ValueSubtracted

Oh.

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 kind of expected Omega to be a big ol' nothingburger, kind of like Rassilon in "The End of Time", so I wasn't disappointed on that front.

There's a lot of potential in Omega, though, and to be honest I don't think any of the stories in which he appears have come anywhere close to taking advantage of it. He's always just a generic madman.

I have a lot of conflicting thoughts about the Poppy stuff - you make some very good points. I do think the Doctor and Belinda were planning on being...non-romantic parents toward the end there, which seemed to make sense to me. But I'm really not sure what to make of the whole thing, on a logical or thematic level. Like I said in my first comment, they did manage to take it from something I had no investment in to something I was actually kind of sad about, so they get some credit there, but...I won't be surprised at all if we learn that there was an earlier version of this story that went in a different direction.

Nope - at the end of this video, RTD says "quite soon" twice, which could mean...a lot of things.

But I'm pretty sure we'll see it before 2025 is out, so there's that.

Oh?

I think something like that is happening - available rooms are being prioritized for evacuees with medical or accessibility needs, as the article says.

The issue with proactively evicting people is...those people have to go somewhere, too.

"I ask all levels of government, please come together, work together, ask that these hotels and these accommodations make space for our people. We are in a state of emergency, you can give that directive."

I find this a little confusing - are they to "ask" the hotels to make space, or are they to "direct" them? Those are two very different things.

And if it's the latter...is there a legal way to do so? This is an honest question, I have no idea what the answer is.

YouTube: Season 2:Epilogue

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.”

Official Site: Ncuti Gatwa says final farewell to the TARDIS as the Fifteenth Doctor regenerates...

the implication that he is never going to come back and that he’s been replaced by a human dad

I took it more as him knowing he was going to stay away during Poppy's childhood for safety's sake, and that he would have a different face when he returned.

I wanted to add that Thirteen's appearance has really grown on me - I think she's the one incarnation of the Doctor who would be able to drop the sanctimonious "I have to stop you" bullshit so quickly, and help Fifteen instead. The others would have gotten there eventually, but she's the version most equipped to get there so quickly.

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.