It’s never a good idea to put too much trust in rumors. But considering there were rumors online that correctly predicted how Ncuti Gatwa’s run on Doctor Who would end—with the Fifteenth Doctor regenerating into someone who looked a lot like former companion Rose Tyler, played by Billie Piper—you can’t rule them out, either. The latest suggests that Piper’s return may be for a special purpose: a standalone special that would reunite her with former co-star David Tennant.
This speculation was reported by UK papers the Mirror and the Sun, the latter of which which cites an unnamed source teasing “talk about a possible one-off project to celebrate the 20th anniversary” of the BBC’s revival of Doctor Who in 2005.
This story couldn’t be more vague (the Sun piece goes on to note that “there have been some ideas floated about, with the thought of maybe bringing David and Billie back together for one last hurrah”) and obviously nothing official has been confirmed. The Sun’s unnamed source also suggests this potential special could reunite Piper (as Rose) and Tennant (as the version of the Doctor that bi-generated in the 60th anniversary special then settled in with Catherine Tate’s Donna Noble and her family).
The timing of this rumor comes as Doctor Who fans are wondering what lies ahead for the long-running sci-fi show, which has yet to announce any future plans following Gatwa’s final episode. That includes whether or not the BBC and Disney will continue to collaborate on its production; whether or not Russell T Davies would remain as showrunner; and just what Piper’s appearance at the end of “The Reality War” actually means—is she the Sixteenth Doctor? And if not, uh, what is she then?
The idea of a Piper-Tennant reunion special would make sense in some ways. Tennant is such a beloved Doctor that he’s played two different iterations of the character already, and even though the Fourteenth Doctor is still a very recent memory, most fans would still welcome him back a third time, especially if it means a re-team with Rose.
It could be the right move for a show that’s navigating some rocky territory at the moment. Or, it could just be a wild rumor that amounts to nothing. What do you think about a Tennant-Piper reunion as the next step for Doctor Who?
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