Peter Jackson To Direct Doctor Who?

As if Doctor Who wasn’t enough of a phenomenon already, rumors of an episode directed by none other than The Hobbit’s Peter Jackson have begun to circulate as the buildup to the show’s 50th anniversary continues. The New Zealand native, known also for his hand in horror classics Bat Taste and Braindead, is a known fan of the English sci-fi series and during an interview with EW claimed he’d even do it for free.

“They don’t even have to pay me. But I have got my eye on one of those nice new gold-colored Daleks. They must have a spare one (hint, hint),” he said.

If it went down that way, he’d be adding it to an impressive collection (as seen above) that’s also home to another pair of Daleks, a Cyberman and various items of clothing. While something like this would be a huge coup for BBC’s drama, this year’s concluding seventh season isn’t without a strong lineup already, with returning favorite Neil Gaiman (The Sandman) scripting “The Last Cyberman” alongside regular contributor Mark Gatiss (The League Of Gentlemen) and others.

Naturally, showrunner Stephen Moffat declined to comment in any way definitively, though I find it hard to imagine them not leaping at the opportunity if Jackson’s as sincere as he claims. Provided he’s not too busy with The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, this could very well happen, and it’d be sure to bring an awful lot of attention from the cinematic side of the nerd divide, particularly from the sort who’d typically dismiss Who out of hand (as I once did before enjoying a good many episodes and feeling thoroughly rotten afterwards).

The new season of Doctor Who resumes next Sunday. You can check out weekly reviews right here at We Got This Covered, and join in the sure-to-mount anticipation for a potential Peter Jackson reveal. In the meantime, get chatting: could Jackson bring anything of worth to the series? Should fans of the show be bothered at all that one of the mighty from on high has deigned to descend into the realms of…whisper…television? Or is this quite simply the biggest thing of all the things?