Note: this post contains spoilers for this past weekend\u2019s Doctor Who season finale.<\/p>\n
In the final moments of \u201cThe Reality War,\u201d the Fifteenth Doctor (Gatwa) sacrificed his current form to save the life of a child, and in classic Doctor Who fashion, the Time Lord\u2019s regeneration process ended with him getting a (sort of) new face. It\u2019s not exactly clear how or why, but the Doctor regenerated into a form that looks a lot like Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), the human companion to the Ninth (Christopher Eccleston) and Tenth Doctor (David Tennant). <\/p>\n
This is the second time in recent Doctor Who history that the titular character has regenerated into a body portrayed by a series veteran. Previously, Tennant returned to become the Fourteenth Doctor<\/a> after the Thirteenth<\/a> (Jodie Whittaker) regenerated. \u201cThe Reality War\u201d strongly implies that the Sixteenth Doctor might have transformed into a Rose Tyler facsimile for emotional reasons. But, notably, the episode\u2019s credits do not specify who her new character is.<\/p>\n In a statement about her Who reveal, Piper noted how she has \u201calways said I would love to return to the Whoniverse as I have some of my best memories there.\u201d Showrunner Russell T Davies<\/a> added that \u201cit\u2019s an honour and a hoot to welcome [Piper] back to the Tardis, but quite how and why and who is a story yet to be told.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement of his own, Gatwa thanked the Who fandom and \u201ceveryone that has played a part in my journey as the Doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou know when you get cast, at some point you are going to have to hand back that sonic screwdriver and it is all going to come to an end, but nothing quite prepares you for it,\u201d Gatwa said. \u201cThere are no words to describe what it feels like to be cast as the Doctor, nor are there words to explain what it feels like to be accepted into this iconic role that has existed for over 60 years and is truly loved by so many across the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n