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Reports are starting to circulate that two of the proposed three "Doctor Who" specials planned for 2009 will be filmed in the United States rather than the United Kingdom.

According to News of the World, a BBC source said that such a move -- the first since the 1996 "Doctor Who" film was shot in Vancouver, B.C. as well as San Francisco -- is in response to the show's continued popularity in the United States where it's shown on SciFi Channel.

"Two specials in America, with a U.S. setting and U.S. assistant, will take it to another level," a source told the publication. "David Tennant is already gaining a huge following and this will make him really hot property."

This news comes as Airlock Alpha was chasing its own leads on such a report -- but one that came with a different set of reasons. While BBC does boast that its signature program is a hit in America, a lot of the decision to film in the United States has less to do with rewarding audiences on the other end of the Atlantis and more to do with economics.

The British pound is trading strong against the American dollar, which means doing business -- including filming -- is much cheaper to do in the United States than it is in England. Some reports have even surfaced that some of the filming for the final two Harry Potter films will move over to the United States because of the disparity between the two currencies, and as a way for the film to better maximize its budget.

Of course, neither the News of the World nor the Airlock Alpha reports have been confirmed by BBC, and should be treated as any rumor would.

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