h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Oh really? You're dragging that rumour back up from the dead just because the series has finished now? But according to recent reports, it seems to be true!

http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2011/11/dwn141111190008-doctor-who-film-in.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15730665

"quite a radical transformation".

"we have to put that aside and start from scratch,"

These statements worry me a little.

Meh, it'll be like the Cushing films. Not real Doctor Who.

By-and-large I'm reasonably pleased with David Yates' work on Harry Potter, and in fact his directorial style in particular impressed me. This is especially good, since he would have a similar job of adapting Doctor Who in many ways.
The problem is that DW is still going on TV, and presumably will still be going when the movie (if it does get made) is released. There have been a fair few movie adaptations of TV series, but I can't think of one that happened without a significant gap.
Actually, while I was writing this, I thought of one example: The X-Files. If they want to go in that direction - effectively an extended special from within the series continuity, filmed and released for cinema screens - it could be plenty good. If they try to completely reboot it though, the side-by-side comparison will surely work to the detriment of at least one of the two versions...

Has anyone else listened to he Big Finish drama "Jubilee"? I keep having visions of something along the lines of the fake trailer they had at the start of that.

I also think that an extended special would be the only way that a Doctor Who film could work. Even a "radical transformation" starting from scratch can work in Doctor Who (they did it for the Eccleston era really). Where can they go from there though? If we get a feature film depicting Elevens regeneration into Twelve for example and then Twelve's adventures - surely the only way to continue is through film, with no easy way back to small screen...

I'm not sure I agree. Admittedly, series-to-series continuity would have to be broken, and references to the movie content would have to be limited for the sake of TV viewers who have not seen it. However, as you pointed out with the start of Ecclestone's era, abrupt disconnects have happened without ruining the story. In fact, in Who it's even easier than in many franchises, since the Doctor is free to leave a previous locality behind permanently and never make reference to it again.