Doctor Who: 10 Ways An American Reboot Could Work

By Hamish Crawford /

9. A Clean Slate

It wasn€™t the US setting of the TV Movie that sunk it€”it was that truly shocking opening monologue: €œOn the planet Skaro, my old enemy the Master was finally put on trial.€ Within seconds, Daleks, Gallifrey, and the Time Lords€™ thirteen regenerations have been name-checked. How the hell will THAT make sense to Joe Six-Pack in Poughkeepsie? It goes without saying: it€™s called Doctor Who. There€™s an interesting and mysterious time traveller called the Doctor and € that€™s it. I€™ll leave it to the more detail-oriented whether he should wear a frock coat or the TARDIS should be a police box (What would a US equivalent be? A mailbox? Or a Starbucks branch€”we can€™t be too sneery about product placement). Think how hard the BBC Wales series has worked to restore the Doctor€™s mystery€”by his own admission he€™s €œgotten too big, too noisy€. Start it in America, and you get all the €˜Who?€™ you want for free. And fans will LOVE arguing over whether this new bloke is pre-Hartnell or post-Smith. As for the new bloke€