DOCTOR WHO: New Details Emerge Why Ncuti Gatwa Left The Series After Only Two Seasons

DOCTOR WHO: New Details Emerge Why Ncuti Gatwa Left The Series After Only Two Seasons

In the closing moments of Doctor Who's season 2 finale, Ncuti Gatwa bid farewell to The Doctor as the Time Lord regenerated into Billie Piper. Now, we have news on why the actor decided to leave the show.

By JoshWilding - Jun 02, 2025 07:06 AM EST
Filed Under: Television

Doctor Who is a series that's frequently been the subject of leaks, though that's perhaps an inevitability for any series with such a dedicated fanbase.

In the case of season 2, a mysterious leaker known only as "Andrew" has shared advanced word on everything from Susan to the Rani, the Fifteenth Doctor's regeneration, and even Billie Piper's surprise debut as a character thought to be the Sixteenth Doctor.

Ncuti Gatwa's departure from Doctor Who came as a surprise to many fans; the Barbie star only took centre stage in two Christmas specials and a total of sixteen episodes (he was, of course, introduced in the closing moments of the final 60th anniversary episode).

In the first eight instalments of Russell T Davies' latest revival, Gatwa's Hollywood commitments meant he played a noticeably smaller role in some episodes. As a result, it's hard to shake the feeling that we never fully got to see what he could do as the Doctor, and his stint in the TARDIS has a truncated feel to it. 

Now, "Andrew" has provided some insights into what led to Gatwa's departure from the long-running sci-fi series.

"He decided to jump ship and move on once it became clear Disney weren’t going to renew any time soon, and he didn’t want to stay tied to Dr Who when production on Season 3, if it does happen, is still some way off," the leaker explains. "Hence why they filmed his regeneration earlier in the year."

"If Ncuti’s first season had been such a ratings success, Disney would have wanted to snap him for Season 3 much sooner, when RTD was clearly expecting them to, 8:49 so he wouldn’t leave," they conclude. 

This lines up with much of what we've heard from both the trades and tabloids. Doctor Who hasn't been the runaway success on streaming that Disney+ expected, and ratings on the BBC have also declined.

That's made it less of a worthwhile investment for the streamer, and season 3—with or without Disney+'s involvement—still hasn't been confirmed. If the BBC decides to move forward with more episodes, a budget cut is inevitable, and Davies could be out as showrunner given Doctor Who's recent struggles. What that means for Piper is hard to say, though the credits crucially didn't introduce her as "The Doctor."

There's still one more series to come out of the BBC's deal with Disney+: The War Between the Land and the Sea. You can watch the trailer below, though that isn't expected to feature any version of the Time Lord.

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1stDalek
1stDalek - 6/2/2025, 10:51 AM
I get it, makes sense. S14 wasn't great, had an awful opener and a bad finale, but the middle parts were pretty good specially Boom and Rogue. They were never getting renewed when they maintained Chibnall's level of quality. I enjoyed the Chibnall-era stories overall, but the mission statement was to do better and RTD did not do better until S15.
1stDalek
1stDalek - 6/2/2025, 11:21 AM
Oh god, they ruined the Sea Devil's design! RTD can' help but ruin things that are already perfect. Chibnall gave us PERFECT modern Sea Devil costumes and back in with go with RTD shitting the bed for not goddamn reason.

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