Doctor Who Updates Beyond Season 15 Has RTD “Confident” About Show’s Future Despite No Official Renewal
While Doctor Who has yet to be renewed for a new season beyond season 15, Russell T Davies is hard at work at a potential third Ncuti Gatwa-led season and confident in the show’s future. After debuting in 2023’s 60th-anniversary special, Gatwa’s first full season has seen the fifteenth incarnation of the Time Lord joined by new companion Ruby Sunday, portrayed by Millie Gibson, for eight adventures. Following a seasonal special set to air in December 2024, both Gatwa and Gibson return in the recently filmed Doctor Who season 15 in 2025, and will be joined by Varada Sethu’s new companion.
As Doctor Who season 14 enters its final quarter, Davies revealed to RadioTimes what viewers should expect from the series following Gatwa’s second season in 2025. While the showrunner revealed that the series had yet to be renewed beyond the initial two-series order between the BBC and Disney, he confirmed he had taken the initiative to continue writing scripts for a potential season 16, with filming set to begin in early 2025 should the series be renewed. Check out Davies’ response below:
I’m working on the fourth script now for season 3. It’s not actually commissioned, that’s still up in the air. But that’s the same for every TV programme. I shouldn’t say we’re confident, because that’s asking for a fall, but we’re very confident, to be honest. And we’ll just keep going.
I can’t stop, that’s the problem!
Ncuti’s off to do a play, The Importance of Being Earnest. And so were coming back after that. Amazingly, we might be shooting those scripts early next year. Those scripts have to be ready by about August, for prep. And it’s June. We’re not behind – but all my deadlines are just going to slap me in the face like mad. That’s my summer ruined, ha!
What We Know About Doctor Who’s Future
With Davies’ high hopes for his new era of Doctor Who growing, it is unsurprising that he is already looking beyond the series’ official order. Alongside the current order of episodes, it has long been rumored that a selection of spin-offs set within the universe are in development at production company Bad Wolf, with the most prominent rumors surrounding a Sea Devil-centered spin-off titled The War Between The Land and Sea. While the spin-off isn’t confirmed, Davies also has many long-term plans for the main series.
As Davies alludes to in his response, season 16 of Doctor Who would be intended to feature Gatwa leading the series once more as the Fifteenth Doctor, as each Doctor’s departure had been announced ahead of their final scenes being filmed. However, it is unclear whether Gibson or Sethu would remain with the Doctor, with Davies alluding to Ruby’s story being one season 14 and 15 would fully explore. One previously teased element that would return is the Meep’s (Miriam Margolyes) “Boss”, whom Davies confirmed would be a thread revisited far later down the line.
Though Doctor Who has yet to be renewed for season 16, it is clear from Davies’ response that there is a lot of optimism surrounding the series’ future. Even in a changing television landscape, the series has continued to be a key asset for the BBC in attracting hard-to-reach younger demographics. As such, with Davies not only hard at work, but eyeing a potential production start, new adventures in 2026 seem like a likely possibility.
