Doctor Who‘s future beyond next year isn’t assured, though it’s likely that Series 16 of the show will be commissioned, according to showrunner, Russell T Davies.
While Series 15 will be screened in 2025, Series 16 is being worked on, but hasn’t actually been confirmed as going ahead by the BBC (or presumably Disney, the company that makes Doctor Who available to screen via Disney+ in other territories).
Davies says:
“I’m working on the fourth script now for [Series 16]. 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.”
It’s funny, really — gone are the days where there’d be a major announcement and celebrations whenever another season of Doctor Who was confirmed. Now, however, it feels like business as usual, and we’re instead tentative in case of a press release revealing that the series has instead been cancelled or is going on hiatus.
Fortunately, there’s no sign of either, with an apparent spin-off reportedly starting filming later this year and more going ahead seemingly in the near future.
It’s interesting too that Series 16 hasn’t been commissioned yet and we don’t really know who to look to: the BBC? Or Disney? Or just the production company, Bad Wolf? Presumably it’s ultimately down to the BBC, but what if one party wants to go ahead and another doesn’t? Would it just get dropped from that service?
Hopefully, we won’t have to find out.
