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\n Former Doctor.
\n Photo: Disney+\n <\/p>\n
The season finale<\/a> of Doctor Who saw yet another version of the Doctor bidding adieu to time and space. After saving the world from heteronormativity (and then leaving his companion with a baby in an ending<\/a> that some fans thought didn\u2019t really fit<\/a> the character), Ncuti Gatwa\u2019s Fifteenth Doctor regenerated into \u2026 Billie Piper? We know Russell T. Davies is fond of his first big contribution to Doctor Who: Piper\u2019s Rose Tyler, who later temporarily also became the Bad Wolf. But is he really going to make her the Doctor? Why is Gatwa leaving the show before he fought his first Dalek? And how long are we going to have to wait for any of this to resolve? Let\u2019s take a look at the wibbly-wobbly ground on which the TARDIS currently stands.<\/p>\n After defeating the Rani and Omega, the Doctor got his companion, Belinda, and their wish child, Poppy, out of the Zero Room. If none of those words make sense to you, don\u2019t worry. Let\u2019s just say the Big Bad was defeated. Unfortunately, saving the day also took the child the Doctor and Belinda had wished into existence and, basically, un-wished her into nonexistence. Heroically(?), the Doctor decided to give up his Fifteenth face to bring the kid back, leaving Belinda to raise Poppy as a single mother. The Doctor then went back to the TARDIS to regenerate. Everyone\u2019s favorite chav, Rose Tyler, then showed up in his place. \u201cOh, hello!\u201d she said. Cut to black.<\/p>\n Ncuti Gatwa\u2019s regeneration + the new Doctor reveal scene in \u2018DOCTOR WHO\u2019 has been officially released online. pic.twitter.com\/dgLDaDhfEe<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) May 31, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Oh, gosh, so many reasons. Let\u2019s start with Belinda\u2019s exit and work our way up to Rose\u2019s reintroduction.<\/p>\n Rose: Destroyed the Dalek empire \u2014 Lex always speaks facts \ud83d\udcaf \ud83c\udf49 (@jdog64948508) June 2, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Belinda (Varada Sethu) was introduced<\/a> as a woman who had been terrorized by a toxic man. But, like, in space. She made a big to-do about getting back to her life at the exact moment she left it so she could go on with her life. In rewriting reality into one where she was mainly returning for Poppy, some fans felt that the Doctor also rewrote Belinda\u2019s core motivations and vibe. They\u2019ve argued that she was trying to escape toxic masculinity when she met the Doctor, but was ultimately left with a whole-ass child given to her without sufficient consent or agency.<\/p>\n Then, there\u2019s the Rose of it all. Davies invented Rose for his first season of Doctor Who and she was received by some fans as a Mary Sue: the most perfectest girl in the world that made the Doctor fall in love with her and could open the heart of the TARDIS, etc., etc. Rose already came back a few times, so does she really need to be here again? Well, ratings in the U.K. have reportedly<\/a> dropped significantly since the Disney era began, and bringing back familiar faces has been a pretty solid way to boost viewership. Davies <\/strong>brought back the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) for additional nostalgia points in 2023 for the 60th-anniversary specials. Though Piper\u2019s return appears to be more fan service, most fans don\u2019t seem all that serviced:<\/p>\n rose tyler stans got the kind of greed they talk about in the bible wdym you want her to come back pic.twitter.com\/4hmIkLlAZG<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 avery \ud83e\ude90 (@smilesinmay) January 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n It\u2019s not clear if Piper is playing the 16th Doctor, Rose Tyler, or a secret third thing. The finale\u2019s credits simply state that the show is \u201cintroducing Billie Piper\u201d without identifying a role, which seems intentionally vague. \u201cBillie once changed the whole of television, back in 2005, and now she\u2019s done it again!\u201d Davies said in a BBC press release<\/a> upon Piper\u2019s reveal. \u201cIt\u2019s an honor and a hoot to welcome her back to the TARDIS, but quite how and why and who is a story yet to be told. After 62 years, the Doctor\u2019s adventures are only just beginning!\u201d<\/p>\n Fans suspect Rose\u2019s role as the Bad Wolf is behind whatever is going on. To make a long story (the whole first season of n\u00fc Who) short, Rose looked into the heart of the TARDIS back in the early aughts. It saved the universe but almost killed her and also refracted her identity through time and space. The Ninth Doctor had to absorb the TARDIS energy (though a kiss \ud83d\ude18 \ud83d\ude18), which killed him. Don\u2019t worry, he got better. Point being, Rose and the TARDIS are tight, and when Fifteen directed his regeneration into the ship\u2019s console, something timey-wimey may have happened. Or not! We truly have to wait and see. And about that wait \u2026<\/p>\n Disney has not yet renewed its collaboration with the BBC on Doctor Who. There isn\u2019t even a Christmas special<\/a> on the books, since the showrunner confirmed it wasn\u2019t ordered as part of the latest season. \u201cThe decision to commission Season 3 won\u2019t be made until after Season 2 has transmitted,\u201d Davies said in Doctor Who Magazine<\/a>. \u201cAnd that\u2019s always been the deal since the start.\u201d Even so, Davies said last year that he has already written scripts for a third season, per Radio Times<\/a>. <\/p>\n However, the Disney+ spinoff show about UNIT is going ahead as planned \u2014 and \u201ccoming soon,\u201d according to a trailer dropped on May 31. So that\u2019s a comfort.<\/p>\n It seems unlikely that the BBC would abandon their favorite little guy. Not again, since the reboot made the show a merchandise machine.\u00a0(He\u2019s the Doctor, not Mr. Blobby<\/a>.) The show could return to being a solely U.K. production, with shakier sets to match the solely U.K. budget. But that also might mean a long hiatus as the organization retools; The Mirror<\/a> has<\/a> been reporting since October of last year that Doctor Who will likely not return until 2027.<\/p>\n The BBC denied<\/a> speculation that Gatwa had been fired from the show, calling rumors \u201cpure fiction\u201d in May. But his time as the Doctor did feel cut short. Even if his exit was voluntary, fans have speculated that he originally expected to stay longer. Some have pointed to a 2024 Entertainment Weekly<\/a> interview in which Gatwa said he\u2019d be \u201cso angry\u201d if rumors that he would never encounter one of the show\u2019s mainstay villains came true. \u201cBy the time that I\u2019m done with\u00a0Doctor Who, I better have faced a Dalek,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat on earth would be the point of me being\u00a0Doctor Who\u00a0without facing a Dalek!\u201d He did not face a Dalek.<\/p>\n Gatwa also previously said on The Graham Norton Show that his third season as Fifteen would shoot this year. Or he tried to say that, at least. When the interview aired in October, the show edited out the part about a third season. At the time, Deadline reported<\/a> that the BBC had nothing to do with this cut. Still, a spokesperson for the BBC issued a statement at the time clarifying that season three wasn\u2019t set in stone yet: \u201cAs we\u2019ve said previously, the decision on season three will be made after season two transmits, and as always we don\u2019t comment on speculation.\u201d<\/p>\n Fans have been pointing to reshoots that reportedly took place this February<\/a>. They speculate that a new version of the finale\u2019s ending was filmed because of Gatwa\u2019s exit. Notably, a preview photo of the finale that was posted<\/a> to Disney+ in Germany appears to show Belinda and the Doctor partying on a night out. No such scene was included in the episode, though it lends credence to the idea that Belinda should be at the club<\/a>.<\/p>\n \ud83d\ude41 pic.twitter.com\/2FwtZVqVPT<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 alice (@billieologist) June 3, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Gatwa has claimed that his departure was not a last-minute decision. \u201cIt was always the plan to do this amount of seasons, because it\u2019s a role that demands a\u00a0lot\u00a0of you, physically and emotionally and mentally,\u201d he said in a behind-the-scenes video<\/a>. \u201cThe actors playing the Doctor are only actors playing the Doctor; unfortunately, we are mere mortals. I would love to have the energy and the youth to be able to do this full-time for the rest of my life, but my knees are telling me it\u2019s time.\u201d In a BBC press release<\/a>, he also thanked fans for \u201cwelcoming\u201d him into the role, which he said he loved and will \u201ctruly\u201d miss. \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 he said. \u201cThis journey has been one that I will never forget, and a role that will be part of me forever.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Piper has spoken about always being down to return to Cardiff: \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 Yeah, but how long will we have to wait?<\/p>\n Related<\/p>\n \n
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Martha: Freed the Doctor
Donna: Saved reality
Amy: Brought the Doctor back to reality
Rory: Protected Amy for two thousand years
Clara: Fixed the Doctor\u2019s timeline
Bill: Fought alongside the Doctor
Ruby: Tricked Sutekh
Belinda: Held a baby<\/p>\n\n
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