Warning: This article contains spoilers for Doctor Who‘s season 2 finale, “The Reality War.”
Ncuti Gatwa is leaving the TARDIS.
The Sex Education alum departed Doctor Who in Saturday’s season finale, capping his tenure of two eight-episode seasons and appearances in two additional specials.
Even more shocking than Gatwa’s surprise exit from the series is the identity of the star who seems to be his replacement: Billie Piper, who previously played Rose Tyler, the companion to both Christopher Eccleston‘s Tenth Doctor and David Tennant‘s Eleventh Doctor, on the show from 2005 to 2006.
Piper will presumably play the Sixteenth Doctor, as Gatwa played the Fifteenth, though timey-wimey shenanigans often complicate matters, making it difficult to correctly count the character’s iterations (see: John Hurt‘s one-off turn as the unnumbered War Doctor from the 50th-anniversary special, which threw off the numbering system).
Ncuti Gatwa on ‘Doctor Who’. James Pardon/BBC Studios/Disney/Bad Wolf
Piper expressed excitement to return to the series, though she played coy about the exact nature of her return.
“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,” Piper said in a press release from the BBC. “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.”
Showrunner Russell T. Davies, who worked with Piper during her first two seasons on the show, was similarly cagey about disclosing any details about the actress’ return. “Billie once changed the whole of television, back in 2005, and now she’s done it again!” he said in the press release. “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!”
If the actress has been cast as the titular character, it would be unprecedented in the Whoniverse, with Piper becoming the first actor to play a companion and later portray the Doctor on the show.
There is some precedent for Doctor Who actors playing more than one character. Peter Capaldi was cast as the Twelfth Doctor after a one-off appearance as a Pompeii resident during Tennant’s run, and Varada Sethu became Gatwa’s second companion, Belinda Chandra, after playing a futuristic soldier in his first season. But no actor playing a character as significant as Rose has taken over the central role.
Piper previously returned to the series for its 50th-anniversary special, and has reprised the role of Rose in multiple audio series.
Gatwa reflected on his departure in a commemorative video on the Doctor Who YouTube channel — which, from the looks of his costume, was probably shot on the same day as his regeneration scene.
“It was always the plan,” he began. “You know it’s going to happen when you get cast. You’re like, ‘I’m gonna have to hand this baton over. One day, it’s all going to come to an end.’ It’s been bittersweet, as I can imagine it’s been for all Doctors.”
Gatwa then explained the toll playing the character took on him. “It’s a role that demands a lot of you, physically and emotionally and mentally,” he said. “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.”
The actor, who is the first Black and openly queer star to play the character on the show, also expressed gratitude for helping the franchise make representational strides. “I’ll just always remember after I was cast and the first Notting Hill Carnival I went to, the amount of people at Carni that were coming up to me being like, ‘I’m a fan of Doctor Who. I can’t believe you’re Doctor Who,'” he recalled. “And I remember thinking, admittedly, ‘I didn’t know that this was a demographic that Doctor Who reached.’ I just didn’t know Black people watched Doctor Who like that.”
Gatwa continued, “This level of representation, it means a lot. And that’s beautiful to be able to be a part of that message that anyone can play the Doctor … And also, it’s just great to be able to play a part as rich as that. As an actor, all you want is, like, good writing and a good role, good cast. And that’s what this job provides. So it was beautiful to do.”
Millie Gibson, who played Gatwa’s main companion, Ruby Sunday, in his first season of the show (and returned for more episodes in season 2), paid tribute to the departing actor on Instagram.
“Nothing can put into words the experience we’ve shared,” Gibson wrote. “I am forever grateful to have been a part of it and watched you bloom into the fabulous Doctor the world has got to know and adore. You have made this incredible character even more special with who you are and how good you wear clothes. You’re my forever friend and doctor, and I’ll be here cheering you on, watching you on your further successes with every new companion you meet along the way.”
Billie Piper as Rose Tyler on ‘Doctor Who’ in 2005. Everett Collection
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The transition from Gatwa to Piper is the latest in a string of unusual regenerations on the show. Following Capaldi’s departure, Jodie Whittaker took over as the Doctor, marking the first time the character had regenerated into a woman. Whittaker then regenerated into Tennant for three specials, making him the first actor to play the Doctor in two separate iterations. Gatwa’s Doctor was the result of Tennant’s unusual bi-generation, with him essentially springing out of Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor and leaving his body unscathed instead of replacing him whole cloth.
That means that Tennant’s Doctor is still out there somewhere… and his complicated history with Rose would make him meeting Piper’s Doctor fascinating, to say the least.
