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. If you manage to land yourself in Douglas Adams’ realm of fiction, and manage to not only do a “decent job”, but to knock it completely out of Alpha Centauri, you should automatically be given a free pass into the parallel universe of Doctor Who. Come to think of it…wouldn’t it be awesome if Arthur Dent and The Doctor went on an adventure together? Or is that just asking for too much fandom cred? Whatever the case, so long as there are brilliant minds that are able to spin a yarn with time, the stars, and clever adventure at their backs, there will be writers worthy of sending The Doctor into time and space. Though it’s hard to let go of the dream of a 5 episode mini season with each of these bright minds in the mix, with Moffat at the helm. Let the Online Petitions commence! So there are 6 brilliant minds we think need to work on Doctor Who! Anyone we left out? Do let us know, won’t you? Source
