This is why I don't believe this rumour to be true, at least not fully true. Once Matt Smith takes over as the Doctor, the role has to become fully his and David could get in the way of that.

I'm not saying there definately won't be a Doctor Who movie but I don't think it will take the form that people think it will.

I think some folk are overthinking this on the potential plot.

There is no way the Time War or the continuing series will filter into this.

The movie will be treated a lot like 'Rose', an introduction to the concept without bogging it down too much for the existing fans.

If it is DT's doc then he will have a brand new companion - Rose, Donna, Martha et al all carry too much baggage.

There is also no way that RTD will do the Time War. It's obvious that the Time War works best as a bit of a mystery. As soon as you tackle it the whole thing will be demystified and the power it has as a concept will be severely undermined.

The story will be a straight forward standalone piece that, mos tlikely will be set at a point when the Doc is travelling alone.

As for the fears that the publci will be confused by the whole Tenth Doc and Eleventh Doc appearing on our screens simultaneously, I think people are reading too much into it.

After all the public weren't confused by Cushing's Doc - and he appeared when a canon Doc was on the TV. Furthermor ehis Doc isn't even a Time Lord. If there was no confusion then, I doubt there'll be any this time round.

Matt Smith can't be seen as the new Doctor if Tennant is still playing the role. I think there's a catch somewhere.

Well, Patrick Stewart was seen as the Captain of the Enterprise while William Shatner appeared in Star Trek V and VI.

Bear in mind that a film will spend a lot longer in production than a TV episode. Matt Smith will have been seen in at least one full series, maybe two, by the time the Tennant film is released.

You haven't even seen Matt Smith's performance yet, how can you judge it??

Err, they weren't playing the same character.

I see nothing in kookymoo's post that makes any judgement on it at all.

could it not be both? Matt as the doc, DT as alternate universe doc....

Of course he can -we have two Doctors in the show right now -and I totally think David Tennant will be playing those two Doctors in this coming Christmas two parter ...

by the time Christmas is over if i'm right David will have totally established the two Doctors scenario for the show ..

this is all just guesswork on my part of course .

Im not too sure about this..... becuase if people are by then used to watching MS as DW then surely a movie starring DT is A) not going to match continuity and B) will already look out of date.

And the audio dramas don't sound out of date because they still feature the Eighth Doctor?

All this useless speculation - I will cry with laughter if turns out to be a Torchwood movie starring John Smith and Rose Tyler.

a modern John Smith? interesting scenario ..would probably see David join Torchwood then were that to happen ..

Yet I can't help but think David and Russell are maybe wanting a Doctor free from the restrictions of the tv show so we can have a Doctor who can have slightly stronger adventures ...guess we can speculate all we like but can't know anything for sure ..

One thing i'm pretty sure about -I do think David Tennant will be playing two Doctors this Christmas ..

There's no way the movie is going to have anything to do with the Time War. It cannot be linked in with the ongoing story of the TV show as the BBC charter states the BBC is not allowed to make people pay (via a cinema ticket or buying a DVD) to watch something that is integral to following a BBC series. So it would have to be a completely stand-alone story. No reason it couldn't feature Doctor 10, and I'm sure it will, it just has to work on its own.

They'd want that for commercial reasons too. They'll want people to go and see this movie who had never watched DW before. That means new a companion without baggage from the TV show, so no Rose.

Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were Rabbit made £30m in the UK alone and a DW movie would at least equal that. That's a pretty good jumping off point when considering that budget they can play with! I am excited and nervous in equal measure. I hope they don't screw it up.

Ideally , I don't think any movie should be released till summer 2011 at the least. Providing he stays that long , that'll give Smith two seasons to establish himself. The flip side being that if he's really good as 11 , people may see it as a step back to see 10 in a movie

Well we could go round in circles about this all day really -as I say I think this movie will be about being able to give us a Doctor free of the restrictions of the tv show.I think the whole idea is that we have two Doctors ...one that is able to push forward with stronger adventures than the tv Doctor is able to have at Saturday tea time on bbc one..
I think the whole idea is to free up the character -expand and develop the brand.

But as f_196 rightly says no point in all this debate because "Doctor Who movie" could indeed mean and hide anything ..

Maybe David will indeed end up playing a modern John Smith (interesting scenario-he'd be quite a man).

-maybe RTD and David are looking to give us a Doctor free of the tv show restrictions ..

Can't rule out either and we can't know because it's all just guessing-anyway lets just wait and see ..

I believe the movie is also likely to feature Captain Jack due to Torchwoods relative popularity in the USA. (last weeks Knight Rider had a series of references!!!).

I can't help but feel that if we had a 'movie' doctor, especially DT then that would reduce the TV series and Matt Smith to be the 'B' Doctor.

Matt Smith needs to be allowed to create his own doctor identity and status...which is also a reason why I think we shouldn't have a 'Two Doctors' story for a good while.

One film every two years (if we're very lucky) would overshadow 14 episodes of TV a year, how exactly?


Even if they do announce a film shortly it'll still be two years away. If people think Matt Smith will be incapable of establishing himself after 28 episodes that's hardly RTD and Tennant's problem.

Are you sure about that? The human 10th doctor is trapped in the alternative universe, so surely, for the moment, his story has ended? I haven't read any hints or rumours of any such involvment for that character in the Christmas specials.

Only my story about 10.5 marrying Rose that I made up to see if the Tabloids would print it.

Which they did!

Shall we start a rumour suggesting that Rose and 10.5 have children, then fight, then divorce and have a custody battle...

Oh Goodie! Time-tots.....

In a way they were, they were both "Captain of the Enterprise" a name passed from person to person, the TV series was set in a future era in comparison with the film.

The same would be true with a Tennant Dr Who film, both would be "The Doctor" a name passed from regeneration to regeneration, the TV series would be set in a future era in comparison with the film.

Oh look, snap!

I don't see the public being too confused, in fact it could become the norm for a 'retired TV doctor' to be then used for a film or two to tell some grander stories that what could be done with a 45 minute episode (or 90 minute double episode) and a TV budget.

I'm sure Matt Smith won't mind at all if the upshot is the possibility of him doing the same when he comes to 'retire' from the TV show.

I see what you're saying, but making the comparison between two seperate characters holding the same job, and the same character during two different phases of his life seems a bit tenuous.