Ncuti Gatwa has issued a statement today, addressing what happened on the episode of Doctor Who that just released this week—i.e., him apparently being put out of a job, as the Doctor once again regenerated, this time into the familiar form of former cast member Billie Piper.

Piper, 42, starred as the companion to the ninth Doctor in 2005, playing Rose Tyler alongside Christopher Eccleston’s Time Lord.

In Doctor Who season 2 finale The Reality War viewers saw Ncuti Gatwa’s final scenes as the Doctor as he steps down from one of the most iconic roles in British television. In an epic two-part season finale,