Handing the TARDIS keys to a new face. Wait, or is it old face?
The season two finale for the new Disney+ run of Doctor Who has concluded and the finale came with a few shock conclusions. One of which, and the most important, was the surprise departure of the current Doctor Ncuti Gatwa. The episode concluded with the Doctor giving their own life in the hope it would save the life of his daughter Poppy, and whilst he did succeed in saving her life it was sadly made clear that Poppy was brought back but not as his daughter, nor as a timelord. You can watch Gatwa’s final scene here:
This marks the third shortest on-screen tenure for a mainline Doctor, just ahead of Paul McGann (8th Doctor) and Christopher Eccelston (9th Doctor) as we only saw Ncuti Gatwa grace our screens initially in December of 2023 in the Christmas special The Giggle. Although, as you may have seen, Gatwa’s departure has brought in a new face as Billie Piper is the one who appeared in his place upon regenerating on screen.
Billie Piper, as whovians are familiar with, was the original companion when the show returned in 2005 and travelled in the TARDIS alongside Christopher Eccelstons Ninth Doctor, and David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor. But is this Billie Piper returning to take on the TARDIS key’s herself full-time?
Whilst Piper did indeed appear in place of Gatwa after regenerating there are a few key indicators things aren’t as they seem. For starters when a new actor/actress has been announced in the show previously the end credits have consistently displayed “And Introducing Ncuti Gatwa as The Doctor” where this time it simply said “And Introducing Billie Piper”. But also, in every single post from the BBC, Disney, and Doctor Who’s official pages they’ve not used the phrase 16th Doctor anywhere, nor have they referred to Billie Piper as the Doctor themselves. It would seem there is a fair chance that the Doctor Who team might be playing with our emotions and doing a little bait and switch whilst they look for a new 16th Doctor, much like they did with David Tennant previously as the fourteenth Doctor.
All that aside though, Billie Piper as the 16th Doctor would be a warm welcome for me, as I do firmly believe that after Gatwa going forward with another female Doctor is the right move after Chibnall’s run. Giving a female Doctor a chance with better writing is really needed to break away from the stigma the fan base had around the Doctor being a woman. Plus I love Billie Piper, she’s a passionate fan of the show and she has a strong history with the franchise, I’m sure she would have a blast stepping into the boots of the timelady and not the companion. However, I must be honest that the idea of the show consistently relying on returning cast members to bring audiences in with nostalgia worries me as it may keep the show reliant on its past to survive. The show has survived for 60+ years due to its ability to adapt and always look forward and move forward. Actor for the 12th Doctor Peter Capaldi has stated that as a fan why he loved the show so intensely was that it was one of the few shows where the main character died, and it tells the tale that times always moves on and nothing is ever permanent. A move like this would open the show to harsher criticism if Billie’s stories aren’t up to scratch, plus the show has always been amazing at finding new and relatively unknown talents and launching their careers.
Hopefully my worries are wrong and Billie Piper comes in as a strong and incredible 16th Doctor if that’s how the cards are being dealt. But, I expect that trickery is afoot and we may only be seeing Piper for a brief time. But who is to know, we can only wait until the Doctor Who team actually confirms the news.
