It’s very obviously futile, but let’s use that as a space to share things that absolutely cannot be shared without spoiling things.
If you just want to discuss the episode, that thread’s already up and running.
YouTube/The Confused Adipose: DOCTOR WHO S2’S MAD ORIGINAL ENDING?! [RESHOOTS EXPLAINED +PHOTO LEAK +SYNOPSIS?! MORE SUSAN!]
I’d never heard of this channel, and I’m very wary of strange YouTubers…but this was pretty good.
It lays out a compelling narrative for how this may have been an unplanned exit for Ncuti, with a very plausible-sounding explanation of “he wasn’t willing to wait around while they sort out when season 3 will happen.” I do hope the truth comes out in short order - I’d rather not put up with the equivalent of two decades of speculation over what went down with Christopher Eccleston.
I do think there’s a third option amongst the narratives, too - it may have been “always the plan” in the sense that Ncuti had a 2-season contract, but that he had planned on renewing until all the waiting started to interfere with him picking up new projects.
I’m leaning toward your last interpretation. Gatwa went on a talk show late last year and said he expected to shoot season 3 this year. Between then and now it must have become clear that that wasn’t going to happen. And I’m fairly sure the BBC wouldn’t sign him for more seasons than they had locked in on the production schedule.
Edit: delightfully, it was the Graham Norton Show that Ncuti was on.
YouTube: Season 2:Epilogue
Ncuti: “It was always the plan to do this amount of seasons. Plus, it’s a role that demands a lot of you, physically and emotionally and mentally.”
I really hope that’s true. I would have loved to see Ncuti continue in the role, but like with Jodie Whitaker, it takes some of the sting out to know they got what they wanted from the role and moved on rather than staying on longer than intended or else felt they were being forced out.
I hope so, too - right now, I don’t see any reason not to take him at his word.
He mentions being tired and the role being demanding a couple of times in “Unleashed”, too.
“Don’t you think he looks tired?”
Words that sunk both Harriet Jones’ and Christopher Eccleston’s careers.
As everyone said farewell to this iconic Doctor, they also got sight of a very familiar face as the Doctor regenerated and it was none other than Billie Piper… Billie first appeared in the Whoniverse when Doctor Who returned to screens in 2005, as Rose Tyler, the much-loved Companion to the Doctor played by Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant. But just how and why she is back remains to be seen…
Speaking of the surprise twist, Russell T Davies adds “Billie once changed the whole of television, back in 2005, and now she’s done it again! 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. After 62 years, the Doctor’s adventures are only just beginning!”
Speaking of her return, Billie said: “It’s no secret how much I love this show, and I have always said I would love to return to the Whoniverse as I have some of my best memories there, so 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.”