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Doctor Who?

By Cindy Davis | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (35)

depp as doctor.jpg

Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Wait, wrong show.

Whoosh.

This week in unsubstantiated rumors that are too interesting to ignore and just conceivable enough to both interest and disgust at the same time: Johnny Depp as the good Doctor? So reports Tor.com who originally got the information from an article mill site — but also claims to have confirmed the casting with a movie studio source. Hmm…

Here’s a quote from the article:

Long-time producer of the television series Russell T. Davies reported that he moved on from the show due to the opportunity to transform the Doctor to the big screen. “Bringing the Who franchise to the theaters is a regeneration for the character beyond the usual one. A theatrical release has a greater range and can reach millions of more people than just the fans. There will be brand new concepts and the film will be just as adventurous, scary and humorous as the television programme. But none of us working the film will forget what makes the character great and interesting and the long-time fans will not be disappointed because yes, the Daleks make an appearance.”

The idea of Doctor Who on the big screen is quite appealing; thus far I find myself wavering over Johnny Depp. Even though I’d love to see Tennant do it, since we’ve already moved on to Eleven that doesn’t really make sense. And I’m enjoying Matt Smith — but would people rush to the theaters to see him — I don’t know? I’ve no doubt Johnny could pull it off, but should he? I suddenly feel the need to drink.









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Comments

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He has to be British. HE HAS TO BE BRITISH!

Posted by: vdo86 at June 30, 2010 5:10 PM

I'm not even a Who Fan and I know that:

1. He's got to be British (like James Bond).

2. It should stay on TV, since that's the medium that works best for its season-long dramas. A 2-hr movie would feel (ironically) smaller in scope.

Posted by: Fredo at June 30, 2010 5:17 PM

Agree w/ vdo86! No way for Depp! (Though it WOULD be rather interesting to see who he channels for it. lol)

No, the good doctor MUST be a Brit!

Posted by: UncleJR at June 30, 2010 5:26 PM

Total horse pucky, and I think this quote:

But none of us working the film will forget what makes the character great and interesting and the long-time fans will not be disappointed because yes, the Daleks make an appearance

proves it. RTD totally overused the Daleks. Longtime fans would not be reassured by that sentence. Longtime fans would roll their motherfucking eyes.

Posted by: Jakesalterego at June 30, 2010 5:28 PM

Depp could pull it off. Surely. However, I am a bit skeptical about Doctor Who: The Movie. Die hard fans will find fault with everything, and people new to the franchise will probably not 'get it.' I think it is a mistake. They should invest in some high production value 'Children of Earth' style miniseries instead.

Posted by: Lindsey with an 'e' at June 30, 2010 5:28 PM

Why does it have to be British?

If Spiderman can be portrayed by say Donald Glover then why can't the good Doctor be portrayed by Johnny Depp?

Posted by: John W at June 30, 2010 5:31 PM

nonononononono
Just NO.

Bill Nighy, y'all.....

Posted by: Jules at June 30, 2010 5:34 PM

The Weeble's writing a Sarah Jane this year too, with Jo Grant, he's turning into the Brett Favre of the TARDIS!

Yeah, you could do it, that don't mean it's to be done.

Besides, the Peter Cushing "Doctor Who not The Doctor" and Paul McGann movies didn't really set the world on fire, did they? I dunno, I suppose at best it'd be like "I Want To Believe" which I thought was...a good X-Files episode that I happened to see on a big screen.

Posted by: Jay at June 30, 2010 5:35 PM

I'm not as outraged as you thought I might be, but it does not seem like a very good idea.

To me one of the primary strengths of the show that is inseparable from its time-traveling plot is its episodic nature. Going from ancient Pompeii one week to the moment that the Sun is about to engulf the Earth and properly savoring those disparate settings can't be accomplished in a two-hour film. Cramming it all into a movie and trying to rely on the pure novelty of the ability to travel through time and space (which is not particularly novel in the film world any longer) when invariably the story will be stalled in one particular time and place for the bulk of the running time just does not cover it.

What's the plot going to be? We've already seen the destruction of the universe threatened so many times over in the Doctor Who television show. How much "bigger" will a feature allow the stakes?

As such, the almost contradictory scopes of the large narrative arcs and the individual more personal stories at each time-place locale in the Doctor Who universe only truly complement each other in a serial format.

As for Johnny Depp, I think he could be an awesome Doctor, but - yeah - sorry, Johnny, the Doctor is a Brit.

Posted by: DarthCorleone at June 30, 2010 5:40 PM

Word, Jules.
Depp would be just not right.
But Bill Nighy would destroy my brain.

Posted by: Odnon at June 30, 2010 5:42 PM

Don't believe this for a second. Also, a RTD Doctor Who movie would just not be the best incarnation possible. He did pull it off originally but quickly showed his limitations.

Surely, Steve Moffat has more movie clout going on at the moment, what with the Tintin movies.

Posted by: Kissing Girls Makes You Sleepy at June 30, 2010 5:58 PM

Why does it have to be British?


Because.

And it's "Spider-Man", and Donald Glover hasn't played him.


Unrelatedly, I don't know why but I despise the phrase "good doctor". Like, I hate it like people hate "moist".

Posted by: Jay at June 30, 2010 6:10 PM

I don't buy the "has to be British" argument. After all Pierce Brosnan was a pretty good Bond and he isn't British. He's Irish.

BUT. Not Depp. Not over-exposed, goes for anything that allows him to wear a wig and an outfit and a non-American accent Depp. He cannot be allowed to do to The Doctor what he did to Willy Wonka, The Mad Hatter and just about every character he has played since the Gilbert Grape days. Don't turn The Doctor into Johnny Depp's plaything.

Posted by: PaddyDog at June 30, 2010 6:32 PM

he isn't British. He's Irish.

What's the difference?

Posted by: Jay at June 30, 2010 6:36 PM

As far as I'm concerned, Dr. Who ended with my beloved Peter Davison *sigh* so all of this nonsense is just ... nonsense. Bah.

Posted by: Samantha at June 30, 2010 6:47 PM

I don't buy the "has to be British" argument. After all Pierce Brosnan was a pretty good Bond and he isn't British. He's Irish.

I have to agree, if only because Tennant, who was a wonderful Doctor, was Scottish. However, there tends to be a big difference quality-wise between an Irish or Scottish person doing an English accent, and an American doing an English accent.

Posted by: LowSlash at June 30, 2010 6:57 PM

It has to be Tennant. If it's anyone other than Tennant, I'll find RTD and scream at him.

"DEPP? DEPP, YOU MORON? DEPP IS NOT MY DOCTOR! TENNANT IS MY DOCTOR! GIVE ME MY DOCTOR!"

Posted by: esme at June 30, 2010 6:58 PM

NO! NO JOHNNY DEPP! I am so over him. The Doctor has to be either a Brit, or Irish/Scottish/Welsh...someone who has an accent so near to a British accent that they can fake it much better than an American.

Posted by: stardust at June 30, 2010 7:02 PM

Yeah, for the record, when we dumb Americans say "British," we usually lump Irish and Scottish into the definition as well. If you are sufficiently offended, feel free to launch your naval armada and proceed with burning down our White House once again.

Posted by: DarthCorleone at June 30, 2010 7:12 PM

Moist, moist, moist, moist, moist, moist, moist, moist

Posted by: John W at June 30, 2010 7:23 PM

Just wanted to jump on the "Bill Nighy would be awesome" band wagon. Johnny Depp on the other hand, I'm absolutely 100% against. It has nothing to do with whether or not he's British or not, I just do not care to see Johnny Depp bug out his eyes, sway a bit and essentially phone in the same character he played in Pirates of the Caribbean, Alice in Wonderland, Fear and Loathing and a number of other movies and I especially don't want people to think of "generic Johnny Depp eccentric" when they think about the Doctor.

Posted by: slagzoo at June 30, 2010 7:25 PM

I have to agree, if only because Tennant, who was a wonderful Doctor, was Scottish.

I was only kidding Paddy, of course, but Scottish is British (though they don't necessarily like you to say that) (at all).

It's "DOCTOR", GODDAMMIT!!!!!!!

Posted by: Jay at June 30, 2010 7:35 PM

In the event this rumor is true, I submit a brief note to RTD:

Kind sir,

You're a prick. Mr. Moffatt and crew are still celebrating in the afterglow praise and response of their first series in charge and your neglectful ego felt the need to steal their thunder. You sir, are an ass. Please, for the sake of DW support the world over, keep your attention on the next season of 'Torchwood'. If, after that, you still feel compelled to venture towards a movie, I'd encourage you to hit the clubs of West Hollywood and cast the big screen adventures of your twinky 'Queer as Folk' lads.

Best Regards,
Barnes78

P.S. Any chance John Barrowman needs a personal assistant??

Posted by: Barnes78 at June 30, 2010 7:58 PM

This is a bad idea.

Posted by: Jackseppelin at June 30, 2010 8:03 PM

whatever

Posted by: splinter at June 30, 2010 8:10 PM

Johnny Depp? He did British quite well in From Hell, IMO. You people sound just like the whiners complaining about RDJ in Sherlock Holmes before it was even released.

Posted by: The Kilted Yaksman at June 30, 2010 9:09 PM

Depp as The Doctor?! HELLLLLLLL NO!!!!

We need someone who is not going to be slightly weird and acting. I think that they need to do someone good. Hell, I wouldn't mind seeing Connery, doing The Doc.

Posted by: LordNinja at June 30, 2010 10:00 PM

my Dr. Who friend assured me this was poppycock and that Davies is dedicated to a british doctor.

Posted by: Mebe at July 1, 2010 12:40 AM

Jude Law!

Posted by: david m at July 1, 2010 3:21 AM

Alright, I have to say this for the sake of the cannon...if there is a movie it has to be Matt Smith (or whoever is playing the doctor when this inevitably happens). You could make the argument for a sort of "lost" story with Tennant or one of the older doctors, but introducing a new actor would require a regeneration. If the movie were cannon that would give us doctor number 12, who would then need to play the part on the tv show. This all would just push us toward the 13th (and theoretically final) form of the doctor that much faster.

Also, screw RTD - let Moffet handle it, his writing is far more creative and readily embraces all elements of the show...I really don't need another Dalek adventure

Posted by: Dulli1419 at July 1, 2010 4:09 AM

No no no no no no no no no

Depp is too pretty. And I mean that in a nice way.

Also, he's not weird enough. I know that's saying a lot for the absolute freak that he already is but he can't carry it and NO. NO NO NO NO.

I still vote Hugh Laurie. He would be the dark Eccleston kind of Doctor, with extra snark. This would please me.

Also, I don't want a Doctor Who movie ANYWAY so this is all bullshit. Because it's all up to me, obviously.

Posted by: MyySharona at July 1, 2010 6:38 AM

1. Dr. Who as a movie with Daleks has already been done two times over and they sucked. Yuk!

2. It has to be, then it should star one of the previous Doctors, because the Doctor travels in time, so there's no reason we can't watch a "lost" episode of Tennant's that didn't air on TV. If it stars someone else, then it just becomes a NON-Dr.Who-verse movie (See #1.)

3. I don't want a Dr. Who movie, because I'll only Netflix it and watch it on TV, so what's the point?

4. They'll make one of these "entire universe is at stake" crap movies, when what I really love are the little intimate episodes, like Vincent.

Posted by: BWeaves at July 1, 2010 9:10 AM

Russell Brand would make an interesting big-screen Doctor -- if he could play the Doctor and not some version of Aldous Snow.

Posted by: hater from siloam springs at July 1, 2010 9:41 AM

"adventurous, scary and humorous as the television programme."

So...not very, then?

Posted by: Aston at July 1, 2010 1:47 PM

Oh what a burn.

Posted by: Jay at July 1, 2010 6:24 PM