A Doctor Who movie has been discussed, potentially featuring the most memorable of its cast during the early days of its revival: David Tennant, Billie Piper and John Barrowman. Doctor Who initially ran from 1963 to 1989 before going on indefinite hiatus, interrupted only by a lukewarmly received TV movie in 1996, and didn’t properly return until 2005.
After becoming the Ninth Doctor’s first companion, Piper’s Rose Tyler was the viewpoint character through which a new generation of viewers were introduced to the adventures of the renegade Time Lord. Barrowman’s Captain Jack Harkness was introduced in a two-part story later in the season and joined the pair in their time travels before being killed and resurrected with immortality in the season finale, subsequently starring in spinoff series Torchwood. The Doctor of that initial season was played by Christopher Eccleston, and it wasn’t until he sacrificed himself at its end to save Rose that he regenerated into David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor, and with the character’s subsequent development into a Byronic hero the show’s popularity was secured.
The possibility of a new Doctor Who movie was brought up when Barrowman was interviewed by the Radio Times. He stated that he had spoken to former showrunner Russell T. Davies about the subject, and that they both agreed it would be “great” if a movie could be made with the three characters. He stated that he, Tennant and Piper call each other “The Golden Age,” theirs being the three characters that people most closely associate with the early years of the revival, although the trio only appeared together in the two-part finale of season 4.
The proposal wouldn’t be the first time the Doctor has ventured into the world of movies. As well as the aforementioned TV movie that – outwith a brief online short – acted as the sole outing of Eighth Doctor Paul McGann, a pair of non-canonical movies were made in the mid-‘60s. Dr Who and the Daleks and Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. starred Peter Cushing as an eccentric human inventor named Dr. Who, who had built a time machine in his back garden. As the titles suggest, both featured the Doctor’s nemesis the Daleks, the latter film being a reimagining of 1964 serial “The Dalek Invasion of Earth,” but poor critical reception and box office performances led to no further films being made.
While the prospect of a big screen outing featuring some of Doctor Who’s most popular characters certainly wouldn’t be unwelcome, the prospect of it ever coming to pass is highly unlikely. Davies’ last episode writing for the show was “The End of Time,” a two-part special that aired on Christmas Day in 2009 and New Year’s Day in 2010, and saw an end to both his tenure as showrunner and Tennant’s run as star. Davies has previously stated his lack of interest in revisiting to the show, believing it would be like returning to a workplace a decade after you had left and your presence is no longer relevant, and that always moving on to new and different projects is far more interesting. Although it would certainly be possible to do a movie with someone else, the characters may not be envisioned to fans’ satisfaction without the voice of the writer who definitively brought them to life.
Source: Radio Times