David Thewlis as a possible big-screen Doctor? Possibly!!Well rumor has it that Harry Potter director David Yates has been linked to a big-budget Doctor Who movie. And such names as Hugh Laurie, Gary Oldman, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy and Ewan McGregor have either been linked to the title role or in the case of Hugh Laurie are who many fans have expressed a desire to see in the title role.
As much as I like Hugh Laurie, my choice for the Doctor would actually be Peter O'Toole, Edward Petherbridge or his former Fry and Laurie partner Stephen Fry.
But actually David Yates has a great deal of actors who have worked with him in the Harry Potter series that I think would be great in the title role. David Thewlis (picture above) being on the top of my list. Others being Jim Broadbent (who has expressed an interest in the role for years), Jason Issacs, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans or if they want to go more William Hartnell type Grandfather figure Michael Gambon.
I even think Yates has the right idea of going the route both the Peter Cushing Dalek's films or even the JJ Abrams Star Trek film having the film be it's own entity rather than linked to the series.
In the case of the Star Trek films, I really don't feel fans of the classic would ever simply
forget everything they knew about Star Trek and accept the new movie as gospel. Or try and take the route of Superman Returns and have it be a continuation of a series with a different cast.
However by establishing the film being an alternate timeline, it doesn't alienate the old fans by making them accept this is Star Trek now and the classic series doesn't count.
Because that'll never happen.
But by creating this parallel universe, as it were, it allows old fans to still have their series while people who might find the old series a bit too slow might enjoy this high speed version of the show.
It's something I've found with people who have become fans of the new Doctor Who series. They can't get into the old series because it is so slow and stagey and the special effect... well... make the classic Star Trek series look cutting edge.
But the charm of Doctor Who has always been a healthy mix of campiness and strong writing. THAT'S the biggest reason why the classic series lasted from 1963 till 1989. It's inventiveness.
However, I have no intention of turning this into a Star Trek vs. Doctor Who debate. Both series's have lasted due to very devoted fans.
Nevertheless, I feel creating a film (or a series of films) as it's on entity rather than having it linked to the current series is the way to go. I think as long as they keep current aspects of the Doctor Who history while going in a different direction and not writing off the series, I believe it will keep fans relatively happy.
Or at least I'd accept it.
Although, I think it might be fun to bring back Tom Baker as an alternate "older" version of his Doctor.
