“Oh, hi there.” These two phrases, from the individual Ncuti Gatwa‘s Physician regenerated into within the Physician Who Season 2 finale, kick off a slew of questions we now have. As a result of that individual? Billie Piper, very recognizable to followers as Rose Tyler, the companion of the Ninth (Christopher Eccleston) and Tenth (David Tennant) Docs who additionally has a significant connection to the TARDIS itself.
Most notably, the tip credit, which normally learn, “Introducing [Actor] as The Physician,” had been completely different. It solely mentioned, “Introducing Billie Piper.” She has but to be credited as The Physician — and never simply there. The statements from Piper and showrunner Russell T Davies are fastidiously worded as effectively.
“Billie as soon as modified the entire of tv, again in 2005, and now she’s completed it once more! It’s an honour and a hoot to welcome her again to the TARDIS, however fairly how and why and who’s a narrative but to be informed,” teased Davies. “After 62 years, the Physician’s adventures are solely simply starting!”
Added Piper, “It’s no secret how a lot I like this present, and I’ve all the time mentioned I’d like to return to the Whoniverse as I’ve a few of my finest reminiscences there, so to be given the chance to step again on that TARDIS yet another time was simply one thing I couldn’t refuse, however who, how, why and when, you’ll simply have to attend and see.”
Moreover, Piper’s “to step again on that TARDIS yet another time” means that she might solely be again for a restricted time.
So what precisely is happening right here? Beneath, we check out some potential theories.
Billie Piper is the Sixteenth Physician
It might merely be as simple as every other regeneration, and Piper is the Sixteenth Physician however alongside comparable traces to David Tennant returning because the Fourteenth. She’ll be round briefly, for a number of specials, earlier than regenerating once more, and another person would be the Seventeenth Physician for Season 3. In spite of everything, she continues to be sporting the identical garments as Ncuti Gatwa was.
Billie Piper is a Physician
Piper could possibly be enjoying a Physician however not one which’s going to rely sequentially. Possibly we’ve a Conflict Physician (John Harm) or Fugitive Physician (Jo Martin) scenario happening. Possibly there’s somewhat Rose in her — in spite of everything, Rose as soon as seemed into the TARDIS and the TARDIS seemed again into her, when she grew to become Dangerous Wolf to avoid wasting the Ninth Physician within the 2005 Season 1 finale “The Parting of the Methods.” Possibly Gatwa’s Physician triggered one thing when he used his regeneration vitality to punch into the time vortex to deliver again Poppy. (Learn a recap right here.)
Lending credence to this (or what follows) is Piper’s publish on Instagram following the episode. “A rose is a rose is a rose!!!” she wrote within the caption, alongside tagging the handles for Physician Who and Davies and together with the emojis for a rose and a wolf! See it beneath.
Billie Piper is enjoying Rose once more
Once more, nobody has truly known as her the Physician simply but. Between that and Piper’s publish, plus some timey-wimey shenanigans — that description did come up once more on this episode, with each Ncuti Gatwa and Jodie Whittaker‘s Docs saying it — and a few similarities between “Actuality Conflict” and the two-parter wherein Rose was final seen, “The Stolen Earth” and “Journey’s Finish,” in 2008’s Season 4, perhaps someway Rose was introduced again from the parallel Earth on which she was trapped/lived.
In “The Stolen Earth,” Earth and different planets had been one second out of sync. In “Actuality Conflict,” time shifted by one diploma, and the Physician needed to change that (utilizing some regeneration vitality, in the end triggering the regeneration) to get Poppy again. In “Journey’s Finish,” Rose mentioned that she had constructed a dimension cannon to make her approach again from her parallel Earth to the Physician’s, solely the entire of actuality began to break down. In “Want World” and “Actuality Conflict,” the Rani’s (Archie Panjabi and Anita Dobson) aim was to break down actuality to deliver again Omega from the underverse. Is that this a little bit of a stretch? Possibly.
However what if the Want World was collapsing adopted by what the Physician did to deliver Poppy again had been simply sufficient to deliver down the partitions between the 2 Earths as effectively and someway that is now Rose standing within the TARDIS? As for the place the Sixteenth Physician could possibly be, it could possibly be on her Earth, it could possibly be one thing else timey-wimey. Regardless of the case, this could possibly be a short time of Rose being again earlier than she returns house and we get the following Physician.
Billie Piper is enjoying Rose once more — and can reunite with the Fourteenth Physician
The above might be true however there could possibly be one other twist coming, and sure, we all know that is in all probability the least more likely to truly occur. However what if that is Rose, and what if that is Physician Who‘s approach of pairing Billie Piper and David Tennant onscreen once more? (We’d like to see it.) In spite of everything, Tennant’s Fourteenth Physician — following the bigeneration that launched Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Physician — continues to be on the market.
What if Rose has come again and goes to reunite with the Physician and so they’ll lastly get their fortunately ever after? Sure, Rose ended up with a model of the Physician — the Metacrisis one, half human and half Time Lord, that grew out of the Tenth’s hand within the aforementioned Season 4 two-parter — however the Time Lord by no means obtained the possibility to inform her he loves her or to be along with her. And “Actuality Conflict” noticed Jodie Whittaker’s Physician questioning if she ought to inform Yaz she loves her just for Gatwa’s to disclose she doesn’t. Possibly that is going to be the way in which of fixing that for the Tenth Physician, who let his Metacrisis counterpart end what he hadn’t when he and Rose first mentioned goodbye to one another when she grew to become trapped on the parallel Earth within the 2006 Season 2 finale “Doomsday.”
BBC
Billie Piper is enjoying Dangerous Wolf
We are able to’t overlook Dangerous Wolf, particularly not with Piper’s use of a wolf emoji in her Instagram publish. Dangerous Wolf created herself in 2005’s Season 1, spreading the message throughout time and area to guide Rose again to Satellite tv for pc 5 within the yr 200,100, to avoid wasting the Ninth Physician and wipe out the Daleks. When the Physician despatched Rose away, the one approach for her to get the TARDIS to return to him was to look into the TARDIS and the Time Vortex. The Physician now, in “Actuality Conflict,” punched his regeneration vitality into the Time Vortex. Possibly he triggered one thing. Might that be why additionally in the course of the regeneration sequence, there’s a reduce away to the TARDIS console?
However who do you suppose Billie Piper is enjoying? Tell us your theories within the feedback part beneath.