When asked by an audience member during an interview for Lighthouse Bookshop if he regrets writing the Doctor Who Season 2 finale ending where Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor regenerates into the form of Billie Piper, Russell T Davies gave a decisive response.

“Do I regret it? Not for a second. Fuck it,” Davies exclaimed to laughter from the audience.

“No, I loved it,” he continued. “It’s like we had a great big ending and I know there’s no Christmas special to follow up but there was meant to be at the time. That’s the problem. That there was going to be a Christmas special and then there wasn’t. But, erm, oh my god, what a glorious ending! And I love Billie. I love Billie so much and just… And I thought the amount of passion and joy she put into one word ‒ two words, ‘Oh hello’, like outranked most all the actors in the world.”

In The Reality War, when the Doctor sacrifices himself to preserve the life of a child, he must regenerate. According to Davies, the screen turns gold in his original written ending of the episode just as the Doctor begins to transform. Once it became clear that Disney wouldn’t continue financing and streaming future series, Davies felt this ending looked too much like the final death of the Doctor and the death of Doctor Who itself. Billie Piper, who played former companion Rose, was the surprising recruit to complete the regeneration.

Davies reluctantly agreed to write a 2026 Doctor Who Christmas special for the BBC with the plan to assure the audience that Doctor Who would continue. Plans for the Christmas special were abandoned once it was decided that Doctor Who would be offered to production companies for competitive tender in 2026.

Davies’ new memoir, The Queerest of Folk: A Life in Television is now available.