The season finale 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 that some fans thought didn’t really fit the character), Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor regenerated into … Billie Piper? We know Russell T. Davies is fond of his first big contribution to Doctor Who: Piper’s 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’s take a look at the wibbly-wobbly ground on which the TARDIS currently stands.
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What happened in the finale?
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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’t worry. Let’s 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’s favorite chav, Rose Tyler, then showed up in his place. “Oh, hello!” she said. Cut to black.
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Why are people freaking out?
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Belinda (Varada Sethu) was introduced 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’s core motivations and vibe. They’ve 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.
Then, there’s 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 dropped significantly since the Disney era began, and bringing back familiar faces has been a pretty solid way to boost viewership. Davies 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’s return appears to be more fan service, most fans don’t seem all that serviced:
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But is she really the Doctor?
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It’s not clear if Piper is playing the 16th Doctor, Rose Tyler, or a secret third thing. The finale’s credits simply state that the show is “introducing Billie Piper” without identifying a role, which seems intentionally vague. “Billie once changed the whole of television, back in 2005, and now she’s done it again!” Davies said in a BBC press release upon Piper’s reveal. “It’s 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’s adventures are only just beginning!”
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Fans suspect Rose’s role as the Bad Wolf is behind whatever is going on. To make a long story (the whole first season of nü 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 😘 😘), which killed him. Don’t worry, he got better. Point being, Rose and the TARDIS are tight, and when Fifteen directed his regeneration into the ship’s console, something timey-wimey may have happened. Or not! We truly have to wait and see. And about that wait …
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Where does Disney+ stand with Doctor Who?
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Disney has not yet renewed its collaboration with the BBC on Doctor Who. There isn’t even a Christmas special on the books, since the showrunner confirmed it wasn’t ordered as part of the latest season. “The decision to commission Season 3 won’t be made until after Season 2 has transmitted,” Davies said in Doctor Who Magazine. “And that’s always been the deal since the start.” Even so, Davies said last year that he has already written scripts for a third season, per Radio Times.
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However, the Disney+ spinoff show about UNIT is going ahead as planned — and “coming soon,” according to a trailer dropped on May 31. So that’s a comfort.
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What would happen if Disney didn’t renew?
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It seems unlikely that the BBC would abandon their favorite little guy. Not again, since the reboot made the show a merchandise machine. (He’s the Doctor, not Mr. Blobby.) 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 has been reporting since October of last year that Doctor Who will likely not return until 2027.
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Do we suspect behind-the-scenes shenanigans?
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The BBC denied speculation that Gatwa had been fired from the show, calling rumors “pure fiction” 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 interview in which Gatwa said he’d be “so angry” if rumors that he would never encounter one of the show’s mainstay villains came true. “By the time that I’m done with Doctor Who, I better have faced a Dalek,” he said. “What on earth would be the point of me being Doctor Who without facing a Dalek!” He did not face a Dalek.
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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 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’t set in stone yet: “As we’ve said previously, the decision on season three will be made after season two transmits, and as always we don’t comment on speculation.”
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Fans have been pointing to reshoots that reportedly took place this February. They speculate that a new version of the finale’s ending was filmed because of Gatwa’s exit. Notably, a preview photo of the finale that was posted 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.
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What are the Doctor(s) saying about all this?
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Gatwa has claimed that his departure was not a last-minute decision. “It was always the plan to do this amount of seasons, because it’s a role that demands a lot of you, physically and emotionally and mentally,” he said in a behind-the-scenes video. “The 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’s time.” In a BBC press release, he also thanked fans for “welcoming” him into the role, which he said he loved and will “truly” miss. “You 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,” he said. “This journey has been one that I will never forget, and a role that will be part of me forever.”
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Meanwhile, Piper has spoken about always being down to return to Cardiff: “It’s 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’t refuse, but who, how, why, and when, you’ll just have to wait and see.” Yeah, but how long will we have to wait?
