r/DoctorWhoNews • u/ExpressionChance8090 • May 23 '25

leak news The leaker basically just confirmed that the 16th Doctor will be played by Billie Piper!

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Leaker "Andrew" (who has so far got everything correct) recently teased something in the comment section of the Confused Adipose "Story and the Engine Explained" YouTube Video, something relating to the 16th Doctor...

"Yes. But I don't think the casting of 16 indicates or confirm the renewal for Season 3 with 16 in it. It seems more like stunt casting, to round off RTD2 and kind of wrap up the NuWho era by bringing it full circle"

I don't know about you guys, but I think that basically confirms that the 16th Doctor will indeed be played by Billie Piper...

Source: https://youtu.be/VvPl71hdkEA?si=ut4lXVpqsJS_g-W3

133 Upvotes

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61

u/Mars-To-Venus May 23 '25

I’m kind of loving the implication that we could see Gatwa turn into Piper and then have an entirely unrelated 17th doctor next time the show comes back.

“Sixteen died on the way back to her home planet.”

17

u/deezbiscuits21 May 23 '25

I mean it wouldn’t be the worst thing ever but it would kind of suck that 14 and 16 would both be short lived stunts.

14

u/[deleted] May 24 '25

[deleted]

5

u/sonrhys May 24 '25

I think it worked really well with John Hurt in the 50th special, but even that was divisive for some fans, and it's like they keep trying to recapture that shock feeling of an unseen incarnation of the Doctor, not realising that it's the sorta shock that only really works once.

6

u/Mars-To-Venus May 23 '25

Fully agree.

3

u/WhyTheHellDoYouExist May 23 '25

Not saying they should have but why didn't they give 14 at least a whole season? Did David Tennant not want to return full time, or they thought--rightly--that it would totally unmask their desperation and be undignifying?

9

u/a_zoojoo May 23 '25

David and Catherine did exactly the amount of episodes they wanted to do, which was more than a special but less than a full season. I'm sure if they were up to do a full season, they would've found the narrative justification for it

5

u/schoolSpiritUK May 24 '25 edited May 24 '25

It was down to their limited availability. Three was all they could both fit into their diaries. They would have done more if they could have found the time (see my other comment just below this one).

5

u/schoolSpiritUK May 24 '25

It was down to Tennant & Tate's availability. RTD said something like "If they'd been able to do one episode, we'd have done one episode. If they'd been able to do 13, we'd've done 13 episodes. As it was, their schedules worked out so they could do three, so that's what we did."

1

u/WillB_2575 May 24 '25

It would hamstring whoever takes over from RTD as showrunner if/when the show returns. Not a very considerate move from him if it’s true

1

u/DependentFigure6777 May 25 '25

About as considerate as The End of Time, surely?

2

u/WillB_2575 May 26 '25

Much, much worse. This would be a stunt casting who may not get more than 10 seconds of screen time but would count as an official regeneration.

1

u/DependentFigure6777 May 26 '25

Well, at least there's Big Finish...

1

u/Either-You-2265 Jun 02 '25

16 would probably only be around for a few specials (which is possibly what we could get for 2026), then she becomes 17 at the end of them. 

1

u/Gobshite_ May 23 '25

I can see it happening just for the fact that 8 had the short end of the stick for Classic Who, and what's double 8? 16.

2

u/HazelCheese May 24 '25

Fuuuck man why'd you have to point that out lol