Ncuti Gatwa in Doctor Who (BBC/Disney+)
New details have been revealed about what the original ending for the latest season of Doctor Who would have looked like, had Ncuti Gatwa not decided to leave.
The star’s second outing as the Time Lord ended with the surprise return of Billie Piper, who originally played Rose Tyler, a fan-favourite companion to Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant’s versions of the Doctor.
Gatwa is believed to have been due to return for a third season of the BBC sci-fi, and his decision to leave required scenes in the final episode to be reshot.
Daniel Richtman, known as a leaker of film and TV news, wrote on X/Twitter: “The original ending of Dr Who (before the reshoots) was The Doctor, Ruby, Belinda etc are all having a big party (think Amy and Rory’s wedding), everyone’s dancing, The Vlinx is a DJ.
“Susan [the Doctor’s granddaughter during the classic era of the show in the 60s] is seen watching over them from afar, which would’ve been the cliffhanger leading into [the next season].”
According to IGN, his comments were reposted on the TikTok of child star Sienna-Robyn Mavanga-Phipps, who played Poppy during the most-recent season. The actor’s mother is said to run the account.
This has led fans to believe Richtman’s theory is correct.
“Makes sense, that finale was [a] shambles,” one fan wrote, to which Mavanga-Phipps’ account replied with two crying emojis. In a response to another person asking for imagery cut from the finale, the account said: “I wish I could, hun… but due to NDA I can’t.”
The account also shared other details, include Poppy being Susan’s mother.
One fan said: “[I] still can’t believe we could have gotten the perfect ending with Poppy and Susan.” Mavanga-Phipps shared laughing emojis in response.
The future of Doctor Who remains unknown. Speaking to Radio Times in April, showrunner Russell T Davies said he hoped the show would return and that the creative team was “ready with different plans”. The BBC has denied reports that “abysmal ratings” and a poor response to “woke” plots meant the show had been axed.
