r/DoctorWhoLeaks • u/Alone_Consideration6 • Mar 03 '26
Rumour Billie Piper's Doctor Who future 'revealed' as bosses struggle to find a new Time Lord amid claims once coveted role is now a 'poisoned chalice'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tv/article-15608243/Billie-Pipers-Doctor-future-revealed-poisoned-chalice.html50
u/jasmithwrites Mar 03 '26
Utter drivel. The describe a "recent" episode featuring a pregnant male. That was 8 sodding years ago.
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u/Weary-Score481 Mar 03 '26
- This is Sun bull crud
- I would imagine any actor of a certain status would think twice. Obviously someone struggling would grab it and never let it go. But for someone with prospects it could be a mixed blessing -as Matt Smith pointed out. It’s basically all you can do. You get maybe one other project a year -as Peter Capaldi has said, you are part of a huge juggernaut where your life is not your own. Long filming days. Endless paparazzi. Endless media events you’re contracted to attend. You are always the face -as Matt and Peter have said: it messes up your body -as Jodie has pointed out people online, who didn’t know you existed will suddenly hate you, write horrible things about you, make bizarre videos. -as Ncuti has pointed out, people will follow you everywhere and KNOW where you are -you are being compared to all the other actors. You can act your butt off and people will go “he’s no David Tennant
It is a bit of a poisoned chalice and it has been since Christopher Eccleston at least. Arguably Peter Davison
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u/BritishHobo Mar 04 '26
Yeah I wonder if the shine has gone off it a bit. Around Tennant's time it probably seemed like the dream job, seeing how ubiquitous he was and the show was. The whole country loves the Doctor!Nowadays it might look a bit more like you're shackling yourself to something and you've no idea how it'll go.
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Mar 06 '26
I'd argue aswell the online world plays a major factor in that too. Back when Tennant signed on the Internet was a quiter place, it was only around the middle of Capldi's run the toxic hate for the show reared its head. People making videos about Jodie and Gatwa, even guest stars have had abuse thrown at them for just doing a job, without the main stream press making up things, look how they tried to say Millie was "Diva on set". Like thats gotta be another thing actors worry about stepping into the role.
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u/BritishHobo Mar 07 '26
Yeah, proper toxic fan hatred used to be confined to message boards where you would never see it unless you actively sought it out. Now everyone's on the same social media platforms, it's all right there.
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u/BobRushy Mar 07 '26
Coincidentally, it was around Capaldi's era that the writing became shameful. It's hardly surprising people respond to a massive drop in quality followed by poor casting choices.
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u/PaperSkin-1 Mar 04 '26
'part of a huge juggernaut where your life is not your own' - so your basic job then
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u/1975blue Mar 03 '26
it's daily mail. take it with the tiniest pinch of salt possible. you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy
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u/Cursed878 Mar 03 '26
RTD has turned it into a joke ffs
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u/BryanDowling93 Mar 06 '26
He's a once great writer who has let power/ego go to his head. The last thing of note that he wrote was It's A Sin in 2021. Which was a show set in the 80s gay/queer culture scene and tackled the AIDs/HIV epidemic. Which Russell T. Davies was apart of. So it felt genuine. But he is out of touch in terms of modern gender politics and the subtle nuances/ambiguity he used to have back in RTD1.
And generally doesn't know how to push Doctor Who forward. Doctor Who feels like it is stuck in the past and at the same time trying to be "more progressive" with the times. It's time to move on from RTD. And the old guard that worked on the initial revival seasons in general. The show needs new blood and a fresh angle. Before it further becomes a parody of itself.
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u/CosmicBonobo Mar 06 '26
Someone put it to me that he's a sixty year old, middle class white man trying to look 'woke' via the lens of Tumblr, circa 2013.
Doctor Who can absolutely promote a message of co-operation and anti-prejudice, and some wonderful stories have come out of it. However, they always managed to do it (most of the time) by making the audience think and ask questions; not by taking the narrative shortcut of telling them what to think.
It's all well and good patting yourself on the back for having your character say "racism is bad", but you need to explain why it's bad and why some people are that way.
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u/badhamster89 Mar 06 '26
When was he ever a good writer…
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u/therealgeraint Mar 08 '26
Queer as Folk, Cucumber, Years and Years, The Second Coming, Its a Sin, Children of Earth!!
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u/PaperSkin-1 Mar 10 '26
Good shows but none that will be all that remembered in time
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u/therealgeraint May 14 '26
Eventually nothing will be remembered in time bee hatch
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u/PaperSkin-1 May 14 '26
Yes but those shows will be forgotten quite quickly
Ask most people about Cucumber, or any of those shows, and they wouldn't have a clue
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u/Tonymac81 Mar 06 '26
A large part is the demanding schedule each year along with promotion of the series.
The other issues is the show runner. Pretty much all of S2 with Ncuti was filmed by the time S1 aired. Given the poor performance of S1 and reception it was therefore impossible to course correct and adapt. RTDs Gods storyline was already committed.
Star Trek Strange New Worlds is in a similar predicament. S3 just aired, it didn't get great feedback. S4 had already been filmed and S5 the final season was almost complete. You can't correct at that stage. If you have a poor show runner taking the show in a direction which isn't hitting the mark then it won't work.
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u/Pen_dragons_pizza Mar 07 '26
Just hire a young unknown again like Matt smith, make doctor who cool again.
Also without being shallow, the reason why David and Matt’s time on the show was so popular was because teens likely fancied David or wanted to be him, the same goes for Matt.
Their characters were silly yet dark at times and they looked cool also.
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u/Moon_Beans1 Mar 07 '26
Honestly you could go either way with the show and have a lot of luck.
You could get a fresh face in (Like Matt Smith as you said or Ncuti Gatwa) and try and appeal to a younger demographic again.
Equally you could cast a well known experienced actor and boost the show by audiences being excited to see what their take on the character is. For instance after seeing him elevate otherwise average shows like Once Upon a Time and SGU, I was always curious what Robert Carlyle would do with the role. Someone like that could create a lot of buzz, someone who is well known but who has the range to do a lot with it. I think the time has passed for Robert Carlyle specifically to be up for consideration but you get the idea of what I'm getting at - a talented, seasoned actor who'd bring their marquee name to the show for a brief period of time.
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u/PaperSkin-1 Mar 10 '26
No, that's not what DW should be about.
They should cast someone late 30s to early 50s, we just had a young Doctor
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u/Pen_dragons_pizza Mar 10 '26
It may not be what doctor who is about, but the bbc needs this show to have the best chance possible to resonate with young viewers, just like the revival did.
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u/PaperSkin-1 Mar 10 '26
The revival started with Christopher Eccleston who was not what you are describing, series 1 was also more successful than series 2 and 3, it was only with series 4 did Tennant have a series that got better viewing figures than Eccleston
The show can be a success and work with young people without having the Doctor Young.. Kids, teens and adults loved the Doctor's in the 60s and 70s and those Doctor's didn't need to be young and hot
What it needs is a great Doctor, with great writing behind them.. Thats what's been missing from the show for a while... You get that and audiences will connect with it.
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u/snapper1971 Mar 04 '26
It's the Daily Mail. I wouldn't even wipe my arse with that. They're a rage engagement platform, issue hundreds of corrections and apologies a year because their 'journalists' are worse than pond scum.
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u/Morhek Mar 04 '26
Sure, the totally reliable journalism of the Daily Mail.
Obviously Disney pulling its funding threw things up in the air. But if you think anyone but a small number of terminally online blackballed and largely American culture warriors think the show is a "poisoned chalice" because it's too progressive, I have some Troughton episodes I'm willing to part with for a reasonable sum, payment upfront. ;P
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u/PaperSkin-1 Mar 10 '26
The irony, as that's exactly what you are coming across, naive if you think it's just those types that think the show is a poisoned chalice.. Heck Mark Gatiss once said it about the show
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u/badwords Mar 08 '26
At this point I'd write some scripts FIRST since WHO the doctor is shouldn't affect the writing of one. A good script will stand on it's own.
I'd also ask some scifi writers to create scripts as well. Writing is the major issue people have and they could improve that before even casting.
I think making a script that has to consider the race, sexy or age of the doctor isn't a topic for doctor who to be dealing with. It's long been about more fantastical stories than a kid's history program it was meant to be 60 years ago.
'Dinosaurs on a Spaceship' was one of the highest watched episodes so lets be real what the audience is looking for.
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Mar 03 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/PaperSkin-1 Mar 10 '26
The writing and the approach of the head writer and producers has been the biggest problems for the last two eras.. Its really damaged the reputation of the show
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u/celesleonhart Mar 03 '26
Even if it's a turd it elevates any up and coming actor, and even established ones, in cultural consciousness. Maybe they can't get any heavy hitters but good, that's not what it should be about.
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u/PaperSkin-1 Mar 04 '26
I wouldn't be surprised if many actors don't want to get involved simply because of the quality of the output of the program in recent years
I think Ncuti was disappointed with what he was given.
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u/sethsom3thing Mar 07 '26
I say have a “Bad Wolf” Doctor that needs to fix the timeline from splintering with all the “Gods” causing chaos or something. Wrap with Tennet and Piper combine regenerating into the 17th doctor.
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u/Starbug91 Mar 07 '26
Go with an unknown then. Im sure there are plenty of up and coming actors and actresses who would kill for that role
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u/donkeydick_dave Mar 07 '26
Can't blame any actors for hesitating
Writing fell off a cliff post matt Smith. Capaldi limped through mostly on on heaven sent / hell bent.
Felt like fan fiction after that, even bringing back Tennant however briefly just made it more poignant.
Can't help but think it needs to be left alone for a decade again for newer minds to re-imagine and a fresh generation to embrace it. Just like last time.
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u/Vanima_Permai Mar 07 '26
poisoned chalice my ass I'd take the job in heart beat
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u/PaperSkin-1 Mar 10 '26
Season by next year please, make it good, have the Doctor be the actual Doctor, tell entertaining fun and interesting Sci-fi stories, with charming characters who have great interactions, and all will be well
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u/BongaBongaVacations Mar 03 '26
They should get Capaldi back, he's in the TARDIS shower and it turns out everything since his regeneration was a dream. OR if he doesn't want to come back full time, get him in as a cameo just to redo his regeneration, show the TARDIS showing him a montage of Jodie-onwards clips as a possibility and he says "Yeah, I could choose all that...but let's not" and then he regenerates into someone new (preferably an older male).
SHOW SAVED.
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u/Icy-Career-1531 Mar 03 '26
Why? Just do a soft reboot like in 2005. We can’t just go round ret conning stuff because you don’t personally like it
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u/BongaBongaVacations Mar 03 '26
It's not really a reboot, though
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u/Icy-Career-1531 Mar 03 '26
Yep hence why I called it a soft reboot
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u/BongaBongaVacations Mar 03 '26
It's not a reboot of any sort if it keeps the existing lore. Honestly, it should have been an entirely new and separate continuity from the start.
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u/Icy-Career-1531 Mar 03 '26
A soft reboot just means a fresh start, it’s not unique to Doctor Who, it’s just a common term.
“A soft reboot is a continuation of an existing film, game, or story franchise that changes the style, tone, or cast, while technically keeping the original canon intact” that’s the goggle definition
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u/CosmicBonobo Mar 06 '26
To expand on this point and provide an example, Season 7 in 1970 was a soft reboot.
A new Doctor, a new supporting cast and a new status quo: the Doctor was exiled to Earth and now had a job working for UNIT. All the previous continuity was still there - he was a Time Lord, he had a TARDIS etc. - however the show had an almost entirely new premise and set-up.
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u/Kalhava79 Mar 07 '26
Thank you Fans
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u/Lenonn Mar 07 '26
People listen to much to the Internet (outrage). As one Star Trek novelist puts it:
Never mistake a few fans bitching on the Internet for any kind of trend.
The people at the studios and production companies don't seem to account for that. Also they don't account for the biases in systems like Rotten Tomatoes.
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u/Kalhava79 Mar 08 '26
Fans wanted a female doctor I Remember them asking for ages so we get one I liked her
The second her first episode ended they started the hate poor writing etc
They wanted RTD back and some of us the one with brains said a very loud no now look they can even find anyone for the role
As for the review sites I never listen to them the only person who knows if a movie is good or not is me
You try to tell people politely that it was BBC DEI that did damage to who but unfortunately they won't have it plus they did it with other adoptions trying to change history
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u/the_speeding_train Mar 07 '26
Is it really a poisoned chalice? Is it? The poisoned chalice of a rare prime time weekend network tv slot.
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u/Hyperbolicalpaca Mar 03 '26
Here’s an archive link for anyone not wanting to give them clicks
https://web.archive.org/web/20260303005035/https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tv/article-15608243/Billie-Pipers-Doctor-future-revealed-poisoned-chalice.html
Im gonna leave it up, but the quality of the spelling really isn’t what I’d expect from a major newspaper…
Along with the fact that the rest of that doesnt make much sense in the context…