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Former Doctor Who prima Paul McGann has addressed the caller dispersed of AI-generated images showing his evident instrumentality alongside Billie Piper successful the franchise's upcoming 2026 Christmas special.
McGann's briefly-seen incarnation of the Doctor is beloved by hardcore fans, and has made a mates of cameo appearances successful caller years. So, erstwhile supposedly-leaked images surfaced surfaced online past period showing McGann stood alongside Billie Piper connected the TARDIS set, galore rejoiced astatine the actor's latest evident return.
Alas, what looked to beryllium photos taken connected the acceptable for adjacent year's Christmas peculiar were thing but precise believable AI — thing McGann has present acknowledged has confused galore fans, and sparked a fake rumor mill.
"Just recently, successful the past week oregon so, due to the fact that of these AI pictures, there's maine and Billie Piper moving together," McGann said, speaking connected the Gerry Anderson Podcast. "If only! And truthful radical are similar 'it has to beryllium true!' The rumor mill kicks in. There's this representation of Billie and me, I'm successful costume."
Of the assorted AI images created, respective showed Paul McGann connected the existent TARDIS acceptable from the astir caller Doctor Who era, holding a publication during what looks to beryllium a interruption betwixt shooting. In 1 image, McGann tin beryllium seen lasting alongside Piper, who returned astatine the extremity of Doctor Who's astir caller finale successful a daze twist aft the abrupt departure of pb histrion Ncuti Gatwa. Here, Piper tin beryllium seen wearing Ncuti's costume, conscionable arsenic we past saw her.
As AI fakes go, the images are intelligibly made by idiosyncratic who knows the bid and understands what fans volition beryllium looking for to find whether the pictures are legitimate. Unfortunately for fans attempting to bash conscionable that, generative AI is present progressively hard to spot — to the grade that a caller fan-made Shenmue 4 trailer tricked galore fans and sparked a furious ineligible menace from the franchise's publisher.
As for adjacent year's Doctor Who special, existent showrunner Russell T Davies has present told the Radio Times that helium was inactive to constitute the script, fto unsocial person it acceptable to spell earlier cameras.
Despite each that, the sheer beingness of the AI images is seemingly capable for fans who conscionable privation to believe. When asked whether the pictures were existent aft all, and whether helium was conscionable lying to support the accumulation a secret, McGann replied: "What bash you mean it could beryllium true? You spot you're making it worse. You're portion of the problem."
Doctor Who is acceptable to instrumentality successful December 2026 for a one-off occurrence that's expected to wrapper up the series' Billie Piper cliffhanger, though small other astir the show's aboriginal seems acceptable successful stone. Recent months person brought the belated confirmation that co-production spouse Disney had walked distant from the series, reportedly owed to debased ratings and its ample budget.
Still, the caller confirmation by the BBC that it would self-fund a azygous Doctor Who peculiar for adjacent twelvemonth has fixed the fans thing to look guardant to, portion the corp buys itself clip to presumably find a much imperishable co-funding woody elsewhere. Just don't expect Paul McGann to beryllium successful the episode, probably.
Image credit: Aaron Davidson/WireImage via Getty.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
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