If I thought last week’s penultimate episode of Doctor Who was overstuffed, well, things certainly got even more packed full of plot in this week’s season (and potentially series) finale. From dispatching the Rani (one of whom made it out alive and is still gallivanting around the galaxy to trouble The Doctor at some future point), stopping Omega (who turned out to be less of a danger than anticipated), solving the Poppy conundrum, and, ultimately having the Fifteenth Doctor meet up with the Thirteenth Doctor* before becoming – at least appearing to become – the Sixteenth Doctor (with a familiar face), this was a very full, very fast-paced, but not all that coherent episode of Doctor Who. And, you know what? I’m happy to forgive a lot of the mess that happened throughout because of how interesting the end turned out to be.
*While Russell T. Davies return to Who has been up and down, I was happy to see that he not only brought back Jodie Whitaker – with a fun joke about how often David Tennant seems to pop back into the series – but he also took a moment to smooth over the entire Yaz-Doctor debacle that Chris Chibnall created. This new era of Who is very queer friendly in wonderful ways and having that moment where we got to see that yes, The Doctor really did love Yaz and wanted to tell her, well, that was really lovely. Especially since Chibnall’s pretty poor handling of that story beat was a bone of contention among a section of the fanbase.
But before I dive into the regeneration and speculate on what that might mean for the series as a whole (which, lest you forget, has yet to be renewed for another season – and no Christmas special was commissioned for 2025), I do want to touch a bit on the episode itself. One of the hallmarks of Russell’s first run in the showrunner role was his ability to juggle long, often complex season arcs. The final season-long run of Tennant’s Doctor is seen as a high watermark of the series as a whole because of how brilliantly the entire story played out, slowly doling out hints as to just what might be in store before culminating in an epic two-part finale that had one of the most tragic endings in Who history with the “death” of Donna (which has since been walked back, which I’m still on the fence about, despite being happy Donna is happy again). So, we know he can handle something like this. Unfortunately, this season ending felt like a rushed, slip-shod attempt to recreate something on that level.
One thing I had been commenting on throughout the season was how interesting it was to have a companion in Belinda who kept asserting that she had to get home – that she didn’t want to explore the stars with The Doctor like so many before her. So, the revelation that, once The Doctor sacrificed himself to return her to creation, Belinda had needed to return home to Poppy – a retcon of the story that worked within the threads Davies had strung throughout the season – was one piece of the arc that paid off (even though it essentially relegated Belinda’s character to mother and nurse and nothing else). But all of the fuss with the Rani, Omega, the wish, Conrad? Yeah, that was mindless window-dressing that ended up being a nothing burger. And that element of the story was rushed through at such speed it was clear that it was a means to an end. From all the commentary on how important it would be to have Poppy truly be The Doctor’s daughter, to the flash of his granddaughter, Susan, a few episodes back (that amounted to nothing but a cameo), the entire arc felt flat in ways that were pretty disappointing.
Perhaps, once Davies was aware that Ncuti Gatwa was ready to move on and that The Doctor would be regenerating, he opted to push aside the arc he was building in favor of setting the story up to end with the regeneration – knowing that that would be all folks would be talking about in the end, anyway. Or maybe the overall story just got too unwieldy and it was hand waved away to get us to that regeneration. Because, you know what? In Doctor Who lore, I doubt many people will be carrying on about Conrad and the wish or the Rani attempting to bring back Omega. People will be talking about how the Fifteenth Doctor regenerated into the Sixteenth, portrayed by Billie Piper. Who, you might recall, isn’t exactly a stranger to Doctor Who, having played both companion Rose Tyler and Bad Wolf at various times in the series. Which is a massive revelation.
Gatwa, who was the first Black actor to take on the role of The Doctor in a full-time capacity (now that Jo Martin’s Fugitive Doctor has been cemented into cannon), exits the series after a short, but impressive run in the role. Under his custody, The Doctor became a more well-rounded character in that he was able to shed his painful, emotionally stunted past and accept emotional maturity in ways that would have broken his past selves (another reason that brief scene with Whitaker’s Thirteenth Doctor was so lovely – it gave her the chance to see that her future self would be able to heal and become someone who could say “I love you” and mean it). And Gatwa was just so full of life in the role. He was fun, he was funny, he was emotionally resonate. He was a wonderful Doctor on every single level.
And having The Doctor regenerate into Billie Piper? Well, that’s certainly an interesting choice. Assuming the series is able to continue in some form, this will be the second full-time female Doctor (again, Jo Martin’s was a one-off version and isn’t considered one of the official Doctors in terms of the official regeneration count). And getting Piper to sign on for a longer stint in the role would be quite the coup for Davies – a man who has shown he loves re-hiring familiar faces in this universe – as Piper has had some success in very different roles since she left Who. Plus, imagine the fun that could be had if Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor and Catherine Tate’s Donna encountered this version of The Doctor, with Rose’s face. Knowing Davies, there’s a reason The Doctor has taken on a familiar face – the face of the first person in years that The Doctor felt true romantic love for – but I wouldn’t assume Piper would be in the role for the long-haul. After all, this new version of The Doctor needs to continue growing and this version of them would be there to teach them something new about themselves in the process.
But still, a regeneration into Billie Piper is a hell of a carrot to dangle in front of the BBC and Disney in terms of trying to get a new contract hammered out. This decision should entice old fans who haven’t returned to the series in years (case in point, I immediately texted my sister – a Who fan from Davies’ initial run who hasn’t watched in years – and she was intrigued to see what this meant and wanted to see Piper in the role) to dip their toe back into the story while keeping new fans who want to see what this new Doctor means for the show. It’s a win-win. Hell, I loved Gatwa’s take on The Doctor and I’m very intrigued at the possibilities of Piper in the role. Unfortunately, as of this writing, it could be years – if ever – before we get the chance to see what Davies and Piper could pull off with her as The Doctor. And until then, we’ll be left to wonder what could come of that combination while remembering how fun Gatwa was during his time in the Tardis – even if the storytelling wasn’t always up to his incredible strength in the role.
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