Introducing Billie Piper as the Bloody Doctor! Or Not as the Case May Be. What Does This Mean?

Introducing Billie Piper - But Not as the Doctor? What Does It Mean?

I'll start by answering this - I have no bloody idea! Billie Piper would actually be an amazing Doctor, but she was just introduced as Billie, nothing more, nothing less. But I can tell you what I would like to happen.

@BBC

Doctor Who Must Continue

This is the most important thing for me - I want Doctor Who to continue.

At the time of writing, I have no idea where the show is heading. Was the Doctor regenerating into Billie Piper just a cheeky, satisfying bookend - the first and last face we saw - or is this actually going somewhere?

If it is going somewhere… When is it going somewhere? How is it going somewhere? Has the place it’s going been filmed? Will they go somewhere at Christmas?

So many questions, and so few answers.

What Billie Piper Said:

"It's no secret how much I love this show, and I have always said I would love to return to the Whoniverse as I have some of my best memories there. So to be given the opportunity to step back on that TARDIS one more time was just something I couldn't refuse. But who, how, why and when - you'll just have to wait and see."

As clear as mud.

What RTD Said:

"Billie once changed the whole of television, back in 2005, and now she’s done it again. It’s an honour and a hoot to welcome her back to the TARDIS - but quite how and why and who is a story yet to be told. After 62 years, the Doctor’s adventures are only just beginning."

So Russell’s comments sound more like vague hype than anything concrete. Yes, he’s mentioned having Series 3, 4 and beyond mapped out, but let’s be honest: RTD can hype. And he can lie!

The Problem with Looking Backwards

This all seems to point towards something I don’t want to happen - more backward-looking storytelling. And naturally, you’d lean that way with someone as important and iconic to the Whoniverse as Billie Piper knocking about.

But I don’t want some convoluted, ultimately crap reason as to why Billie is back. I already got all that with David. That’s my main concern.

The 60th Anniversary? It was alright. But I think it did more harm than good.

@BBC

The 60th Should Have Been Ncuti’s Moment

In my opinion, the 60th specials should have belonged to Ncuti. If you wanted to bring in some bigeneration shenanigans, that could’ve happened in The Power of the Doctor - Jodie and Ncuti running through time and space together for a bit, before Thirteen meets her end in a return showdown with an iconic villain, leading into The Church on Ruby Road.

Instead, we were promised a fresh starting point - but got loaded down with callbacks that led nowhere.

Fuck that. Let’s have some fun!

Sutekh was a massive disappointment. Susan? Gone absolutely nowhere. Omega? Lasted about three minutes.The Rani? Eaten halfway through the finale.

It’s been… odd.

New Is Better - When It’s Done Right

What’s frustrating is that, when we have had new and fresh stories, this era has been bold, brilliant, joyful, and fun. It’s felt different, but still Doctor Who. And yet, we’re missing one of the show’s major ingredients: proper villains.

Maestro was fantastic, but a one-off. Most of the other villains? Just humans:

• Lindy and her racist pals

• That PM who wanted nuclear war

• Villengard (twice!)

• Al, Conrad, the Barber, Kid...

Then there’s the finales and their callbacks, the Bogeyman, Lux, some cosplaying birds, and the Midnight entity.

Doctor Who is just as much about the villains as it is about the Doctor and their companions. The Daleks aren’t iconic for no reason.

I love Dexter, but which series do people remember? The ones with iconic villains - the Ice Truck Killer, the Trinity Killer.

Name a good Disney film. I bet 9 times out of 10 it has a banger villain. The Lion King without Scar? No thanks! The Little Mermaid without Ursula? Well that would just be shit.

@Disney

Are RTD & Co. Focusing on the Wrong Thing?

Here’s what I’m getting at: are RTD and the powers-that-be concentrating on the wrong thing?

Billie Piper as the Doctor? That’s complicated.

Bringing back Michelle Gomez to be Missy again? That’s easy. A single line does the job. Missy (or the Master) always survive. Same for the Daleks. Same for the Cybermen.

I don’t want some convoluted Series 1 explanation about Rose Tyler. She’s had her ending, and she has had it twice.

But What If She Is the Doctor?

So here’s the twist: if Billie is actually just the Doctor… I’m in. She’s a wonderful actor. She’s got everything it takes to be a brilliant Doctor. We saw that in just a few seconds, the eyes, the look, the smile. Perfect. She is a completely different actor and person to the one who groggily woke up on the Powell Estate to go to work way back in 2005.

But she’ll only work as the Doctor if she sticks around.

@BBC

I’m not buying the Fugitive Doctor as some legendary game-changer who trumps Thirteen. I’m also not especially fussed about the War Doctor - despite how fab John Hurt was. They never had the time to be the Doctor. That’s why they don’t get numbers.

I want to get to know the Doctor again.

I don’t think we’ve had enough time with Ncuti. I want to want to be friends with the TARDIS team again. Same goes for Millie and Varada - we didn’t get enough of them.

I want the Doctor to love, to lose, to be brilliant and amazing.

Poppy: The Example of What Not to Do

Poppy’s a good example of this. Did anyone really give a toss about her?

She was just chucked into a couple of episodes. No time to see a bond form between her and Belinda. I was completely and totally uninvested. If Poppy had vanished, I would’ve shrugged.

That’s the risk if this whole Billie thing is just a gimmick, and let’s be honest, it is. A desperate move to win back fans and gain some relevance. It might work… but it’ll backfire badly if it’s handled poorly.

Remember The Star Beast?

That was handled badly.

• The minute the Doctor got scolded for using the wrong pronouns.

• The minute he was told he missed the point because he was a man.

• The minute Donna said she understood because she was a woman.

Those were the points where a lot of people tuned out - and they made it so much harder for Ncuti.

@BBC

Maybe these are good topics, but RTD used a sledgehammer when a scalpel would’ve sufficed. It was all very cringe, and I just don’t think it set up Ncuti’s era well.

We were handed David Tennant again, and we got too much politics chucked at us in his first episode. We also got a ropey as fuck explanation as to how Donna survived the metacrisis and why Ten’s face came back.

Have the Ideas Run Out?

We’ve had two returning faces sandwiching two series - and a woman popping up in every episode of those two series.

Are the ideas running out?

Honestly, I don’t think they are.

Because despite Empire of Death, The Star Beast, and Space Babies, the show has been wonderful.

It’s colourful, it’s different, it’s new, and importantly it still feels like Doctor Who.

• The Devil’s Chord was like nothing I’ve seen before.

• 73 Yards was stunning TV.

• Dot and Bubble told a quieter story - and was all the better for it.

• Boom showcased Ncuti’s brilliance.

• Lux, Lucky Day, The Well, it goes on.

What I Hope Happens

• Billie is the Doctor - that’s it. No convoluted nonsense.

• She gets at least two series.

• She never meets David Tennant.

• The Daleks return.

• Missy returns.

• A strong story with the Silence and/or Weeping Angels.

• If the series are eight episodes long, make them an hour each.

• More serialised storytelling.

• New monsters - simple, everyday life inspired monsters (ask Moffat!).

• No “Last of the Time Lords” rubbish - the Rani literally ran away in front of us.

• No looking back (beyond the occasional Easter egg).

• And above all, keep the camp joy alive!

Simple. Easy game.

What I Think Will Actually Happen…

Some mysterious connection to Bad Wolf will appear. Billie will vanish after one episode. Some poor sod will be left to clean up the mess.

But maybe this is it now…

Billie Piper or bust.

The Reality War Review

Thank You Ncuti Gatwa

How do you think this will all play out? Was this a wise decision? Do you think it will be the best or worst thing ever? Let me know in the comments below.

#DoctorWho #BilliePiper #NcutiGatwa #SixteenthDoctor #FifteenthDoctor #Regeneration #TheRealityWar #BadWolf #RoseTyler #DavidTennant #TenthDoctor #FourteenthDoctor #JodieWhittaker #ThirteenthDoctor #FugitiveDoctor #WarDoctor #RTD #Disney #BBC #TimeLord #TheDoctor #OhHello #Bigeneration #SimplyWho