Will Billie Piper play the Sixteenth Doctor in Doctor Who? All the clues and theories

In a recent interview with Your Manchester, showrunner Russell T Davies completely swerved the question, joking that he has "no idea" if the Rose Tyler actress will return as the next incarnation.

That should be taken with more than a pinch of salt considering he was joking with the interview host and not committing to any answers regarding Piper's role.

However, there have been a few clues that suggest that, despite the regeneration, Piper won't technically play the Sixteenth Doctor. Ready to dive in? Allons-y!

Will Billie Piper play the Sixteenth Doctor in Doctor Who?

Of course, this won't be confirmed until Doctor Who returns to screens (while Doctor Who's future with Disney currently appears to be up in the air and the next season hasn't officially been confirmed, reports have suggested it will return to the BBC at some point).

However, the clues so far suggest that Piper won't play the Sixteenth Doctor. This is what we know:

Billie Piper wasn't credited as "the Doctor" in The Reality War

As many fans have noticed, Piper's credit in The Reality War after her surprise appearance simply read: "Introducing Billie Piper".

Every other time a new actor has been introduced as the Doctor, the credits have read: "Introducing [actor's name] as the Doctor".

If Piper was set to play the Sixteenth Doctor, what would be the point in holding back that information?

It certainly does suggest that Piper's role isn't quite that simple.

Davies and Piper are being incredibly vague about her role

Davies and Piper have both opened up about Piper's return to the Whoniverse - but nowhere do they suggest she's playing the Doctor. In fact, both of them seem to hint that her role is a lot more complicated than that.

"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," Davies said in a statement following Piper's return.

Meanwhile, Piper added: "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."

Both of them clearly state that there's more going on with Piper's role than meets the eye - so for that reveal to just end up being that she's playing the Sixteenth Doctor wouldn't really make sense.

Piper has said she won't return to Doctor Who full time

Piper clearly absolutely loves the Whoniverse and we certainly wouldn't be surprised if she has a big role in the next season of Doctor Who.

However, unless she's changed her mind, she previously said she wouldn't return to the show full time.

Chatting to The Guardian in 2021, she said: "I wouldn’t go back. It’s a great role, but you’re away from your kids for so long.

"My experience was that you were in Wales for nine months solid. And as a job it dominates your life. It’s mainstream family viewing so you can’t really escape it. It feels like it makes you very, very famous.”

More recently, she told The Independent in 2024: "I wouldn’t go back as a full-time thing, but I’d love to make another appearance."

The storyline has been done before – and very recently

It also seems unlikely that Davies would cast another familiar face as the Doctor so soon after David Tennant's return as the Fourteenth Doctor.

At the time, Tennant's return was huge news - but to do it again would seem like Doctor Who is rehashing something it's already done.

As has been said so many times before, the point of Doctor Who is that it can change and adapt - and to fall back to such a similar storyline as the 60th anniversary specials would go against this.

Knowing Davies, he's got a much bigger plan in place than simply announcing Piper as the Sixteenth Doctor.

Who could Billie Piper play in Doctor Who if she's not the Sixteenth Doctor?

So, if Piper's not playing the Sixteenth Doctor, who could she play?

It's possible that she could play a separate incarnation of the Doctor, like the Curator (played by Tom Baker), who retired from his adventurous ways, or the Fugitive Doctor (Jo Martin), who was forced to hide out from Division.

Alternatively, maybe she's playing an alternative version of Rose Tyler - perhaps even a composite being, similar to the DoctorDonna who we met in Journey's End.

Maybe it's a new character entirely - although surely there's got to be some connection to Rose there.

Either way, it's clear there's a lot more story to tell when it comes to what role Piper will play in Doctor Who's future.

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