Peter Jackson’s most well known for helming all six installments of the Middle Earth saga, one of the biggest movie franchises Hollywood’s ever seen, but there’s still one career objective he’s yet to tick off: he really wants to direct an episode of Doctor Who. The New Zealand-born filmmaker is a lifelong fan of the show and has been routinely saying for years that he’d like to team up with the BBC for an adventure in time and space.
Talk of this reached a peak during the Peter Capaldi era but it seems that Jackson’s still just as interested in working on Doctor Who with Jodie Whittaker in the lead. While speaking to Yahoo Movies, he admitted that he hasn’t found the time to watch season 11 yet but said he’s still waiting for the call from the BBC to get cracking on an episode.
“I haven’t actually seen the new Doctor yet. I haven’t had the chance because I’ve been so busy on these films. I just have to get invited, and asked, and if we can figure it out, I would love to do a Doctor Who.“
Though he’s yet to helm anything in the Who universe, Jackson has still had brushes with the show in the past. He counts two Daleks in his personal collection, he appeared in the 2013 comedy spoof The Five(Ish) Doctors Reboot and he filmed a skit starring Capaldi in character as the Time Lord in his own kitchen. All that – plus, you know, his status as one of the world’s leading directors – should mean he’s qualified for the job.
He’s even willing to give the BBC some leftover sets from his latest movie, YA adaptation Mortal Engines, to sweeten the deal. “We’ve got a few spare giant moving cities we could throw into the mix,” Jackson also joked to Yahoo. “We could offer that up to help the BBC budget!”
Previous showrunner Steven Moffat – who worked with Jackson on The Adventures of Tintin – said back in 2017 that he was hopeful the collaboration would happen eventually. “I think it will probably happen at some point,” he opined. Let’s hope that’s still true now that Moffat’s moved on and been replaced by Chris Chibnall.
In the meantime, Doctor Who season 11 reaches its finale this Sunday, December 9th.
