Russell T Davies' latest Doctor Who revival has received mixed reviews. While some have been quick to hit the long-running sci-fi series with accusations of going "woke," the truth is that the last two seasons have been far from subtle with their attempts to tackle everything from incels to the Doctor's sexuality, and pronouns.
That aside, viewership is on the decline, and not even a cash injection from Disney+ to give Doctor Who a big budget feel has been enough to increase interest among lapsed and new viewers. Now, Ncuti Gatwa has departed the series after only a couple of Christmas specials and a total of 16 episodes.
In tonight's season 2 finale, the Fifteenth Doctor is once again faced with the prospect of sacrificing himself to save reality (and a young woman called Poppy, who is a part-human, part-Time Lord). A time paradox means he gets a helping hand from Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor, and the Doctor opens the heart of the TARDIS and blasts it with his regeneration energy to save the day.
After returning to Earth to say goodbye to Belinda and a restored Poppy, the Doctor realises he can hold off his regeneration no longer and returns to the TARDIS. There, he transforms into a woman, and her face is a familiar one: it's Billie Piper, the actor who played companion Rose Tyler when Davies first revived Doctor Who in 2005.
She simply says, "Oh, hello," as the episode ends. The credits don't introduce Piper as "The Doctor," something it did for both Whittaker and Gatwa. As a result, it feels like there's something more to this than meets the eye, especially as bigeneration has somewhat muddied the waters of what regeneration even means.
If Piper is the Doctor, though, it's an intriguing decision and one that's bound to at least get fans talking. Tonight's regeneration is the first time plans to recast the Doctor haven't been announced in advance.
One popular theory is that this has something to do with when Rose Tyler, as the "Bad Wolf," absorbed the Time Vortex energy from the Heart of the TARDIS. The Doctor absorbed the energy from Rose and released it back into the TARDIS, causing him to regenerate, and it stands to reason that whatever was left of his former companion is the reason this iteration wears Rose's face.
Davies clearly has ambitious plans for where things go next, but whether he'll get to continue this story remains to be seen. A Christmas special isn't in the works, and season 3 hasn't been announced by the BBC. That's likely due to the uncertainty surrounding the broadcast's ongoing deal with Disney+ (which is expected to end).
If and when Doctor Who returns, it may be with a much lower budget and perhaps even a new creative team. What that means for this cliffhanger remains to be seen, but we're not expecting answers in the upcoming spin-off, War Between Land and the Sea.
You can watch the Doctor's regeneration in the X post below (via SFFGazette.com).