Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies gives fans an unexpectedly ambiguous answer to the series’ most biting question yet.
During a recent interview with Your Manchester, Davies was asked about whether the recent return of Billie Piper as the latest version of the Doctor meant that Rose Tyler, Piper’s character from the Christopher Eccelston era of the series, was in fact the latest iteration of the iconic character. In response, Davies simply shrugged and replied with «I have no idea.»
Davies is well-known by fans as the man who brought Doctor Who back from the series’ nearly decade-long television hiatus. After years of bringing his ideas before the BBC, Davies’ revival of Doctor Who arrived on the airwaves in 2005. Davies led the trajectory of the series for several years after its return, only stepping down in 2009 to make way for Steven Moffat to take over as showrunner and architect. In 2021, it was announced that Davies would be returning to the series and taking over once again.
Rose Tyler made her debut in 2005 in the Doctor Who episode «Rose,» during which she quickly became a fan-favorite companion for the Doctor. Over the course of her time as the Doctor’s companion, Rose played a key role in numerous episodes, not to mention one of the most memorable overarching stories that the series has ever seen. During the episode «Bad Wolf,» Rose uncovered her true purpose as the embodiment of the eponymous cosmic entity, ultimately absorbing the power of the time vortex within the T.A.R.D.I.S before using it to rewrite reality as a whole for the better.
When Did Billie Piper Return to Doctor Who?
Piper returned to Doctor Who in the recently released episode «The Reality War.» The harrowing episode saw Gatwa’s Doctor sacrifice himself to save the day, only to be regenerated into the form of Billie Piper rather than an entirely new or returning Doctor. Shortly after her return to the series, Piper herself stated, «What’s funny is that I never feel like I’ve left Doctor Who because there is this huge Doctor Who afterlife, which is, obviously people still really want to talk about it, it’s a massive fandom so we do conventions and we meet lots of the fans, and there’s always features and it’s always on the TV on some channel and a new generation pick it up.» Piper added, «So it never feels like it’s over like it does with all the other jobs I’ve done. So coming back is really good fun, but I also — so I would do it, but I still feel like I’m in it, just a lot older.”
Doctor Who is currently available for streaming on Disney+.
