Peter Jackson seems to have announced his next project... an episode of Doctor Who!
In the middle of the night last night, Peter Jackson inconspicuously posted a video to his Facebook page. It's a cheeky bit of self-aware comedy in which he and his daughter are seated at his kitchen table, and she is bugging him about actual work he should be doing while he's busy polishing his pile of Oscars. But then the video takes a turn... and seemingly turns into an announcement that Jackson will be directing an episode of Doctor Who for next year's series ten!
 |
| "I've come from the future to warn you that The Hobbit is too short a novel to be three films!" |
Granted,
he doesn't actually state that he has signed on to direct an
episode... but when The Doctor himself, Peter Capaldi, shows up in
the video (along with another surprise guest-star), what else could
it possibly mean? This won't be the first time that Peter Jackson has
done some work related to the series – he and Ian McKellen made a
very funny cameo in one of the videos surrounding its 50th
anniversary, The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot –
but getting such a high-profile filmmaker to actually direct an
episode of Doctor Who
is huge. This is the latest in a series of moves by showrunner Steven
Moffat to place the beloved show on the same level as prestigious
cable programs like Game of Thrones.
Moffat has brought on famous writers like Neil Gaiman to pen
episodes, and has signed A-list guest-stars like Richard E. Grant,
Nick Frost, John Hurt and GoT's
Maisie Williams, but getting an Oscar-winning film director to step
behind the camera is certainly taking things to the next level.
Coming off of one of Doctor Who's
finest seasons, this is just another reason to be very excited for
series ten.
Like this news? Please share!!!
This
is also a very good move for Peter Jackson. The last directorial work
we've seen from him was the much-maligned Hobbit
trilogy, which he recently described as a very messy and troubled
experience in a brutally honest interview. It looks very much like
his run of mega-budget epic filmmaking got too big, and hurt his
creative process; an admission of what fans had already suspected.
Getting back to his roots with a more modest budget and an emphasis
on creative storytelling could be exactly what Jackson needs. After
all, he made his name on smaller-budgeted films like the wild
grand-guignol Dead-Alive and
the powerful psychological drama Heavenly
Creatures
before he moved up to the Hollywood A-list. Directing an episode of
Doctor Who could
be just the thing to get him back on track after The
Hobbit,
and will also likely result in a truly great entry for the
series.
Hopefully this video will be followed shortly by an official announcement from the BBC. But really, it's only fitting that the guy whose wild sense of humor gave us Dead-Alive would make the announcement in such a hilarious way.
Hopefully this video will be followed shortly by an official announcement from the BBC. But really, it's only fitting that the guy whose wild sense of humor gave us Dead-Alive would make the announcement in such a hilarious way.
-
Christopher S. Jordan