{"id":147935,"date":"2025-05-31T22:51:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-31T22:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/147935\/"},"modified":"2025-05-31T22:51:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-31T22:51:09","slug":"ncuti-gatwa-leaves-doctor-who-at-disney-and-the-bbc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/147935\/","title":{"rendered":"Ncuti Gatwa Leaves ‘Doctor Who’ at Disney+ and the BBC"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tNcuti Gatwa<\/a> is exiting the Tardis.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the climax of Saturday\u2019s Finale<\/a> of \u201cDoctor Who<\/a>\u201d Series 14, Gatwa\u2019s Doctor regenerates into Billie Piper, who previously played companion Rose Tyler in Series 1 (2005) and Series 2 (2006). She also made a brief appearance as Rose Tyler in Series 4 (2008) and was in the \u201cDoctor Who\u201d 50th anniversary special in 2013. <\/p>\n

\n\tAt the end of the episode (per BBC<\/a>), a credit reads, \u201cNcuti Gatwa as the Doctor. Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor. And introducing Billie Piper.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAlthough it appears as such, it is not technically confirmed that Piper will be the next Doctor. In a statement shared with the BBC<\/a>, Piper said fans will have to wait a bit longer to find out what her return means for the series. <\/p>\n

\n\tPiper said in the statement, \u201cIt\u2019s no secret how much I love this show, and I have always said I would love to return to the Whoniverse as I have some of my best memories there, so to be given the opportunity to step back on that Tardis one more time was just something I couldn\u2019t refuse, but who, how, why and when, you\u2019ll just have to wait and see.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tRumors have been swirling about Gatwa\u2019s potential departure since before the show\u2019s Season 2 premiere in April, but have intensified with ratings down from last season. Gatwa, who made history as the first openly queer Black actor to take on the role, led \u201cDoctor Who\u201d alongside companions Millie Gibson and Varada Sethu, with series stalwart Russell T Davies as showrunner, writer and executive producer. His departure marks the second shortest time any actor has spent as the Doctor \u2014 logging in just one more season than Christopher Eccleston \u2014 and certainly leaves the future of the iconic British show uncertain.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cDoctor Who\u201d was originally given a two-season order at Disney+<\/a> and the BBC<\/a>, but has not yet been renewed beyond that. When asked by Va<\/a>riety in April if he would be open to returning for a third season, Gatwa kept mum, saying: \u201cMy head is only full of Season 2, because it\u2019s been so epic. It\u2019s very ironic that in a show about time travel, you can\u2019t talk about the future, but I can talk about Season 2 and how brilliant it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tGatwa complemented his time on \u201cDoctor Who\u201d with roles on stage, starring in \u201cThe Importance of Being Earnest\u201d at London\u2019s National Theatre through January. It was recently announced that he\u2019ll lead another play, \u201cBorn With Teeth,\u201d on the West End this summer. He is also currently filming Jay Roach\u2019s black comedy \u201cThe Roses,\u201d co-starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Olivia Colman, Andy Samberg, Allison Janney and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ncuti Gatwa is exiting the Tardis. In the climax of Saturday\u2019s Finale of \u201cDoctor Who\u201d Series 14, Gatwa\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":147936,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[192,823,824,13,15215,12,14],"class_list":{"0":"post-147935","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-bbc","9":"tag-disney","10":"tag-doctor-who","11":"tag-headlines","12":"tag-ncuti-gatwa","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-top-stories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114604899481135923","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}