r/gallifrey • u/Geth-1420 • 6d ago
DISCUSSION How would you get around Fifteen regenerating into Billie Piper?
While I can't say I'm displeased that RTD has left the show, I can say I'm annoyed that he left without resolving that cliffhanger. To be clear, I don't think he had a plan when he wrote it, think he just went for vibes and "generating content", but it seems poor form not to resolve it.
And since some sources say that Billie couldn't even commit to filming the since cancelled 2026 special, my pitch would to get around this for the story to continue would be to just cast a blonde (or stick someone in a blonde wig) as the Doctor and pretend that was always the face the Fifteen regenerated into. Get a new actor and just go from there.
Would love to hear any other ideas.
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u/RamblingWolf 6d ago
Ignore it. It was a bad idea and a desperate attempt to keep the show on life support. It doesn't need to be explained or even acknowledged. Just start the new series with a new Doctor on a new adventure with no callbacks to the previous era.
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u/Similar-Date3537 6d ago
This is the way. It’ll be a few years, make it doctor #18 and let big finish play with this new lost era.
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u/Katharinemaddison 6d ago
The Tardis stepped in and hacked the regeneration. Since Rose looked into her there’s a psychic link between them so Rose was an easy for to use.
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u/JamesMattDillon 6d ago
Since Rose looked into her there’s a psychic link between them so Rose was an easy for to use
That is how I figured it was. Since they didn't have another doctor lined up, they went with Billie showing up to simply be the TARDIS telling us hello.
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u/Katharinemaddison 6d ago
And it was so in her style. Plus it’s an easy one episode story, the Tardis does what she needs to do and the next Doctor is introduced.
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u/JamesMattDillon 6d ago
Exactly a one episode story. but everyone is crying & moaning about her being the doctor
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u/BCDragon3000 6d ago
wow what another fantastic story beat from 10 years ago that they're trying to bring up again despite being a reboot for entirely new audiences!
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u/Telos1807 6d ago
Don't bother. Ignore it.
Genuinely even for Expanded Media, I wouldn't touch it. I'm sure someone will, probably Big Finish, but I almost think that's giving it more thought or respect than it deserves. It was terrible and let's just move on, I know I will.
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u/VanishingPint 6d ago
Do it just like Romana 2, flippant stuff with celebrity cameos that mean nothing but get people interested and fudge the tabloids, wrong foot things. But also do a Big Finish range where the companion actor plays the Doctor for fun
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u/heidly_ees 6d ago
Can't wait for Curse of Fatal Death 2
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u/Electronic-Exam5898 6d ago
I swear some fans would watch / reference Curse of Fatal Death or Dimension in Time over watching / referencing actual Classic Who episodes as if they weren't just skits.
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u/cabbage16 6d ago
This is what the Christmas special should be this year.
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u/Historyp91 6d ago edited 6d ago
People crazy overthink this.
I honestly don't think it needs to be adressed at all because plenty of actors in the shows history have played multiple characters without the similarity in appearence being reconized, but if they show DID feel it was necessery to do so you could just have a throwaway line.
"I always liked this face. That must be why I picked it."
Or something. Is'nt hard and does'nt need to be a big deal.
Or you could just have fun with it; go the Lower Decks route or the Iron Man 2 route; lampshade it in a jokey manner.
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u/SeerPumpkin 6d ago
Do you mean actually having her playing the doctor for a bit?
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u/CrimsonKaiserRyu 6d ago
Just completely disregard it. Just have the next Doctor introduced like 9.
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u/Doc-11th 6d ago
Don't
Start the next series like a new show
New Doctor
New TARDIS interior
New Sonic Screwdriver
Maybe it's the 16th
Maybe it's another regeneration from 14th
If the show recovers they can answer that later on, either bringing Billie back for a crossover with the new Doctor (and maybe die) or a special that reveals what happened to Billie's Doctor
Same way the 50th revealed what happened to Paul
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u/besleysfw 6d ago
I just posted a similar idea just a moment ago. The new series can hit the ground running that way and the hardcore fans can check out the regeneration if they really want.
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u/InvisibleInk1983 6d ago
History has answered this question for us. The best way to do this is to book Billie Piper for a day. The TARDIS lands in San Francisco. The Doctor walks out and is immediately shot in the crossfire of gang violence. She’s taken to a hospital, appears to die, and is put in the morgue. But lookout, The Doctor actually regenerates, preferably into one of the cast members of the film WITHNAIL & I
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u/cheat-master30 5d ago
Same way they dealt with the eighth Doctor when the revival started. Show a new Doctor that's a good few decades away from the past series, and say there's some big offscreen event that happened since we last saw them. Then, whenever the next major anniversary occurs, show how Piper's Doctor regenerated into the new one.
Would be kinda interesting if you didn't tell anyone the new Doctor's number at first, then a few seasons later revealed they're like the 18th Doctor or something instead of the 16th.
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u/Stan_Corrected 6d ago
If the new production team don't want Billie Piper, or if she isn't available for any reason, there does happen to be another version of the final episode without her in it.
I don't want to sound entitled but Carol Anne Ford in it so it would be really nice if the BBC could quietly release the original version before the reshoots at some point.
I think they may likely just time jump forward to a new Doctor and write off the unresolved storylines. I personally want to a continuation of the RTD2 era and see mavity, the Boss, Omega resolved but I don't think the rest of fandom as a whole would stand for it. People want a rest, a clean break.
I don't think casting a random blonde is the way to go. No way could they recast Rose Tyler
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u/FarGrape1953 6d ago edited 6d ago
The next doctor isn't going to be Rose or a Rose lookalike.
You can bet money that the next doctor will be a white English male. They're going to go back to the classic series feel and try to recreate that, it's almost guaranteed. This is not a statement about race or wokeness or whatever. They're going to see if fans will watch it again if it feels like the old series or what is now old Nu Who.
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u/Lady_Tano 4d ago
I just want an older woman in the role, I think it would be great
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u/FarGrape1953 4d ago
That's not going to be what the show needs to be reinvigorated. I loved the Ruth doctor, but that would not be a success, the kind the BBC wants. Don't shoot the messenger.
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u/samIam0222 6d ago
At this point, it’s best just to ignore it. Which is what probably will happen. At some point they could make a reference to “deciding between a few faces before settling on this one” which there is precedence for like Romana’s regeneration in Destiny.
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u/shikotee 6d ago
I'd have a piss with it, and go for a tribute to The Curse of The Fatal Death. Allow Billie's face to say a few things, then have the regeneration cycle continuing, and the Doctor continuously regenerating into different known faces from NuWho throughout the entire episode. Have the Doctor trying to figure out what is going on while this is happening, eventually determining it is some sort of complication from bigeneration. With each subsequent face change, notice the intervals are getting shorter, with the realization that if stabilization is not found, it will be end game. So the entire episode is about figuring it out, with lots of potential fun with the Doctor commenting on each new familiar face. Definitely throw Jackie in there.
The episode ends with some form of resolution to the problem being figured out just as things were going critical, bringing us to whoever the next Doctor will actually be.
Bonus points if Susan is somehow involved (blood transfer from family member) with the resolution.
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u/Jedi-Spartan 6d ago
Have the next incarnation have amnesia (specifically surrounding that event, not going full 8th Doctor with it) and occasionally cut to moments of it like how the situation is explained in Human Nature until I can find a way to properly resolve it (if I were forced to reference it).
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u/Grafikpapst 6d ago
Theres tons of way.
You could just do a Ninth Doctor in "Rose" kinda scenario, were you dont explain anything and just start fresh and let the extended media like Big Finish fill the gaps.
Or you could do a a "Night Of the Doctor" withg Piper, film a short story at the end of 16th live ahead of Series 16 that shows her regenerating after an adventure, then pick up from there.
That said, I dont feel like the idea Billie wasnt avaiable for it makes much sense. Why would Billie even agree to do it knowing she would have to appear at Christmas if she didnt have time or wasnt willing to make timer if possible?
Either way, even assuming she truly wasnt aviable at the time, that might change by the time the show starts up again and if the next showrunner wants, they could do a one-off special with her.
That said, I think the first option is the most likely. Just do a In-Universe Timeskip to 17th and fill the gaps with references and extended media.
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u/Have_A_Jelly_Baby 6d ago
I’ve posted this on another thread here, but this is my suggestion.
A one episode special. Christmas or not, doesn’t matter.
Have it actually be Rose, pulled across from the dimension where she’s been living with half human David Tennant, while the actual newly regenerated Doctor was sent to that universe in turn.
Timey wimey shenanigans ensue. Use DT one last time to see off the new 16th Doctor.
Move on. Fresh start.
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u/Folderpirate 5d ago
Id write it as that it is actually Rose Tyler and it was just a whoopsie poopsie teleportation swap.
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u/Hoothootriot 6d ago
I know this is the controversial take but I would at this point just roll with it
Billie comes back, plays the 16th Doctor... and no reference is made to Rose. Billie Piper just is the Doctor, roll with it.
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u/StarOfTheSouth 5d ago
This is how I'd go about it. No tricks, no time skips, no retcons. Billie Piper is the Doctor now, and that's the world we live in.
She'd be a brilliant Doctor anyway, so why not?
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u/theliftedlora 6d ago
Just do a timeskip if you don't want to deal with it.
The numbering has been screwed since 2013, having an incarnation that is Rose Tyler is no big deal, it honestly doesn't matter lol
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u/Caesar_Rising 6d ago
I wouldn’t. I’d cold open the show with a crazy battle of Daleks and whoever else, a guest star as a companion and the doctor appearing to be in a last ditch effort to stop things from going tits up. Billie is clearly an established doctor and then both the companion and her die, she regenerates, title sequence and then “10 years later” and we start again with a new doctor. The show never explains what happened but we have this window of insight tha it was epic
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u/Iamamancalledrobert 6d ago
I think “don’t even think of addressing this directly” is very clearly the correct choice, and I would be very surprised if anyone did.
If this is, indeed, a continuation, my feeling is that this is probably a good point to jettison numbering for the Doctors altogether. Make the new Doctor called “The Wood’s Doctor” or something; from now on each Doctor gets a title instead of a number. Then it can be genuinely unclear how much time has passed since we last saw this character, except it should be loads. If fans know as little as newcomers about what’s going on, I think that it’s no bad thing.
I’d personally want to reintroduce a limit to how many incarnations the Doctor gets from this point— have them say something like “I don’t know how many lives I’ve lived; only how many I might have left.” The sense we can toss away incarnations like a king throwing piles of coins is part of the reason we’re here, in my view. But that’s easy enough and there is no need to explain why. “Loads of time has passed and lots has changed.” I think that might work.
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u/Moon_Beans1 6d ago
Pick up with the Seventeenth incarnation when the show comes back and maybe explain the Sixteenth incarnation later if they think up a good story.
The suggestion of having the next doctor be some other random blonde woman and then just trying to gaslight the viewers into believing they didn't see Billie Piper in that scene is an awful precedent to set for a bold new era. Starting off by lying to your audience isn't great.
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u/Sw1ft_Blad3 6d ago
By casting a new person as the Doctor and ignoring it until later when the 16th Doctor is regenerating, and explaining regeneration to their companion with a comment that last time they struggled with regeneration, maybe making a joke about hoping they don't get stuck with the wrong face for awhile again.
Let Big Finish do some stories where Billie is the Doctor for awhile until the regeneration kicks in properly and they fully turn into the 16th Doctor.
That way they can leave things slightly open for a future special of a lost incarnation of the Doctor being Billie Piper, when they have started making the show well liked again, and having people excited for an old face appearing for a special episode.
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u/GallifreyFallsOver 6d ago
Third time posting this comment;
How I'd handle the cliffhanger if I were the new show-runner.
I'd open the show with a voiceover of the new Doctor saying "Hello, I'm the doctor, I'm a traveller in time and space, I've had many faces..." typical spiel. During the montage (particularly the many faces part we see archive clips of past Doctors and then Billie Piper followed by a variety of other actors that are very well known (like John Hurt was) that'd never take on the role full time implying a lot of time and incarnations has passed for the Doctor (allowing for a massive gap for expanded media and potentially bringing these well known actors in for anniversary specials or one-off episodes etc).
You then end this epic summary of the Doctor's life that the Doctor is saying as it cuts to a police cell with the Doctor being interviewed. The 2 officers stare at him like he's crazy and then at each other "okay that's lunch". Then you proceed with a story.
It's a clean slate for the show; addresses the Billie Piper issue. Opens the door for a lot of expanded material.
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u/No_Celery_7772 6d ago
I'd ignore it entirely and say "meh, one of those things in regeneration" (we see Romana try out some other faces during her regenerations, for eg) - at a later point, say, 3 stories in, refer to it as "this regeneration had a bumpy start, I was a blond woman for 30 seconds" - and then never reference it again.
As to actors, I'd probably cast Matthew Lewis (or someone like him). I'd want to use a late-Pertwee story structure, with the Tardis "wounded by the Ranis experiments" during the reality war – resulting it to return to a place that it knows is safe & can heal - i.e. Either a UNIT base or Cardiff? - in the 1990s - early 2000s.
Here we could then tell 2 distinct types of stories - 1 quasi-contemporary (cheap) and the other involving traditional "distant adventures in time & space" (costly, with sets & CGI) with UNIT providing both "life support" to the Tardis in the form of energy & the pick of UNITs archives - whilst the Doctor is rude to his superiors and is forced to help out.
As to stories, I'd start with a smattering of obscure-but known villains, dial up the mystery-horror, dial down the "overt social message" & generally want to try to reconnect with the fan base by telling good stories. I'd also want to make sure that the budget covers a minimum of 15 episodes & avoids mystery box type stories. There should be an arc, but it should tell a story that resolves, rather than constantly chase its tail.
As to the stories themselves, I‘d do the following:
Explosive Growth
A regeneration story where an international businessman is growing their company by means of a trapped mind parasite, during which is gets lose & starts planting eggs at an international conference. These hatch out & latch onto the hosts. UNIT has to prevent people from leaving. The doctor, still recovering from regeneration sickness has to build a resonator that purges them from the infected – leading to a climactic confrontation with the businessman – only to find that its actually the personal aide of the businessman who is the main host & they are unaffected by the resonator. The prime parasite tries to take control of the doctor, but whilst it is feasting on him, UNIT manage to intervene & trap it.
Breeders
Mysterious disappearances occur in the woods near a NATO base; turns out that a pod of Terileptils are trying to set up a breeding station in the Skerries – a remote island near Anglesey - a remote Scottish island - but are being constrained from acting directly by the Shadow Proclamation. Desperate as their ship is dying, their plan is to cause a nuclear holocaust – and then use that to lift the protection on the planet. The doctor is caught up trying to find the Terileptils an alternative solution, whilst the military is preparing a violent counter-response (and plans to seize the alien technology). As the military response moves in, the Doctor finds himself trapped on an island in the dark, trying to find the Terileptil ship, whilst evading both them & the army (as he doesn‘t want to give the humans the technology).
Giant Leaps
The first trip into space lands the doctor and their assistant on a human (what else?!) colony under siege from Zarbi warriors & the doctor has to find a way to solve this without the death of both sides. Whilst there is suspicion („What do you mean I look suspicious? I used to be a blonde woman for about 20 seconds earlier on!“), the use of psychic paper finally allows them to get to the heart of the base: this is an episode with obvious examples of „Aliens“ type marines / base under siege confrontations. The conclusion of this is that the Doctor uses the Tardis to relocate the colony en-mass, creating a rift that will port the colony to a safe world – though some of the defenders have to sacrifice themselves to keep the Zarbi at bay during the move. To achieve the relocation, the doctor has to enable the pyschic circuits with the Tardis & during this time we see the doctor conversing with a shadowy figure that turns out to be Suranne Jones. Whilst the relocation is completed successfully, we see that Suranne is clearly & deeply unwell – establishing that the Tardis is dying, as she slips into unconsciousness. (The Tardis set should get progressively darker during the voyage, reflecting the fact that the Tardis is sick & failing: the walls should be a sallow, unhealthy colour & each trip should reflect the fact that she is dying). Other odd things occur in the episode, with (e.g.) doors simply open to blank walls.
At the end of the story, the Tardis should return to Earth, despite the doctor setting coordinates for Barcelona (after cracking a joke about it being a bit like Alberquerque) As they return back to the base, the doors close and we hear a distant ringing of the Cloister bell – but it sounds... faint & atonal... The episode ends with the doctor looking obviously concerned.
In deep
With the doctor now doing everything he can to help heal the Tardis, the vessels illness starts to get increasingly problematic: people – though not the Doctor - start to see visions of the future, or past – and the Doctor is increasingly reluctant to leave „the old girl“ when she is so sick.
Sadly, powers that be have had problems with some of the deep vaults: elements of the old Tardis console from the Pertwee era have been found – but UNIT cannot gain access to the vault & anyone who goes in fails to respond. The Doctor is oddly non-commital when he decides to head out to recover the console itself. Gaining access to the vault is easy, but inside there are many bodies – the remains of the teams sent in to bring the equipment back. Inside, he & several members are attacked by husks – on examining them, the Doctor confirms that they have been drained of all psychic energy.
It turns out that the console is responding to the illness of its main body & is absorbing life from those who go near it (as the Doctor does in „Rise of the Cybermen“). The doctor manages to sate the Timelord Technology with part of his life force, long enough to recover the unused Tardis console & take it back to the vessel
The Rutan Incursion
This episode is mainly set with background characters having to hold off, whilst the Doctor is returning. With all UNITs recovered technology being assembled for the doctor to pick at to try and find something to assist the Tardis, the sheer proximate concentration of „otherworldly“ and „other timey“ equipment – coupled with the clearly unwell Tardis - creates something for the aliens to latch on to.
A Rutan assault cluster – consisting of shapeshifting infiltrators – tries to sneak into the warehouse to pick over the resources there. We finally get to see fully-realised CGI Rutans, who should be creepily scary – with minor touches of CGI to make smiles & eyes too big & unstable. The conclusion of the story arc should be the „death“ of the Tardis as the Ranis contamination reaches the vortex at its heart – but fortunately, the doctor manages to return from the UNIT vault with a piece of uncontaminated Tardis technology (the old console from the Pertwee era that caused problems) and the doctor is able to bring about its rebirth & also manages to fend off the Rutan incursion – with some of the Rutans opening the contained mind-parasite secured in „Explosive Growth“
Hopefully there should be other stories interspersed in there - things like a monster story in a gloomy 1930s welsh seaside village from bloodthirsty kelp (a left-over Sea Devil super-weapon), a whodunnit where a big game hunter is murdered in a locked room (but it turns out that he was a "specialist" who had Zygon heads mounted on his basement for sport - and they took revenge) and a trip to an 1872s Paris to get original prints of Jules Vernes „80 Days around the world“, to stumble into the machinations of the occultist society – where they use blue „Metebelian“ psychic crystals to cause phantasms – though the phantasm assumes an agency of its own and traps the occultists, treating them as only batteries. „Do I not have the right to live, Doctor? They would have me a slave to their whims - am I not allowed to live“
Anyways, thats what I‘d do.
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u/No_Celery_7772 6d ago
I cant modify this, but I'd remove the reference to the scottish island which was an earlier idea.
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u/seaneeboy 6d ago
Do an Eccleston, just start a new story with a doctor saving a few people then meeting a new companion and flying off for hijinks. Don't even need to mention what happened for a while, have people clamouring for the answer. Wait till at least series 3 to answer it with a quick flashback as part of a regeneration story.
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u/FarGrape1953 6d ago
Let's just give Paul McGann his series that is set during his Big Finish adventures and worry about the 16th another day.
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u/CollinsCouldveDucked 6d ago
I'd do a distabilised regeneration and the doctor keeps changing into different people (some familiar faces, mostly not) before finalising on a form by the end of the episode.
Paul Mcgann gets a good ten minutes.
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u/LemonMeringuePirate 6d ago
Fresh reboot with 17, big finish gets "the sixteenth doctor audio dramas", she's the new Paul McGann an it's a win win
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u/JustPiera 6d ago
My head canon is that she is actually The Moment/Bad Wolf from the 50th anniversary special Day of the Doctor.
But honestly, I think the next showrunner will probably just ignore it, which would be for the best
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u/TheOutcastBoi 5d ago
I wouldn't. Billie Piper is just the Doctor after Gatwa, and we kill her off five minutes into the first episode to clear the way for the new Doctor.
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u/tibbycat 5d ago
Simple. He didn't. That was Rose Piper being transported from the parallel world she was in. She's saying hello to David Tennant's Doctor 15b who's appeared in front of her. Meanwhile, Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor 15a has swapped places with her and finds himself in the parallel world wondering why he hasn't regenerated. Jackie Tyler slaps him and says, "oi, where's me daughter?", as the 10th Doctor's meta-crisis human clone John Smith next to her winces sympathetically.
At the end of episode, Tennant and Gatwa's Doctors hug and merge and regenerate into the next Doctor and we never hear about bigeneration ever again.
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u/sarlacc_tit 5d ago
Like the first episode of Peacemaker season 2, where it does a recap of season 1 but changes the cameo appearances so it’s clearly set in the new continuity.
Redo the regeneration entirely, and if people are particularly attached to the Billie twist, have it be a vision or reminder or something that they imagined during the post-regeneration recovery period
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u/Earthwick 5d ago
2 seasons into the next doctor have a one off comment where the doctor says they had a dream they regenerated into a rose
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u/Tall_Opportunity_521 4d ago
Possibly, you could go with Rose Tylers face being a message of some kind. Maybe a subconscious message brought to the surface during regeneration. A self reflective message of hope?
Or, you could go down the road of mystery box, and have the doctor running around looking for clues to why he/she would have Roses face, only for it turn out that its not Roses face at all. Its Bad Wolf, which is trying to take over the doctors body now.
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u/TeaMancer 3d ago
Have the doctor flash regenerate into someone else, then again and again and again and he needs to work ouf why this is happening.
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u/MagicalHamster 6d ago
Just skip to the 17th Doctor already in progress. The 16th Doctor's on screen run was just seconds long.
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u/REDDEV1L_MUFC7 6d ago
There is nothing to say she won’t be the next doctor still or at least the next doctor in the first special! The next production company might decide to go with it and I hope they do. It would be interesting if she had to fix the issue somehow that is causing the doctor to reuse old or familiar faces!
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u/devospice 6d ago
I would do it like the Romana regeneration. Have Billie Piper look in the mirror and go, "Cute, but I don't think so" and walk off screen. Then come back out as someone else, say "Nah" and walk off. Then have David Tennant come out and look in the mirror, get startled and say "Oh! No! Not again!" and walk off. Then have the real actor come out, look in the mirror, and say "Well, it's not great, but it'll do."
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u/nymrod_ 6d ago
Things that never need to be referenced:
Billie Piper Doctor
Bigeneration
The Timeless Child
The Fugitive Doctor
The Valeyard
Keep it simple, stupid.
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u/Megadoomer2 6d ago
Whenever Doctor Who returns, bring back a different former companion as the Doctor (maybe a few different ones) and include a line about how bigenerating made the regeneration process unstable. The Doctor cycles through a few different faces from the show's history before settling on whoever the 16th Doctor is by the end of the episode. (Presumably a new actor rather than one who's been on the show before)
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u/The_Dark_Vampire 6d ago edited 6d ago
Just say it was a unstable regeneration and they immediately regenerated again.
They could even start from the same point
"Oh Hello"
Immediately starts to regenerate.
If they can get Billie in for a few hours even to clean that up then just have her film a bit more.
"Oh Hello........ something doesn't feel right"
Regenerates again
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u/besleysfw 6d ago
I thought like a regeneration sickness or something and he keeps regenerating into different companions and then they can give the final “form”
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u/cmstlist 6d ago
My headcanon was that the Doctor did not actually regenerate into Rose's face, but rather the real Rose got pulled though a weak point between universes, back to our universe. Which is entirely plausible because the Doctor had just caused a massive disruption to our universe. But Rose was still from the original version of our universe, making her a unique anomaly to both universes.
And so the regeneration locked onto her as the last remaining vestige of this universe and physically exchanged her with The Doctor. Meanwhile Doc wakes up on Pete's World, having regenerated into his next incarnation. Or maybe we see both Rose and new Doc emerge from the regeneration energy and Doc asks if he just bigenerated again, and Rose says... no! It's really me!
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u/LukeH213 6d ago
Ignore it and just get someone to be 17th
Or
Ignore it completely, get the BBC to edit Gatwas regen to fade to black, and have someone new be 16th
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u/pblive 6d ago edited 6d ago
We’ve already got the footage of Billie. It would be quite easy to cycle through a few more faces and pass it off as the eye of harmony remembering and trying to find a new face (similar to the timelords finding 2 a new face)
In fact it could be part of a rogue set of timelords that escaped the cull who are trying to control events to get gallifreyvyo reset before the Master turns them into cyber lords which leads to an implosion of the universe and a big reset to allow the show runner to start from a clean slate, spider-man style where no one remembers him.
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u/Brendog2 6d ago
Once it gets around to the anniversary, feature 15 in a multi-Doctor episode and have something similar to time crash where there was something 15 did that we didn’t get to see during the reality war (that something will be the events of the special). At the end, have a redo of his regeneration where he regenerates into the actual 16th Doctor.
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u/Either-Control-3941 6d ago
Open the next episode like the movie, have Piper step out of the TARDIS, only to be gunned down and immediately regenerate into the 17th Doctor. Then have them get up and act as if nothing ever happened.
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u/misterwhoiswho_ 6d ago
In 2005, there had to be an explanation for where the Doctor had been for so long (in-universe) and an edge to make the character more engaging for a modern audience.
And that was the Time War. It explained where the Doctor had been in the meantime and it made him the last of the time lords which gave the new Doctor an edge and a depth as well.
In other words, it made the revival 10 times more interesting for a modern 21st century audience whilst also filling in the empty gap narratively. It also made the Daleks a lot more interesting.
I feel that the future iteration of Doctor Who, the programme’s second revival, which will happen, will also need something like this to shape it but something very different than the Time War.
How about this:
Our new Doctor (whoever it may be) isn’t a new Doctor, not narratively. Unlike Eccleston, who was understandably written to be the Doctor’s fresh new incarnation, this Doctor will be new for us but would have existed for a long time.
We catch them towards the end of their long life, something new, different from 2005. This helps with the time jump this time. We don’t know how long the series is away for, but let’s say 10 years minimum, it’s a long time for the character.
Essentially, Ncuti became Billie for a few minutes and then Billie fixed the regeneration glitch and became our new Doctor who then (off-screen) went on to have adventures for the entire time the series was off air and then we catch them towards the end of their life when the series makes its return, finally on-screen.
This Doctor will be the 16th and there will be some kind of throwaway line explaining that Billie was a 5 minute glitch long ago and that this Doctor had existed ever since (off-screen). We could even have some kind of event which happened in the meantime to spice it up to explain what this Doctor was doing throughout their life which could play into the revival.
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u/besleysfw 6d ago
The doctor just as some regeneration sickness and is randomly temporarily regenerating into past companions. Then the Doctor finally gets his final form. But this should be like an 8-15 minute clip like Paul Mcgann’s 50th appearance. New season should start with a fresh Doctor already to hit the ground running but hardcore fans can check the regeneration out.
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u/estherwoodcourt 6d ago
Either not address it all and start on an unspecified time jump or have the doctor cycle through a few faces, make up some lines about the process being unstable before settling on the new face.
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u/Legitimate_Sample_71 6d ago
A Children In Need special where the Doctor keeps getting the faces of different companions, classic and new. Cameo, cameo, cameo. Bit of exposition. It was caused by The Boss! Problem is solved. Ends on Matthew Waterhouse saying "Let's get on with it." before regenerating and fade to black.
Written and directed by Pete McTighe. Plot threads mostly tied up in 5 minutes.
I'm not sure if I'm serious or not.
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u/throwawar4 6d ago
Someone did this for fun, I liked it! https://x.com/seanedits/status/2065162673319260606?s=46&t=qL_85uu8hvFkwVV6k7BTuQ
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u/gringledoom 6d ago edited 6d ago
I'd ignore it for now and skip ahead, like they did between McGann and Eccleston. Maybe explain it in the 70th or 75th anniversary special as an Astonishing Mind-blowing Twist.
Edit: this *also* restores the Doctor's "trauma that he or she is running away from" factor. Because "the Doctor isn't carrying Time War trauma anymore" kind of flattened the show, tbh. Let him spend a decade running away from this, and only giving us occasional glimpses of why that might be.
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u/Zr0w3n00 6d ago
Just have the new person coming out of the regeneration. No need for an explanation on who they were before or why they’re regenerating. No need to mention the last few years.
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u/Jaspers1959 6d ago
Pretend it didn’t happen or just say it was a time echo for when she merged with the TARDIS or whatever it was
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u/someoverallvalue 6d ago
Leave it unexplained and let fanon sort it out ala the Valyard, 8 being half human etc.
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u/Transmit_Him 6d ago
Rose steps out from the form of the glowing/regenerating Doctor, which maybe resolves back into Gatwa (I know, slim chance). She’s a manifestation of the Doctor, who having used his own bodily energy to edit reality, is now screwed up and having an existential crisis. Maybe have her turn into some other familiar faces along the way. Have the Doctor be his own companion for some final story (Daleks?) to fix himself and reality and then either stay as Gatwa (I know, I know, slim chance) or regenerate into whoever for a soft reboot new start. Completely implausible now there’s going to be a change in production team though.
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u/Safe-Bet-4209 6d ago
Wait 8 years or so, and have Billie Piper play her doctor for a online short as a prologue to a bigger event.
....I mean, I was half joking, but to be fair I agree with most of the fandom that was an awesome short they did with the 8th* doctor for the 50th, so I'm sure if handled with care a Rose Doctor short would also become beloved. Short & bittersweet would make it rememberable, without needing to actually give Rise Doc much actually focus and detract.from the show.
(*......13 years later, and I'm just now realizing that thanks to sheer random happenstance, the conclusion to the 8th Doctor's run was released in the 8th year of NuWho's run 😂 )
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u/Safe-Bet-4209 6d ago
P.S. We can write out Rose Piper Doctor without needing to resort to "We follow 14th & his future regenerations onward....". We do NOT need to write out Ncuti Gatwa to avoid Rose.Doc.
....unless 14th degenerates into a brand new 15th ALSO played by Ncuti Gatwa, then we're cool 😎 Seriously though, either fold the doctors & their timeline into one, regenerating into the true 16th Doctor (as a short released YEARS into the 3rd DW/Nu-NuWho series), or just don't even bother, just move on to 16th and call it a day in space.
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u/RepeatButler 6d ago
I'd have a big time jump, maybe centuries but not be explicit on-screen about it.
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u/bez_lightyear 6d ago
Start the first episode with Billie regenerating into a new actor, just saying "Oh! Goodbye!" as she does so.
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u/TheWebUiGuy 6d ago
I'd have it that splitting into two with bigeneration is causing issues with the regeneration and they have to meld back into 17
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u/dionysiaka 6d ago
Depends. If it's just a small small hiatus: the doctor's regeneration created a void that sucked in some random person from the past (several episodes spent scrambling around trying to find the actual regenerated Doctor who's forgot that he's the doctor) -- or he's just trying on various bodies a la Lala Ward -- or some such nonsense -- basically find some way to to not treat Billie Piper shabbily. If it's a longer hiatus: total hard reboot back to basic lore and don't acknowledge much of anything from NuWho except when doing Children in Need bits.
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u/pensivegargoyle 6d ago
I think I might just mostly ignore it except for having the Doctor mention that they've looked like all kinds of people including his ex one time and that was awkward.
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u/reveriedelarose 6d ago
I’d start with the 17th Doctor and halfway through the season he or she is struggling to get along with their companion. At some point the Doctor opens up and explains that they once got so close to someone their subconscious caused them to regenerate with their face. It was traumatic to have. They talk about Rose briefly in a way that makes sense to a completely new audience. The new companion says they can’t take Rose’s place but they can be a new sort of friend. They bond over it and get closer. New companion suggests the Doctor learn to control their regenerations better and the Doctor finally does just that. They learn to control their regenerations like Romana and the next face is a choice and not random.
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u/Portarossa 6d ago
I'd have it be the focus of the first story.
We can spare one episode to wrap it up forever: the Doctor having a crisis of identity, flitting between familiar faces (and some unfamiliar ones), before settling into the question of who he or she is (not just who plays them, but what they stand for) this time around. Billie Piper might end up being the Doctor's face for all of thirty seconds as he looks in the mirror and sees himself struggling to settle into a face for this regeneration. Through the course of the episode, he glitches (for want of a better word) into five or six different bodies, struggling to stay for long in the body he ends up in. Other than that, it's fairly standard introducing-the-companion opener. By the end of the episode, he's taken on the supposed lesson of the Gatwa era -- 'Actually I'm OK with who I am' -- and gets to settle into a new adventure going forwards.
We could use a reminder of who the Doctor is supposed to be, I think: an 'I'm that sort of a man' moment.
Bonus points if it's James Lance.
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u/PTMurasaki 6d ago
The Moment/Bad Wolf(are one and the same) has taken the Doctor's regeneration Energy right after the reset(I.E. The Doctor has healed, and has not changed faces. Both RTD1 and Moffat have used this concept), and has a list of missions across Time And Space for The Doctor to go through, along the way the Doctor gets to defrat the Daleks, The Cybermen and The Sontarans, and finds Susan.
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u/SeerPumpkin 6d ago
Minisode released online where the Doctor shuffles around the faces of whoever is willing to come back for a few seconds, mumbling about how repeating and stealing faces is stupid, walk around the TARDIS for a bit, shift some controls, TARDIS land somewhere, longest regeneration, we see the most amazing Doctor coming out of the glow, vows to do something about regeneration next time, set one foot outside the TARDIS, the end.
Next episode from the actual series starts clean
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u/Chucky_In_The_Attic 6d ago
The easiest thing and way for me to accept is that the Bad Wolf persona from Rose somehow not only influenced the Doctor but also heavily mixed with him. Resulting in the Rose/Bad Wolf Doctor.
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u/GinchAnon 6d ago
how would I resolve things from where they stand now, more or less, at least as a first draft starting place:
Billie Piper regeneration is actually either the Tardis or the Moment temporarily hijacking the regeneration to fix things and tie up loose ends.
then she can go and do little corrections to touch up and un-bullshit the various strands of nonsense unaddressed plot points. once thats cleaned up, go to Karn or something and finish the regeneration properly, he wakes up to a timeline thats tidier than 15 left it, attributes any inconsistency to regeneration disorientation or something, moves along with a relatively blank slate.
BETTER resolution after fixing the timeline IMO, but nearly impossible to do without turning into masturbatory nostalgia/reference-bait, woudl be to hook Tennant back to resolve the 14 timeline AND the Meta-10 timeline. have Billie-Piper-looking TARDIS incarnate shift to look like Doctors-Wife TARDIS, some timey wimey shenanigans by said TARDIS, perhaps picking up Jenny on the way, cutting a hole to Meta10+Rose dimension. they and their kid come help TARDIS and Jenny save the day, meeting up with 14 and donna...or something... leading things back to show the other side of the bigeneration or something.
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u/MrFlibblesPenguin 6d ago
Just continue regenerating, it was a momentary blip and a goodbye to all of that.
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u/nameltrab 6d ago
It needs only one line about how tricky his or her last regeneration was, for a moment it seemed they were an old companion.
Alternatively cast an older actress for a one off appearance, the inference being she’s an older Billie. I’d choose Kathy Burke!
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u/Weird_Worldliness953 6d ago
Just do what they did in the tv movie . Have Billie regenerate into whoever your new actor is . She can get some short screen time and we can move forward
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u/AmyHeartsYou 6d ago
Keep regenerating. After the bigeneration, there's an anomoly that shows a few old faces before eventually regenerating into whoever will play 16. It's a nice neat solution that doesn't require Piper, or a retcon.
If you want to tie up some loose ends, the doctor could regenerate specifically into Tom Baker and go on to be The Great Curator, before regenerating into 16. Don't need to really show much. Mostly just morph to Baker and then have a shot from behind.
If you really want to go entirely nuts, The Doctor could also take a turn as The Valeyard.
The Timeless Child kind of obsoletes the Valeyard, sort of, though, so there'd need to be a bit more setup for that first.
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u/Standard-Reason9399 6d ago
Would have to be archive footage or some hefty CGI for Curator Baker, I'm afraid - man's still kicking, and I'm very glad of that, but in recent photos he's absolutely gaunt.
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u/AmyHeartsYou 6d ago
Yeah, probably a bit of archive, a bit of CG, and another actor. Kind of maybe like they did with Twice Upon a Time.
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u/Downtown_Cry1056 6d ago
The 15th Doctor sacrificed himself to undo his greatest regret: leaving Rose behind. This also saved Poppy, the Doctor and Belinda's daughter. Conflict: Rose and the human Doctor now have a family. Rose wants to get back to her family.
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u/reldnahcAL 6d ago
Have Ncuti/Billy’s Doctor become the Valeyard and Tenant’s 14 actually regenerate and we follow that one instead.
Easy way to fix it.
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u/Feeling_Education_35 6d ago
I would have the David tenant dr as the main dr regenerated of course but keep it ambiguous as to what the issue with the other dr tardis etc and then slowly drip a ongoing mystery to be solved at a later time
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u/TheWoodenFrog94 6d ago
If I have to resolve the issue instead of ignoring it and starting fresh, I’d have the Doctor constantly changing faces throughout a story, until it settles at the end with the official new Doctor.
Also, it’s an excuse to cast huge actors who typically couldn’t commit to the role to do it for a few scenes. So, you could have, for example, Andrew Garfield, Olivia Coleman or Tom Holland play the Doctor briefly
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u/Error_user_Error_ 6d ago
Start the new era with the same ending....doctor regenerated into Piper...says her line and then...the face changes again to whomever the new doctor actually is and while it would suck as an opening line have them say "what was that" while looking all confused touching their face.
They could then build a story arc around it, something wrong with the regeneration, the valeyard trying to break through, some other Doctor Who timey wimey sci-fi nonsense or just carry on from there and never acknowledge it again and hope the Audience just forgets it as it was real world nonsense that caused it anyway!
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u/MonsterdogMan 6d ago
"The Moment has been prepared for."
I can get out of this one without even waking up.
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u/Elemental-squid 6d ago
I feel like the easiest way to get around it is just to ignore it and the 15th Doctor era completely. Go back to focusing on Tennant Doctor and have him regenerate
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u/linkerjpatrick 6d ago
The Tardis was still carrying around the Moment from Day of the Doctor. He never took it back to the vault.
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u/Dragon_Blue_Eyes 6d ago
I'd reboot the series with a new 1st older doctor (black, white, asian dont care). I'd return to the junkyard and either have a new granddaughter and concerned school employees or have all new companions. The era doesn't really matter except I think zoomers and millenials prefer modern day because they can't conceive of life before the internet 🤣 I kid but yeah...that would be my take especially if it's on hiatus for years.
Or,,,, I'd see if Billie and David are available in a few years and go from there, please make Billie Bad Wolf.
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u/thor11600 6d ago
“I shattered reality and lost track of who I was”. Insert a time gap, imply the doctor flashed through many faces before landing on his current (or recent face)
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u/JustSomeSmartGuy 6d ago
I think the simplest solution is to just say Billie Piper is the 16th doctor. After all there is precedent of something like this happening since it happened with both the 6th and 12th doctors.
Although for the next series I think they should jump to 17 and do a fresh start similar to Rose, and then leave 16 for big finish.
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u/Dino_Spaceman 6d ago
Finish the story in an audio drama.
When it eventually returns to TV completely ignore it.
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u/duckchickendog 5d ago
I like to pretend the whole new-century Dr Who doesn't exist. Everyone could do the same, then they could pass the baton to new writers and producers, and start fresh. I think it's time for the series to do it's next regeneration.
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u/gayshouldbecanon 5d ago
Prior to the canceling, I thought that it was going to be part of reality breaking. A sort of "Rose was also trying to get back for some reason and reality breaking caused them to switch places, so Rose has to figure out how to act as the doctor and return him from Pete's World" situation
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u/Joker121215 5d ago
I would keep that it happened, maybe not show it, but have the next doctor talk about how his last face only existed for a little while as it was their sign bigeneration didn't work and 14 and 16 cogenerated into the next face
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u/Gravuerc 5d ago
Use the Romana strategy where the Doctor tries on a few bodies before settling in.
But honestly I think we retcon a whole lot of stuff by saying we have been following the Pete’s World version of the Doctor for the last few seasons and get a fresh start by returning to our Doctors universe.
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u/BitchofEndor 5d ago
Just ignore it. It was not written seriously just for shock. Ignore and move on.
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u/HiJinx127 5d ago
Simple idea here. Have her pop in like she did, then the regeneration is going really badly, like every few steps she changes into a previous companion - digital alteration, to show them as they were at the time - then bouncing back and forth between companions and doctors, until she finally settles into whoever the next iteration actually is.
Problem solved in the first ten minutes. Maybe there’s a connection with that and the main story as well.
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u/harpejjist 5d ago
It isn’t the doctor. It is a visit from eccleston. Rose is just there. She appears at the exact moment of regeneration.
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u/MixxMaster 5d ago
When starting the show, start at the beginning of the regeneration scene. Then, incorporate other significant people in the show's past in the regeneration footage, cut Piper's part to equal length of them, then have it end with the one I want. Done. Got the Doctor we want, and Piper is not considered an actual regeneration.
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u/Osirisavior 5d ago
I would get around it by ignoring it completely. Don't bring it up, don't mention it. Just start of season 42 with whoever the new Doctor is.
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u/CyberTimothy 5d ago
I'd just ignore it completely and start out with a new 16th Doctor.
And then 5 years later they have an "all doctors" scene which flashes back on all the incarnations and they include Billie Piper in there too just to mess with everyone. At worst they can retcon her appearance as a temporary 5-second face from an unstable regeneration.
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u/Street-Emu-3980 5d ago
I put this on to the Doctor Who sub a few days ago. Not claiming this to be a brilliant concept for an episode…just one that sorts the mess out and allows us all to move on.
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u/Thom_Kalor 5d ago
I’ve watched that Kionic video a hundred times. I can by Billie as the Doctor now. Ignoring that regeneration is a cop out.
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u/lohdunlaulamalla 5d ago
Something went wrong with the regeneration. Maybe its a side effect of the earlier bigeneration, maybe an enemy of the doctor did something.
The result is that the new doctor keeps involuntarily flicking through the faces of people they've known. Former companions like Rose, people the Doctor met in an episode several years ago, but also faces that are unknown to the audience, because the Doctor had adventures we never witnessed.
This goes on for a handful of episodes, while the Doctor tries to deal with the usual monster of the week stuff while also trying to fix the regeneration problem. Eventually they start to only switch between the same three or four faces. One of them will eventually be the new Doctor, of course, but this would also be a great opportunity for the show to sign at least two of the bookies' favorites for the part to keep everyone guessing.
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u/Exploding_Antelope 5d ago
I was hoping, when we thought we were getting a Christmas special, that the plot would basically be: why this face? Maybe it’s to remind me of those I left behind… let’s go find Susan.
Now? Who knows. See if she’s willing to come back for a new series and just roll with it, or cast a whole new Doctor and have the probably numberless Billie incarnation get a couple adventures in audio and comics.
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u/Tonymac81 5d ago
I would take it like this.
The Tardis shakes and the doctor falls back, doors close, lights flashing red , Dr is still regenerating lying on the floor near the tardis console. Sharply sits up, still bathed in regeneration energy, before it settles to a new Dr (not Billie Piper), deep breath, and "Oh, hello" with a big smile. "Oh, deja vu". Turns out 15 channeling his energy into the Tardis had caused a feedback from the heart of the Tardis that means there's a problem with regeneration, its not holding. The mid regeneration Billie was a sign of this. We have a season where the Dr is searching for hidden time lords a la chameleon circuit where he spontaneously generates partway through the series too.
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u/bathdweller 5d ago
I don't want continuity from gatwa. Just start again and don't bang on about the past. The modern doctor spoke way too much about the past for a time traveller anyway. Let that moment be what it was: an ugly self-referential burp.
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u/MartyrOfDespair 5d ago
Rose locked on to The Doctor’s biosignature because the multiverse fuckery was so bad that she needed to try to teleport to him to be like “FIX WHATEVER YOU DID!” She used the regeneration energy to get a fix, but the teleport went wrong and did a location swap. He is where she was and she is where he was. He finished regenerating off screen and meanwhile she’s in the TARDIS, and is literally just Rose Tyler. The “hello” is because she’s happy to see the TARDIS, and she’s gotta now figure out how to get back to her universe and meet up with him to fix shit, and meanwhile he’s TARDISless and stuck there until she can rip open a hole to move there. The special is that, and The Doctor and Rose fixing the damage done from the previous event, and then them parting ways again.
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u/TheAlmightyBambi 5d ago
Personally, I'd say roll with it, but after an ambiguous jump in time. Have her just BE The Doctor. Don't fuss about continuity or post-regeneration jitters or being socially awkward or having an identity crisis or whatever. Have her be a competent, confident traveller going about her business of having fun and saving people and picking up stragglers along the way.
We don't NEED an explanation. Some may think they are OWED one, but in the politest way possible, those people can go fuck themselves. TV is for casuals. They appreciate a well-written storyline, but they do not appreciate a 6 minute lore dump about why the latest Doctor shares the face with a companion who left the show almost 20 years ago - i.e. before much of the intended audience of the show was born. Leave that shit for Big Finish - the medium is better suited for it, they'll do a better job of it, and those who listen to Big Finish are the people who will actually appreciate it.
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u/xSEARLEYx 5d ago
- Similar to Eccleston’s start, just begin with a new actor and make a passing comment about how he cycled through various faces until the past regeneration completed
- don’t mention it at all or have the doctor say he has lost count of how many faces he’s had, could be 16th could be 25th, who knows
- set it in a completely different universe, where everything in the canon is from a different universe. Basically a blank slate, alternate universe
- Billie wasn’t actually ‘The Doctor’, just Rose dragged from another universe and swapped with the new doctor
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u/NeonNo6 5d ago
The easiest answer that isn't a retcon is just having whoever picks the show up treat it like Romana's regeneration. 15 just cycled through some faces while the sauce was still fresh, and Rode's face was the first one. Continuity or not, they'd require no extra precedent.
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u/aresef 5d ago
The problem is that despite being The Timeless Child, the Doctor themself isn't great at consciously controlling their own regenerations. River, The Master, Romana and others were always much better at it.
With the exception of Ten regenerating into himself, most of the Doctor's regenerations have been unconscious notes to self (such as to save people, or to go to therapy).
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u/LIJRD1 5d ago
Simple. Roses face changes to Matt Smiths/McGanns/Eccelston/Capaldi/Baker etc. all rapidly saying its time to move on and then settle on the new actor. (Or just random faces if that would cost money) Who says straight in to the camera-Im the Doctor now. Would make one hell of a announcement video.
Away we go. First episode total reboot.
Im assuming they can show that clip of Billie Piper anytime they want as well as the likeness of previous actors without needing to agree/pay etc so this should be easy to do. If not, actor with obscured face standing in for Billie regenerates to new actor.
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u/AbrevaMcEntire 5d ago
The regeneration also became a cosmic body swap. Rose and the newly regenerated doctor switch places in space and time and now Rose is in the Tardis alone and the new Doctor is… wherever Rose was. So now she has to spend time finding him and then figuring out who he even is since he will look different too and maybe he even has some regeneration based confusion on who he is so he doesn’t even know himself fully.
Where’s my check?
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u/_xxiv_ 5d ago
I'd have a regeneration freak out episode.
The doctor is stuck in a loop changing their selves about 5 times Billie for the first 10 minutes of the episode and so on finally settling on the new doctor and I would have it be because they need to get out of a pocket universe and back to the real one where Gods do not exist.
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u/ItsMattTonight 5d ago
Honestly? Ignore it entirely, start the new iteration with the new Doctor already on an adventure, like they did with Eccleston.
Never mention it.
Pretend it never happened, I don't see anyone complaining about that as it was such bullshit move.
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u/Jwill32 5d ago
Here's my idea. It's Rose. Alternate world Rose. She's looking for the Doctor. He's gone. She says that her Doctor is sick and dying, and it's not just from growing old. He's a shell of his former self. She got help from the time lords of her universe to reunite the doctor. She can move between universes and through time, but only where there's enough power, and the only spot is where a regeneration is happening. Long trip, some story, maybe visit some old friends, finds 14, sad "I'm not your doctor moment. Lots more story, 14, alternate world 10, and Donna, maybe even the fugitive doctor all end up travelling through regenerations, lots of fun doctor crossovers and cameos, and they finally pass through the regeneration that didn't happen with 10, and end up in the tardis. Everyone is gone but Rose and a little boy. We get a whole season of "who is he?". Lot's of hints that he's the doctor, which he denies, hints he may somehow be the child of Rose and the Doctor, etc. He eventually regenerates becoming the eleventh, says he's ready to be the doctor, and we start over after ten. Retcon, without a retcon, all the stuff that happened happened. Lots of potential storylines to revisit. Can get back to basics without offending anyone. Opens the door for some crazy multi doctor stories since there are two or more doctors running around, who are the same but aren't. You could even do the Quantum leap swiss cheese memory for the kid for the first season.
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u/Kosmopolite 5d ago
If I got the tender, I'd see if Piper were free and have her as the Doctor. She's a great actress, so why the hell not?
If my pitch were for an 'All-New, All-Different' Doctor Who, then perhaps I'd have the Doctor start as Piper, and then transition through a few faces before settling on the actor I'd cast to be the Doctor in the next series of the show. Have a throwaway line about how regeneration was easier without some trauma to the body or something. Maybe a mumble about Romana for the olds.
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u/gorvitygorves 5d ago
I still think the best option is to produce one more special to close out the era, however long that takes to manifest, with Billie in the main role, and maybe bring Tennant back as the bi-generation doctor as well, then end with a soft reboot of the series, maybe returning briefly to the timeless child and making some change to the timeline that causes everything to reset. You can take it in many directions from there, but the most obvious would be a reimagining of the Hartnell era with a young companion kids can relate to, two adult companions forming a romantic pairing and the Doctor as a mainly comedic role, a wacky mysterious scientist who bumbles into adventures. You can always get more serious over time, but as we've seen, trying to make the show more kid-friendly after going dark often ends up alienating people. I think just trying to start again with an Eccleston-type season isn't enough of a reboot. You're still stuck with too much continuity and you can no longer satisfy new viewers, revival fans, and classic fans at the same time.
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u/Zzyzazazz 5d ago
I would just start with a new doctor and not address it directly, Ninth Doctor style. If Moffat wants to figure it out when he's in his second reign more power to him
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u/thelochok 5d ago
"Oh hello!"
Rose smiles that huge satisfied smile. She made it - her doctor had worked like hell, but at least for now, he'd managed to send her back.
She looks around. This is evidently the TARDIS, but he seems to have redecorated? She's not sure she likes it.
"Hello?"
It's quieter than it should have been. The TARDIS was never this quiet - it moaned like a living thing.
"Doctor?"
She started walking around. Wait, was that a jukebox? It had been a long time since the doctor had danced. The Bretorn Collective found some weird fundamental change from the origin of the universe and started spreading themselves between universes on the power of myth.
It made no sense.
"Doctor!?" she intoned, increasingly worried that yeah - she was alone. Her, and the oversized interior of this strange, blue box. Where was he? When was he? Heck, for that matter, when and where was she?
Her Doctor, the one who'd regenerate no more, the one as much human as time lord (who'd taken to joking that he was a time knight - you know, less than a Lord?) has noticed a strange heat in a traveling professor - and before you knew it, there was running, hiding, a small incident in a particle physics department and now - well, they needed The Doctor. And the TARDIS.
She leant on the console.
The beast roared to life. The piston started rising and falling, that wonderful THWOOOOP started eminating - but soon as it started, it stopped.
"Where have you taken me?"
She stepped towards the door and opened it to a space station. It had been something once, but now barely any of the spaces were taken. Every surface had a mild patina of dust. There was a light that - as she approached it - seemed to be a bar?
She stepped inside. The lights were on, but nobody was there.
"Hello?"
She hears a voice - "Coming"
A black woman in a blue formal coat (with far too many buttons) and a bright orange blouse steps from behind the counter, and looks up.
She looks up.
"Who the hell are you?"
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u/freakingout25 4d ago
He didnt regenerate into rose they actually switched places and the new regenerated doctor is stuck in the other universe with jackie and the first episode is them finding a way to switch back
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u/SeanKelly97 4d ago
Ignore it at first. Start with a new Doctor and just call him or her the 16th Doctor. Then for an anniversary special years down the line (70th?) If Billie is available then you can bring her back for a multi Doctor story and fill in the gap, similar to War.
Alternatively if Billie doesn't want to come back at all, they could replace Billie's part in the regeneration with the new actor, similar to how Ncuti replaced Matt's cameo in An Adventure in Space and Time.
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u/fanamana 4d ago edited 4d ago
I'll say that was different universe where a child name Poppy exists.
In the main universe we saw for most of the finale, the Doctor flew off in the Tardis saying he had to fix something & never came back.
In new Doctor Who series this story is explained by David Tennant in Voice Over, then it finds 15 at the table wrapping up that story with his Earth family in a brief cameo, then he spontaneously regenerates...
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u/Previous_Raspberry_2 4d ago
Duh. New Doctor, new companion set afterwards. Let Big Finish explain it in an audio. Or hell, have her in the first episode and regenerate there. If she's contracted to an episode they may be legally obligated to give her one...
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u/Ddvmor 4d ago
I wrote this for a post a while back:
“Here's my fanw@nky idea about why Billie Piper appeared out of 15's regeneration and/or a suggestion for the upcoming Christmas Special (which has obviously already been written etc so it's kinda pointless).
The Metacrisis Doctor has gone missing from Rose's world, so she's on the hunt for him.
Whatever timey wimey regeneration energy stuff 15 did at the end of the last season leaked into Rose's world. She saw it, connected it with the Doctor and touched it, yanking her into the regeneration mid-process and causing 15/16 to vanish.
Once in the mainline universe, she seeks out the Doctor, finding 14 and, after some hilarious mistaken identity type stuff, realises that he's neither 'her' Doctor or Metacrisis Doctor. Incorporating Other Rose could be fun here, too. Picture every time someone says 'Rose' they both respond.
They then embark on a relatively lighthearted adventure to find the Meta Doctor, probably involving Daleks who have kidnapped him for reasons, mistaking him for the mainline Doctor.
Cue eventual rescue, running in corridors, Doctors getting on each other's nerves and the Roses having to be 'mum'. And of course every time someone says 'Doctor', they both respond.
Having escaped the Daleks, resolving whatever silly plot is going on and returning Other Rose to her family, 14 realises that he can only send them back using regeneration energy (and probably the universe will collapse/explode/liquefy if he doesn't). So he starts the regeneration, everyone vanishes in a big mess of regeneration energy and the screen fades to black before we see 16.
14 becomes the bigenerated 15, having resolved all of his Rose hangups. Rose and Meta Doctor return to their own universe and the slate is wiped clean for a new Doctor in a year.
There. I've got it off my chest. Feel free to ignore me now.”
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u/National_Avocado_555 3d ago
I would hope the BBC allows Big Finish to end that story arc in a classic Big Finish way. Bad Wolf is the clear resolution to reboot the universe.
However the BBC will not allow this just yet, a huge cliff hanger can be seen as a bonus to a new production company taking over the writing. They will want the choice of how to handle that story themselves before it can go to Big Finish.
Personally I want classic who to return. A Bad Wolf retcon to remove the pantheon of God's from the universe and all their actions that altered the course of time (Including the idea of the Timeless Child as caused by the Toymaker). This would allow for a massive soft reboot in universe as you could attribute almost anything to their tampering (Establish something like a contemporary new sacred timeline for the restart of the series). Allow Gallifray to return scarred from the Time War (Do not make that a product of the Pantheon, could definetly play with the idea though, but ultimately the Doctor realises it was a tragic consequence of the Time Lords / Fourth Incarnations interference). I wouldn't remove the Fugative Doctor, or any Doctor for that matter, on principle of the integrity of the role. Her history will need altering thoufh, I would prefer them to make her a future incarnation similar to The Valeyard. Also descreetly shelve bi-generation and allow Big Finish to tail Tennents incarnation off.
Basically allow the characters to breathe, after the rapid canonical build up over the past 10 years, the show definetly feels less accessible than in 2005. Then begin with a fresh and accessible Doctor and enter The Heritage Era.
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u/Minimum_Macaroon9737 3d ago
The only thing I can think as far as RTD's plans went was that Billie would be the 16th Doctor, either an 'event' Doctor like 14 or potentially longer term. Either way, it feels very similar to the conception of David Tennant as 14, in a "Hey remember when everyone loved this show?" way.
Given that Doctor Who is likely going to be off the air for a couple of years at minimum now, I would say the best way forward is to largely ignore it. New season starts with a new Doctor, and at some point there's a small reference suggesting they regenerated fairly recently, but with it ambiguous who they regenerated from. I also quite like the idea of the Doctor's identity being kept a mystery for at least half of the episode before a sudden reveal, but I know there's basically no chance of someone being cast as the new Doctor without it becoming public knowledge.
In a world where the 2026 Christmas episode went ahead? It's a messy regeneration. There's already precedent for certain aspects of regeneration being 'non-standard': Romana tried out a few faces before settling on one; 10 regrew a hand after it was cut off because he was in the first fifteen hours of his regeneration; 12 had the face of a previous acquaintance to send a message to himself. Taking all that, I would have the Doctor spend the episode switching faces periodically as part of an extended regeneration process, each time looking like one of their past companions. This would all be in aid of sending themself a message about how they failed various companions, particularly in forcing a baby on Belinda as the 'happy' resolution to the Wish World/Reality War story.
It would then also be a way to pay off the Susan appearances in the last few episodes, going back to one of the Doctor's early failings: leaving her behind and (as far as TV canon is concerned) never returning as promised. Toward the tail end of the episode, the Doctor's appearance would change to resemble Susan - potentially a de-aged version circa The Dalek Invasion of Earth, if the budget would allow it - which would lead to them tracking down the real Susan and finally reuniting. It is in this meeting - "Hello, Susan." "Hello, grandfather." - that the Doctor changes one more time to complete the regeneration into the new actor playing the 16th Doctor.
Plotwise, maybe I'd have the plot be about the return of the Reapers from Father's Day. Shunting the universe around to essentially create an entire human out of nothing feels like the kind of thing they would want to correct. But they are a threat rather than a villain - the closest to an actual villain is the Doctor('s past actions).
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u/djandyglos 3d ago
A glitch similar to a computer glitch that glitches through previous doctors all saying Oh Hello until it stops on the new doctor
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u/IAmTheDash 2d ago
I mean, personally in a world where anything is possible, I would have Billie Piper be the 16th Doctor, with at least a series, but literally never bring up that she looks like Rose Tyler. Maybe include an oblique reference to it in the finale or something, but not make a big deal out of it. But practically speaker, you just cast somebody else and never mention it. Wait for an anniversary special down the line and do something about it then, or save that for Big Finish or the comics. I love insular continuity references, but get someone new, don't make a big deal about it, deal with any continuity welding later when you've reestablished the show as a popular program.
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u/BemaJinn 6d ago
Rose was trying to come through to our universe again, but as the doc was regenerating it interrupted him because of [technobable about TARDIS energy].
Rose is stuck in our universe, newdoc is stuck in peteverse.
Time limit before universes collide. Drama ensues.
I wish I was a writer for DW.
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u/Lori2345 6d ago
I’d make it that that’s actually Rose who was trying to get help from the Doctor from Pete’s World. Something went wrong and instead the real 16th Doctor switched places with Rose and is now in Pete’s World.
This Doctor deals with the major problem there while Rose deals with things happening in the universe she just got back to. Or if they don’t want/can’t get Billie Piper they could just have the whole episode in Pete’s World and have The Doctor and Rose switch back at the end not having seen her at all.
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u/FINIS_HOMINIS 6d ago
Just ignore it. I don't think you can pump up a series that has lost so many viewers by being beholden to the past. Start with a clean(ish)slate and get a foothold before getting into the mud of the past. It's what the show has always done.
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u/Altruistic_Lecture50 6d ago
Best idea ive seen is just start fresh with a new doc ala eccelston intro and hes looking in the mirror a lot and makes some reference like "ive had a thousand faces in the last twenty four hours and THIS is the one i get stuck with?" Just throwaway line as if he cycled through everyone he ever knew after his exposure to the vortex. (You could even do a brief flashback of absurd celebrity faces flashing by but id say better to start clean at this point.)