DOCTOR WHO Star Billie Piper Confirms Her Regeneration Return Was A "Last-Minute" Call From The BBC

DOCTOR WHO Star Billie Piper Confirms Her Regeneration Return Was A "Last-Minute" Call From The BBC

Wednesday star Billie Piper made her surprise return to Doctor Who when Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor regenerated, and the actor has now confirmed that it was a "last-minute" call on the BBC's part. Check it out...

By JoshWilding - Sep 08, 2025 10:09 AM EST
Filed Under: Doctor Who
Source: Screen Rant (via SFFGazette.com)

Russell T Davies's return to Doctor Who was not the rousing success most fans anticipated. Ratings steadily declined across both seasons, and although the BBC's partnership with Disney+ gave the series a big-budget feel, the show struggled to attract a global audience. 

The Doctor Who franchise has often been praised for its diversity. However, many felt that the showrunner was being too heavy-handed with storylines about incels, same-sex relationships, and non-binary aliens. 

We still don't know whether Disney+ will continue to invest in the series, though it's doubtful. Rumours continue to swirl about the British broadcaster seeking a new streaming partner and a fresh start without Davies at the helm.

Ncuti Gatwa bid farewell to Doctor Who after just two seasons and a handful of specials, passing the baton to Billie Piper. She played companion Rose Tyler when the series returned to our screens in 2005, and there are plenty of theories about why the Doctor now wears Rose's face.

Appearing alongside Christopher Eccleston at this weekend's Rose City Comic Con (via SFFGazette.com), Piper talked more about how she was cast as the next Doctor.

"I got the call last-minute, it was to shoot in a hidden location, and there were only a few people who knew about it," the Wednesday star explained. "And I wasn't able to say anything to anyone, including the people I loved the most in my life."

"And I actually really like having a secret," Piper continued. "I'm so available to my family all the time. I actually like having something for myself. So I really relished that secret."

Whether Davies returns or not, it seems we can expect Piper to pass the baton to the next Time Lord very quickly, especially as she's never been officially announced as the Doctor. The prevailing theory is that the Doctor's exposure to the heart of the TARDIS has led to the return of "Bad Wolf."

Doctor Who is an institution, but placing the show back on the shelf for a while might be hugely beneficial to the beloved sci-fi property. What that means for Piper remains to be seen, but it's previously been reported that her return was a last-minute decision. 

Recently, Kate Phillips, the BBC's new Chief Content Officer, reaffirmed the British broadcaster's commitment to the long-running sci-fi franchise. 

"Rest assured, Doctor Who is going nowhere," she stated. "Disney has been a great partnership — and it continues with The War Between The Land And The Sea next year — but going forward, with or without Disney, Doctor Who will still be on the BBC. The Tardis is going nowhere."

As always, keep checking back here for updates on Doctor Who as we have them. 

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SteviesRightFoo
SteviesRightFoo - 9/8/2025, 10:10 AM
What a horrifying banner image
Ikusa
Ikusa - 9/8/2025, 10:42 AM
@SteviesRightFoo - It gets even more horrifying.

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SteviesRightFoo
SteviesRightFoo - 9/8/2025, 10:58 AM
@Ikusa - 🤣good god, man
Deklipz
Deklipz - 9/8/2025, 10:25 AM
This was posted months ago with the exact same quote. Not new, not news.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 9/8/2025, 10:45 AM
I’m pretty sure she had already confirmed that her inclusion was last minute and we had an article about that on this site already but could be wrong…

Anyway it seemed evident that they had shot the original Series 2/S15 finale with the intention of having Ncuti & Varada continue on for S3/16 since we have information and even an image of them having shot a party sequence after the Rani & Omega were dealt with that would have also included Susan & Poppy with the insinuation that The latter was the formers mother thus setting up the future.

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However they decided to do reshoots in February to tie up Ncuti’s Doctor and the Poppy stuff once apparently Gatwa decided to leave the role after 2 seasons for unknown reasons (speculation is that he didn’t want to wait long for a possible renewal that may or may not even happen after the spin-off “The War Between The Land & The Sea” comes out later this year or next given he’s a rising star right now and fielding various offers which is understandable).

Having had that , Davies decided to bring in Billie Piper akin to Tennant recently in order to apparently drum up buzz and interest to convince the highers up to renew the show.

Anyway , still very bummed about Ncuti leaving prematurely but I still liked his era overall (even if there were still some issues) so I do hope the show continues sooner then later…

Whether Piper is the next Doctor or a temporary one (I’m going with the latter) , I do think she would do well in the role given some of her post-Rose characters that tend to have a quirkiness to them which certainly works for our favorite two-hearted alien!!.
theFUZZ008
theFUZZ008 - 9/8/2025, 11:20 AM
Woke or not, it just hasn't been very good.
dracula
dracula - 9/8/2025, 11:28 AM
Am currently watching classic Doctor who

This does not get me interested in new episodes

Might eventually finally finish Capaldi’s run and maybe even Whitiker

But nothing about the disney plus era and Tennant2 excites me

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