The British newspaper, The Daily Mirror, which has often reported accurately on Nu Who, led yesterday’s front page with a story casting doubt about the future of Doctor Who.
The Mirror reports that “the future of Doctor Who is officially up in the air” and that there will be a gap of two years between the end of Ncuti Gatwa’s second season and any third season.
The gap in shooting means that there is a question mark over whether Ncuti returns at all to the series, according to the inevitable “insiders” the Mirror has spoken to. “A source” says:
“If [Ncuti] did go off to do other things, no one would blame him. He’s hardly likely to sit on his hands for the next couple of years while everyone waits to find out what is happening with Doctor Who. The truth is he simply won’t be available to film again in 2026.”
Ncuti himself added to the uncertainty last week, when he said on BBC 1’s The Graham Norton Show that he was “filming the third series next year”, only for the remark to be mysteriously cut from the broadcast edition.
The Mirror reports that “the prospect of a lengthy delay for any third series featuring Ncuti as the Doctor is real”.
The Mirror cited Doctor Who Magazine, where showrunner Russell T Davies had confirmed that Disney will not decide whether to renew its funding with BBC Studios until the second season with Ncuti airs (probably in May next year). Davies wrote:
“The decision to commission season three won’t be made until season two has transmitted, and that’s always been the deal since the start.”
According to The Mirror, Davies said he and three other writers have started working on scripts but these will be parked because of the upcoming hiatus, caused by having to wait for the delay (albeit a planned delay) for Disney’s decision until summer 2025.
The Mirror highlights that a withdrawal by Disney is a “big deal” because Disney’s cash injection for seasons one and two is thought to be £100 million (though we doubt that, in truth): a doubling or tripling of the old BBC budget for each episode. If Disney pulled out, and the show continued, it could mean a return to the old style budgets which, says The Mirror, would surely feel like “a huge step backwards”.
Whatever happens, The Mirror writes that any future series will not start filming until 2026, giving time for scripts to be completed and guest stars booked. And that might mean no season three on the screen until 2027, with or without Disney cash and with or without Ncuti as the Doctor.
The Mirror has even addressed the question of Russell getting the new series ready to go without knowing if Disney will stay on board, or how big the budget is. Could this be done? According to the “sources”: “absolutely not”. It would be “impossible” fully to plan eight episodes (a far cry from the thirteen episodes of pre-Covid seasons) without knowing the budget. Says the source:
“It massively affects the stories and the scripts. It’s much harder to film a battle scene with 800 aliens, for instance, if there isn’t the budget for CGI or for some spectacular staging.”
And what of Ncuti’s future with the show, given that, as the Mirror notes, the average length of service in the post-2005 for actors playing the Doctor is three years, plus the odd special? An “insider” told the Mirror:
“Everything is up in the air and [fans] need to brace themselves for a two year wait for a new series once this next one airs. We have been told that nothing will be filmed for Doctor Who in 2025.”
Ncuti is now expected to receive movie, TV, and stage role offers to fill the years that might have been spent filming Doctor Who, leading the newspaper to speculate that he will not return after his second season.
And what of the ratings? Doom mongers have noted that ratings have declined from 8 million in the days of Matt Smith and David Tennant to under four million now. The Mirror rightly points out that much of the decline is attributable to TV now being watched differently thanks to streaming and catch up services. No Disney+ viewing figures are made public but the Mirror reports that US sources have suggested Disney executives were left “underwhelmed” by Ncuti’s first season.
There is still hope that all will be well. Liam Keelan, Disney’s original productions executive, said that Doctor Who was a “really good fit” for Disney and that it was a “fabulous series”. Speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival this summer, Keelan said he was:
“Really, really happy to have it. I think just, the quirkiness of it, the fact that it’s in the sci-fi world and when you think about what Disney offers in other regards, I think it feels like a really good fit to me. I mean, it’s great to have it.”
Also speaking in Edinburgh, BBC head of content Charlotte Moore said the new, big budget Doctor Who had “done so well for young audiences”.
A BBC spokesperson has declined to comment on Doctor Who’s future. Charlotte Moore hinted she was hopeful for a new deal, adding:
“It’s been a great collaboration, we’ve really enjoyed it. It’s a great ride to be on.”
Yet, as The Mirror’s headline has it, Doctor Who’s future is certainly “up in the air”.
