EYE TV
Doctor Who (BBC1/Disney+)
THE biggest sin in the theology ofDoctor Whois referring to the central character by the title of the series: he (or, on rare occasions, she) is called the Doctor.
Now, though, the title has a different ambiguity. For the first time in 62 years – even if you take into account the 16-year gap in the middle, during which Paul McGann took on the role in a one-off movie (this stuff really matters to Whovians) – we don’t know who the Doctor is. The 15th incumbent, Ncuti Gatwa, transformed at the end of the 2025 series into former companion actress Billie Piper, who was not credited as the Doctor. (Again, a key doctrinal distinction for those who care.)
The last two episodes of Russell T Davies’s second stint as showrunner (returning in 2023 after a first stint from 2005-10) turned on a significant date: Gatwa had to thwart a plot by Conrad Clark – a sort of more Elon Musky version of the Doctor’s old enemy, the Master – to stop 24 May 2025 happening. After some nifty sonic screwdriver work, the Gregorian calendar survived.