Doctor Who has thrived on the rotation of writers, guest stars, and recurring friends of the Doctor. So could Peter Jackson, William Shatner, and Noel Clarke be coming to the show?

Earlier this year, Matt Smith was doing an interview on a New Zealand chat show. Suddenly, the conversation drifted to The Hobbit and Peter Jackson. Smith admitted he was quite the fan and he would love to work with Jackson on Doctor Who. Now it all probably would have ended there except that Jackson got wind of the interview, and apparently he’s quite the old school Whovian. So, this summer, there was a bit of back and forth in the press of both men saying “Oh it would be great, but budgets, and timing and all that.”

Flash forward to last week and the London premiere of The Hobbit, and Steven Moffat and Peter Jackson finally meet up and supposedly spent some time together for the first time since their Tintin collaboration. Now on top of this, there was a special screening of the Christmas episode for the U.K. press last night and Peter Jackson was also there. What was Moffat’s comment on Jackson coming to Doctor Who? “Well, you never know, we may well do.” Maybe Ian McKellen, who plays Gandalf and who is the voice of the snowmen in the upcoming Christmas episode, can put in a good word!

When you think of TV sci-fi, it’s hard not to give Star Trek its due. The original series, despite its shaky sets and overacting, sparked a love of sci-fi that mainstream American and in fact world-wide audiences embraced. William Shatner’s Captain James T. Kirk is one of the most iconic sci-fi roles ever. So could Shatner ever come over to Doctor Who? According to the Radio Times Matt Smith has thought about it, specifically for Shatner to play The Master, but Steven Moffat may not be so keen on the idea.

“We’d love to have William Shatner on Doctor Who I’m sure. He’s a sci-fi God! He’d be great,” Smith told Getty, before adding “John Simm is pretty damn good in the role, though.”

Steven Moffat agreed: “I love William Shatner but John Simm is The Master… John Simm would beat [Shatner] up if he thought he was going to take that part. William Shatner being The Master would be too confusing wouldn’t it? He’s Captain Kirk! It’s already confusing that there are now two Captain Kirks. But if I was considering it I wouldn’t tell you.”

Sometimes a picture is just a picture. Noel Clarke, who used to play Mickey Smith, met up with Matt Smith someplace in London. He tweeted, “A small gift for a section of you. This is today! Don’t read too much into it. It is what it is.” and shared this Instagram photo.

Despite Noel Clarke telling fans not to read too much into the photo, it brings up a point that many fans would like the friends of the 10th Doctor to meet the 11th.

How do you feel about any of these three making a Doctor Who appearance or reappearance?