10 Actors Who Won't Return To Doctor Who

Unlike her Series 1 co-lead Christoper Eccleston, Billie Piper got on well enough with the production team to continue for a second series, before returning to the show in 2008, 2010, and 2013.

These days she’s busy with other projects, such as I Hate Suzie (a show she also co-created). And although she’s starred in three seasons of Rose Tyler: The Dimension Cannon for Big Finish – plus a handful of other audio stories alongside David Tennant – she’s less inclined to play Rose again on TV.

As she insisted in one 2022 interview, any comeback would have to be on her own (very particular) terms:

“If it was shot in London – sorry that’s a really loveless answer! There’s a running theme here, I don’t want to work much. If it was like four episodes all shot in London, then yeah, I’d be like a rat-up-a-drainpipe for that.”

Given that Doctor Who is currently based in Cardiff, a Rose return therefore seems unlikely – fitting as it would be for the Bad Wolf to set foot inside Bad Wolf Studios!

In 2021 she also stated, "I wouldn’t go back. It’s a great role, but you’re away from your kids for so long", and though on other occasions she has seemed more open to a return, it would clearly take a lot to coax her back for another go.