What would be SO bad about a US remake?

[Captaindemotion]

* Takes deep breath and prepares to poke the hornet's nest ...

I've been meaning to post this thread for a few days now, mainly as a result of the thread about the possible Torchwood remake. In particular, the (almost certainly incorrect) reference in the story about a possible remake of DW seemed to provoke lots of responses, few of them positive. But since they only formed part of a larger thread about TW, I thought maybe I'd stick this one in and see what everyone says.

I should stress, that I'm not necessarily in favour of a remake. I'm perfectly happy with the DW series we have. And while I can understand why Japanese or French movies are remade for English markets, I think remakes of a programme in the same language are kinda pointless.

And yes, I definitely get that DW is a very British sci-fi show, though being Irish, I'm not too hung up on that. Having said that, I do like the sort of Wyndham/ Quartermass/ Conan Doyle vein of fantasy in which tradition DW is following.

Having said that, for the sake of argument, shows like Steptoe and Son, Till Death Us Do Part and The Office have been successfully made for the US market. And a US remake of DW wouldn't have to take anything away from the original. It would be in a different continuity, wouldn't impinge on what's happening with the original and wouldn't prevent the original being made (it might, if anything increase its profile).

Sure, it could be a total disaster (I believe the finale of the US Life On Mars was a total embarrassment) but let's look at the positives for the minute. Imagine a top-tier US producer or show-runner wants to make it. Doesnt have to be a Ron Moore or Joss Whedon, it could be someone with no sci-fi history - Russell T Davies hadn't done any before DW and that worked out all right.

Imagine they cast someone interesting in the role. Someone who can do intelligent and quirky (Sly Stallone, Keanu Reeves and Ashton Kutcher are unlikely to be in demand). Jeff Goldblum, James Spader or Alexis Denisof, for example.

Just like the Doctor is somehow alien and British at the same time (like Mr Spock is alien American), this Doctor can be alien and American (Alien-American?) and still be a convincing character. I mean, David Brent was a very British creation but Michael Scott, from the US Office, is a very believable American and also a great comic character.

Hi-tech and impressive as the new series is, imagine how well done it could be with the budget of a Lost or 24; imagine the alien vistas the Dr could visit or even the American settings - the Wild West, the Revolutionary era, Civil War Georgestown etc. And it might be interesting to see how the TARDIS would be reinterpreted - do the Yanks have police boxes? What would an American-like Gallifrey be like? Would the show re-use and update classic scripts or just do totally new ones (a la BSG).

You basically need the concept of an independent, slightly eccentric traveller of time and space in his unique vessel, which is larger on the inside. You need to keep the Daleks, Cybermen and Master. Is any of that nationality-centric?

Bear in mind how conservative we sci-fi fans can be and how wrong we can be. Remember all the oppoprium directed at Star Trek TNG when it was announced? Or when the remake of BSG was confirmed? Or when the original Star Trek crew were (finally) recast? All of those worked out all right. Could Dr Who be next?

This is total speculation and such a show is unlikely to ever happen. But if they did make one and if you knew that it wouldn't weaken, much less end, the original show, and if you thought that it had talented people behind and in front of the camera would you give it a chance? Or would you weep and throw things at the screen when it was announced?

 

[The]

Excellent points, some of which I pointed out in the other thread. I welcome all Doctor Who in its many and varied media forms. While the original show itself is still the final word on the subject, I would love to see how another country could interpret it. Especially the TARDIS...

 

[Candlelight]

Peri would be British.

 

[Skellington]

Peri would be British.

Should have been anyway.

 

[UssGlenn]

The TARDIS as a Police Box is so iconic and so completely British I can't figure out what a good American equivalent would be. Regular phone booths have the right flavor but have too much glass, and wouldn't look right frosted. A porta-potty is the right size but doesn't have the right connotation.

 

[The]

Well, the easiest way around all of this is to make The Doctor and TARDIS British, and make everything and everyone else American...

 

[Kelso]

I'd watch it.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Well, the easiest way around all of this is to make The Doctor and TARDIS British, and make everything and everyone else American...

Hey, I seem to remember FOX trying this before.

 

[intrinsical]

If its just going to be a British Doctor and TARDIS in America, what's the difference between this new series and episodes like "Daleks in Manhattan" or "Dreamland"?

RTD or Moffat could simply write more episodes in the current Doctor Who series that happen in America.

 

[Psion]

I'm perfectly content to watch at least the first couple of episodes of whatever they come up with. I enjoyed Fox's pilot and wished it had taken off; McGann was excellent in the role and nothing about it contradicted the original.

A reboot, if that's the path they choose to take, might give the producers the opportunity to clean up rough edges around the existing mythos. An origin story might be told, showing the Doctor's early days on Gallifrey and the circumstances leading up to his stealing the TARDIS. They might even choose to tell the story across two or more regenerations, with different actors telling different parts of the Doctor's early career.

Even more intriguing would be a different Doctor in the same 'reality' as the original. A different Timelord the Doctor doesn't know about or perhaps the Doctor in or from a different universe. Crossover stories might be entertaining, with stunt casting coordinated with the BBC to have the two Doctors meet and figure out what's going on.

Unfortunately, they'd probably take the path of having a team of American scientists -- of carefully mixed ethnicity -- creating a TARDIS. The project lead and his beautiful and brilliant colleague test the project and get lost in time, linked with intermittent communications with the rest of the team back at project control and proceed to blunder about through history. Sort of a mix between The Time Tunnel and the latest attempt to relaunch Knight Rider. Which curiously sounds a bit like Quantum Leap, although Al was not exactly 'beautiful'.

It's also unfortunate that I'd probably watch even that.

 

[Checkmate]

The TARDIS as a Police Box is so iconic and so completely British I can't figure out what a good American equivalent would be. Regular phone booths have the right flavor but have too much glass, and wouldn't look right frosted. A porta-potty is the right size but doesn't have the right connotation.

Just give it a functional Chameleon Circuit. Problem solved. Instead you could give his outdated TARDIS some other defect, such as a more aggressive sentience to it about going where it wants to go rather than where it's told.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

The TARDIS as a Police Box is so iconic and so completely British I can't figure out what a good American equivalent would be. Regular phone booths have the right flavor but have too much glass, and wouldn't look right frosted. A porta-potty is the right size but doesn't have the right connotation.

I've thought about this before (sad, eh?) and I was thinking they could keep the TARDIS close to the original but drop the police trappings. Still a similar blue booth or whatever. If one saw something like that somewhere, it would be a bit odd, but one would probably just keep on walking past it.

 

[Worf2DS9]

Remaking or reimagining DW for the American market is a horrible idea. Is nothing sacred anymore?? Torchwood is one thing (U.S. branch, problem solved), but leave Who alone!

 

[The Wormhole]

Honestly, is it really necessary to adapt Doctor Who for American audiences? Or any British show for that matter? Why can't an American simply sit down and watch the British versions of Doctor Who, or Torchwood, or Life on Mars or whatever? They aren't that hard to understand, and aside from driving on the opposite sides of the road British and American cultures are very similar. Just show the same damn show to the Americans instead of retooling it so that the characters speak with familiar accents.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

The TARDIS as a Police Box is so iconic and so completely British I can't figure out what a good American equivalent would be. Regular phone booths have the right flavor but have too much glass, and wouldn't look right frosted.

And combined with the time travel element, it'd be a little too close to Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.

As for a U.S. remake, I'd look at it out of morbid curiosity, but I just don't see the need, any more than I'd want to see an American James Bond or a British Superman (outside of the occasional Elseworlds tale, anyway).

 

[timelord1010]

Doctor Who shouldn't be messed with, if anything just make some stories in America but keep the Doctor and TARDIS as is. Maybe go back to Paul McGann and fill in the missing years.

Instead of messing with something that is not broke, why not reboot something like Space 1999? It's in need of a good update. It could be changed to Space 2099? But that is a subject for another thread....

 

[Sci]

The Doctor just shouldn't be American. That's what it boils down to. He's a British Extraterrestrial and always should be. Otherwise, it'd be like doing a new monthly Superman comic where he's raised British.

(Yes, I know, there's Superman: True Brit, but that was a one-shot.)

 

[Allyn Gibson]

An American Doctor Who would be a hard-sell to an American network. The freedom of the format -- you can do literally anything with it -- is its problem. It's not something that an American network could pigeonhole.

This was Philip Segal's problem. He tried to sell FOX on an Americanized Doctor Who. The show he should have sold them on -- wacky alien scientist teams up with brilliant American doctor, they have mad UST, and together they fight alien menaces in the present day. If only the Doctor had accepted Grace's offer to stay, instead of the Doctor offering her a place on the TARDIS...

An American Torchwood is fine; it's really not that different than a lot of other present day alien threat series.

The American spin-off I would like to see? Get an American network to do an Abslom Daak series. Who wouldn't want to see a team of Dalek hunters, week in and week out?

 

[Samurai8472]

And it might be interesting to see how the TARDIS would be reinterpreted - do the Yanks have police boxes?

Companion- Why is it a "Police Box" ?

American Doctor- Oh I took at trip to England in 60's and it got stuck like this


There. I just saved years of whining about the TARDIS being a knockoff of "bill and ted's" phone booth and why is it a porta potty.

 

[timelord1010]

Actually I just thought of a way America could do it's version of Doctor Who. Hire David Tennant and Billie Piper and do a alternate universe spinoff series and have the Doctor 2.0 grow a new TARDIS. It would be like the new Trek movie, same characters, different universe.