There are a huge variety of intriguing questions set to be answered in the upcoming Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials later this year – and perhaps one of the biggest mysteries of all relates to the new character played by Yasmin Finney.

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The Heartstopper star is playing a character called Rose, with Whovians across the world wondering just how she relates to Billie Piper's iconic companion of the same name from returning showrunner Russell T Davies' first stint at the helm of the sci-fi series.

And while we'll likely have to wait until the episodes arrive before we get any concrete answers, Piper herself has now thrown her support behind Finney on Instagram.

Commenting on a post from the official Doctor Who account which showed Finney on the front cover of the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine, Piper wrote: "[love] u Rose."

Piper played Rose Tyler for the first two seasons of the modern Doctor Who era – as a companion to both Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant's Doctors – and memorably returned for the last three episodes of season 4 and specials in 2010 and 2013.

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Billie Piper's comment
Billie Piper's comment. Instagram

When Finney's casting was first announced last year, Russell T Davies teased: "Life on Doctor Who gets brighter and wilder, how can there be another Rose? You’ll find out in 2023, but it’s an absolute joy to welcome Yasmin to the Doctor Who set."

Since then, Finney's Rose has briefly appeared in the trailers for the upcoming specials, which has only added to the speculation about the meaning of her character and the significance of her name.

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A number of theories have already been posited by fans – with some believing she might be a parallel universe variant of Rose Tyler and others suggesting that she is Donna Noble and Shaun's daughter.

For her part, Finney has been tight-lipped about the exact identity of her character, joking back in November 2022 that: "There are spies. If I talk about the Whoniverse, it's over!"

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