During a chat on the Radio show, Five Live, Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies dodged a question about whether Billie Piper really is playing the Sixteenth Doctor, as seems to be the case at the end of The Reality War.

Presenter, Rachel Burden told Davies that her nine-year-old son was enjoying The War Between the Land and the Sea, and asked Russell to confirm whether Piper would be the next Doctor. Davies replied by asking what her son thinks, and Burden said:

“He’s confused, like most Doctor Who fans are, I think. He would like to see Billie Piper back but he absolutely loved [Fifteenth Doctor actor] Ncuti Gatwa.”

Russell replied:

“Ncuti was absolutely glorious. Thank you for saying that.”

And thus dodged the question of Piper’s casting!

Not exactly a surprise: he doesn’t want to give anything away. Nonetheless, something kooky is obviously going on with the Doctor…

Davies lamented not having a Christmas special this year:

“There was funding for Doctor Who before Disney and there will be funding for it after Disney.

“I’m sure there are people at the BBC running around with big clipboards and spreadsheets trying to work something out – and they will.

“I do look at the Christmas schedule for 2025 and see a horrific gap and think ‘Where is Doctor Who?!’ but don’t worry, it will absolutely be coming back.”

Indeed, it’ll be back next year, for Christmas 2026.

12 months to wait for the Doctor to come back…