Reacting to the cliffhanger of The Reality War, Peter Davison, who played the Fifth Doctor, has suggested that Billie Piper isn’t really the Sixteenth Doctor.
He explained to Starburst:
“It’s a completely mad idea. I don’t think she is the Doctor. I think it’s kind of just a hand grenade thrown into the final episode to try and go ‘whoa, what’s this?’ And then it’s almost like ‘get out of that’.”
He has a good point, and one I think most fans have picked up on: that bringing Billie back is just to make headlines and cause intrigue but that there’s no solid plan.
Davison further suggests Piper’s busy schedule means it’s unlikely she’d want to stay in Cardiff for 12 months to actually film a full series of Doctor Who:
“She’s got a great career, and she’s got options galore. I don’t know why she would voluntarily choose to go back to Cardiff for a year.”
Again, a good point. And likely something that meant Ncuti Gatwa, the Fifteenth Doctor, left the series.
If speculation is to be believed, Piper doesn’t intend to stay with Doctor Who for all too long — that is, if another season is commissioned. The future is still very much up in the air. Heck, even Doctor Who Magazine isn’t sure Billie is the next Doctor, hence the question mark at the end of the cover headline, asking whether she really is the Doctor.
We shall see, but we might have a long wait ahead.
