Spoilers Russell T. Davies Returns to Doctor Who as New Showrunner

[Richard S. Ta]

So this image was accidentally used by Disney+ as the splash screen for Wish World briefly. That scene obviously didnt appear in Wish World, it was also not in the finale or any other episode this season.

Where is it from? A deleted scene? One person online is claiming they heard from ‘insiders’ that it’s from an alt-ending shot for the season finale if Ncuti had decided to stay.

It's (apparently) from an abandoned ending which was reshot.

 

[Mudd]

Triggered by a comment I saw elsewhere...

In what sense?

 

[DigificWriter]

Nah if that were the case the end credits would have said that. Like they have for every other modern regeneration

See the part of my post that you cut off: including an attempt by the people involved in the show to keep some secrets about the future narrative.

Not crediting Billie as The Doctor and playing coy in interviews is the equivalent of a "No comment"; it doesn't change what is obvious as presented, though.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Except, as noted by others in either this thread or the review thread, the last couple of regenerations have been weird. There are all kinds of weird possibilities about what's going on including the Heart of the TARDIS or the Moment effecting the regeneration and therefore Billie isn't necessarily playing an actual incarnation of The Doctor. There's plenty of precedent for wonky regenerations involving outside sources from K'anpo Rimpoche and The Watcher, as well as different types of incarnations such as The Valeyard and The War Doctor.

To be clear, I do think Billie is playing The Doctor but I'm not convinced she's playing The Sixteenth Doctor and I believe that there's more going on than a simple regeneration.

 

[DigificWriter]

the last couple of regenerations have been weird

Not really.

Bigeneration isn't "weird"; it's " new".

And the concept of a new incarnation of The Doctor having an old face from their past was set up by Moffat in The Day of the Doctor; RTD just took the idea and expanded on it.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Bigeneration isn't "weird"; it's " new".

It can be both.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

It can be both.

And like I said, there's precedent for weird regenerations.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

I must be one of the very few who actually genuinely enjoys the bigeneration concept by this point?

 

[Richard S. Ta]

Not really.

Bigeneration isn't "weird"; it's " new".

You know exactly what they meant. You’re just playing semantic games.

 

[jaime]

I'm kind of starting to wonder if Billie Piper's appearance will end up just being a few second cameo before her face shifts a second time into whoever the full time 16th Doctor will be.

I don't take that kind of shit seriously, because they like to screw with people. The Doctor regenerated into her, so she is The Doctor, it's just a matter of why and for how long. I guess this could be a situation like The War Doctor where she's disowned and not included in the count, but even then she's still technically The Doctor.

It’s still Ncutis body on screen, so might as well. Didn’t even bother with a proper costume and regen shot.

 

[matthunter]

I have no idea, but it is sexy as hell.

Indeed. I had seen the pic on FB a few days before the ep and was disappointed the scene didn't actually occur.

Fortunately Bonnie Langford's still-magnificent bum got me over it.

 

[DigificWriter]

You’re just playing semantic games.

No.

I'm disputing the point that the past two Regenerations were "weird".

Until/unless we're explicitly told otherwise through the in-universe narrative, the simplest and most obvious conclusion to draw from what happened at the end of The Reality War - credits and coy comments from RTD and Billie Piper herself notwithstanding - is that she (Billie) is playing the Sixteenth Doctor.

This is what many news entities - and the Fandom TARDIS Wiki - have done, and it is what I am personally doing.

 

[Mudd]

I'm disputing the point that the past two Regenerations were "weird".

What on DW isn't weird?

 

[Nerys Myk]

I'm disputing the point that the past two Regenerations were "weird".

If someone thinks they've been weird, then they're weird to them. To me they are unusual. Popping back to an old face before bigenerating is "weird/unusual". Regenerating into the form of a companion is "weird/unusual". Both (All three?) are different than the typical regeneration. So "weird" is a legitimate comment.

 

[jaime]

No.

I'm disputing the point that the past two Regenerations were "weird".

Until/unless we're explicitly told otherwise through the in-universe narrative, the simplest and most obvious conclusion to draw from what happened at the end of The Reality War - credits and coy comments from RTD and Billie Piper herself notwithstanding - is that she (Billie) is playing the Sixteenth Doctor.

This is what many news entities - and the Fandom TARDIS Wiki - have done, and it is what I am personally doing.

They were weird. The narrative even says they are weird. To be fair, every regen since Tennant has been weird in some way.

But, like you, I see no reason not to be in the Billie Piper is the new Doctor camp, even if I think it’s a bit shite, and an obvious Hail Mary from the powers that be.

 

[DigificWriter]

Both (All three?) are different than the typical regeneration

And, again, I dispute this point.

 

[Nerys Myk]

And, again, I dispute this point.

Let me repeat myself
Popping back to an old face before bigenerating is "weird/unusual". Regenerating into the form of a companion is "weird/unusual". Both (All three?) are different than the typical regeneration. So "weird" is a legitimate comment.

 

[DigificWriter]

They were weird. The narrative even says they are weird

Fourteen not knowing why they Regenerated with Ten's face makes the result unexpected/unexplained; it doesn't make it out of the ordinary (which is what "weird", in this context, implies).

And Bigeneration was clearly something that had been considered but dismissed as mythological by the Time Lords solely and simply because it hadn't happened, but, again, that doesn't make it out of the ordinary.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Fourteen not knowing why they Regenerated with Ten's face makes the result unexpected/unexplained; it doesn't make it out of the ordinary (which is what "weird", in this context, implies).

And Bigeneration was clearly something that had been considered but dismissed as mythological by the Time Lords solely and simply because it hadn't happened, but, again, that doesn't make it out of the ordinary.

Something that is considered mythological and hasn’t happened before literally couldn’t be any more out of the ordinary.

 

[DigificWriter]

Something that is considered mythological and hasn’t happened before literally couldn’t be any more out of the ordinary.

Something isn't out of the ordinary simply because it hasn't happened or because someone wasn't aware of it having happened.