The rumour mill is cranking up (for ‘rumour mill’, read: BBC Publicity Department) about a likely big screen outing for Dr. Who, one of the most gay-friendly shows on British TV and overseen by Russell T. Davies, the original creator of Queer As Folk. He’ll be at Comic-Con in San Deigo later in the month and could well make an announcement then.

It would be fairly cool to have a big budget Dr. Who movie, but at the same time, it wouldn’t, because shorter TV episodes seem to suit the character much better and the format is more flexible. A proper movie would have to spend time explaining the back story to fresh viewers; the plot would be knocked into a conventional movie story-arc; there will be a love interest, and a bigger effects budget doesn’t always make for better viewing.

So the jury’s out on this one. But it’s worth remembering that past attempts at a Dr. Who movie – in the 60′s and then the 90′s – have been less than succesful.