During an appearance on a chat show, Fifteenth Doctor actor, Ncuti Gatwa has confirmed that he’s filming the next series of Doctor Who in 2025.
On The Graham Norton Show, Gatwa was asked about shooting Doctor Who and the actor replied:
“It is all going well. We did the second series this year, the Christmas special [Joy to the World] is coming up, and we are filming a third series next year.”
This is actually pretty significant because, even though Russell T Davies has apparently been working on Series 16, he’s also revealed that it’s not actually been commissioned yet, and that the decision might lie in the hands of co-producer and streaming service, Disney+. (We’re calling it Doctor Who Series 16, but some will know it as Season 3, at least under Davies’ second tenure as showrunner.)
So perhaps it’s being made without confirmed funding from Disney, but instead solely through funding via the BBC. Or perhaps Gatwa’s been contracted to film another season next year but hasn’t been given the go-ahead just yet. Or then again, it’s possible the official line is that Doctor Who is continuing, even if it’s not been cemented in yet.
Ncuti also made his San Diego Comic Con debut earlier this year, and he enthuses:
“It was incredible – it was like nerds’ Olympics. It was intense but beautiful and ‘Whovians’ are the sweetest and best fans.”
Oh, we are. We can also be awful though.
Still, there’s a lot of speculation that the programme won’t be picked up for another season, and I think that’s unfair — the latest series might not have been to everyone’s tastes, but there were some solid stories in there, namely Boom and 73 Yards. Gatwa is a strong Doctor and a very likeable chap, so I’m at least hoping he’ll stay a while longer on the franchise, perhaps even filming Series 16 and 17 together, roughly as he did with Series 14 and 15.
But we shall see. Doctor Who Series 16 is expected to air in 2026.
UPDATE: Interestingly, the final part of his quote — “we are filming a third series next year” — was edited out of the final broadcast edition.
