It wasn’t that long ago that Doctor Who fans met Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor, with this iteration of the heroic Time Lord coming into existence when David Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor bi-generated in “The Giggle.” However, with his second season of the show coming to an end soon on the 2025 TV schedule, Gatwa’s Doctor Who future remains uncertain, despite the fact that the show is expected to continue for two more seasons. There’s now even a rumor claiming that a familiar Doctor Who actor has been cast as the Sixteenth Doctor, although I’m extremely skeptical this is actually happening.
Per information passed along by Sci-Fi & Fantasy Gazette, Billie Piper, who played companion Rose Tyler for the Ninth and Tenth Doctors, has allegedly been tapped as Ncuti Gatwa’s successor. There’s also an image supposedly making the rounds of Piper’s eyes glowing with regeneration energy. It allegedly came from an email sent to those in Spain who have a Disney+ subscription, but I’m just not buying this.
Here’s the thing: we’ve seen with the Twelfth Doctor how this character has the capability of regenerating into a face he’s seen before. But to have The Doctor start looking like one of his former companions would be an unusual creative move to make. It gets even weirder with Billie Piper thrown into the mix considering that Rose Tyler is one of the few companions with whom The Doctor has shared a romantic connection.
Billie Piper was the first companion of Doctor Who’s revival era, accompanying Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor for the entirety of his sole season. Then she stuck around for David Tennant’s first season as the Tenth Doctor, but was then left trapped in a parallel universe. Piper then reprised Rose for a supporting role in 2008’s Season 4, which ended with her returning to that other universe, but now getting to live her life with a human/Time Lord hybrid duplicate of 10. Piper made her final onscreen appearance as Rose towards the end of David Tennant’s final regular appearance as The Doctor, when he discreetly checked in on her in 2005, before she met 9.
Although Piper did also return for Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary special in 2013, but this was as the personification of The Moment who took on Rose’s appearance in her “Bad Wolf” form. The actress has also vocally reprised Rose for some Big Finish audio productions, but I find it hard to believe that she’s been selected to play the Sixteenth Doctor. Even by Doctor Who standards, this is bizarre territory to tread into. Just imagine if 16 crossed paths with David Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor, who’s existing simultaneously with 15. His brain might short circuit.
Also, if it hasn’t been officially figured out yet if Ncuti Gatwa is leaving Doctor Who after this season or not, then there’s no way an actor has already been cast as his replacement. So don’t, by any means, put money on this… although this now reignited my hope to see Rose Tyler return someday.
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