Kaet has approached the film recommendation from the wrong angle. There is nothing "shitty" about digital photography, but he is correct in saying that shooting film is a good way (probably the best way) of learning photography.
Now before all the digital trolls jump on my answer and give me thumbs down because *shudder* I mentioned film, let me first say that I shoot both digital and film. I use a Canon 40D with several lenses for digital shooting and I currently have ten 35mm cameras and two medium format (120 film) cameras for film shooting. What do I prefer?, I prefer film.. Would I give up my DSLR?, not a chance!.. Use the right tool for the job, sometimes film is the better choice and sometimes my DSLR is better suited, it's as simple as that.
You will learn FAR more about photography, you will learn it quicker and you will learn it better if you shoot film. That is the truth, the simple and honest truth. I think that in your case you should certainly buy a DSLR (hey why not!), but you should also buy a 35mm SLR to shoot as well, you can pick up a good SLR on eBay for less than £50.
Picking your question apart, you ask "What is the BEST camera to buy for photography?".. The 100% correct answer to that question is 'There is NO "best" camera for photography'... There is no such thing as the "best" camera full stop!, I have always said that the best camera is the one that you have on you at the time.
Forget anybody saying that Nikon is better than Canon, Canon is better than Pentax, Olympus rules etc.... These statements are completely wrong. EVERY single brand produces incredible cameras, they are ALL goods and will ALL produce amazing images. I chose Canon simply because the camera felt more comfortable in my hand, some prefer Nikon for that reason and others Pentax etc. For anybody to say that a certain brand produces better images than another is a completely ill founded and biased statement, it is down to the person behind the camera to make the image, the camera is just a tool remember. A good image is 95% the person behind the camera and 5% the camera itself. I have seen images worthy of hanging on a gallery wall produced from a £5 disposable P&S and utter crap produced from a £6000 DSLR. Good composition and subject matter make the image.
"Great quality" of an image comes from good glass (and EVERY brand produces good glass!) and skills in using the camera.
Anyway, enough of my ranting I am sure that you want to know about a camera you should buy. Like I said before, ignore anybody who shouts out their particular brand, that is just biased information and will get you nowhere. Go into a store and handle all the bodies, the one that feels the most comfortable to hold should be the one you buy, it's as simple as that. If you happen to choose Nikon or Pentax then you can use your lenses with the DSLR and their 35mm SLRs. If you choose Canon then you can use all their lenses with the DSLRs and the EOS range of their 35mm SLR's (you can not mount EOS lenses on the older FD SLR bodies). I am unsure of backwards compatibility of other brands.
I hope that this has been some help, feel free to email me if you want any more help, I collect cameras and I'm sure I could give you some good recommendations. Without knowing exactly what it is you want to shoot and your price range then it is hard to give a good recommendation now.
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I really appreciate it!!! THANK YOU!!!