Doctor Who Series 12 - 8 Major Rumours You Need To Know

In recent years, each Doctor Who showrunner has been keen to provide a singular vision of the show, achieving this by, mostly, avoiding recurring links to previous incarnations of The Doctor, and the show itself, with notable exceptions including the era-spanning mystery of River Song’s true identity, and the fantastic 50th anniversary episode, The Day of the Doctor.

But a little online digging unearths numerous mentions by cast, crew, and insiders alike of a return for Billie Piper’s fan-favourite companion, Rose Tyler. Rose was last seen properly in Season 4 finale Journey’s End, where she, along with David Tennant’s meta-crisis Doctor, was seemingly walled off in a parallel universe. That said, this is Doctor Who, and in a show predicated on the wibbly-wobbly and the timey-wimey, anything can happen. After all, this is a show that managed to keep the reveal of John Hurt as The War Doctor, the most seismic change to Who lore since the Valeyard, a secret from all but the most intrepid of online sleuths.

Corroboration-wise, several articles have surfaced online suggesting that Chris Chibnall has been in active talks with Piper regarding a return to the show, and one eagle-eyed set watcher even spotted a script featuring the word ‘Rose’s’. Of course, this could be mere coincidence, but a return for Rose would be an enormous, headline-grabbing event, and would have huge implications for other members of team TARDIS, given the special nature of The Doctor and Rose’s relationship.

And that’s assuming Rose returns as a protagonist.