Doctor Who Series 15 is underway, with Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) now travelling, albeit largely reluctantly, in the TARDIS with the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa). But while showrunner, Russell T Davies, has written most of the stories, there are more stories to come from different writers.

So what can we expect from the rest of Series 15? Davies has teased what’s coming up in an interview with the BBC…

We’ve got four new writers on board this year. So what do each of them bring to the show? And what is it you look for when you’re deciding on new writers?

Simply new voices, that’s all, with a great range and a great talent. I mean, it’s a very tough show to write for because all rules are off. In most dramas people sleep and get into cars. They might argue with their boss or, they pick up a gun. Picking up a gun is normally scene one for Doctor Who, there’s always a laser, or a nuclear reactor being aimed at you, in some way. So, it’s hard, there are various technical problems with Doctor Who that make it difficult to write. Number one being that the Doctor arrives in the most unique and powerful and invulnerable spaceship ever created in the history of the universe, the TARDIS. And so, with every episode, it’s like, “Why don’t you just turn around and go back to the TARDIS?” And you genuinely have to find ways around that. But that’s just technical details. What you want with a writer is a great voice. And with all of these people, there’s tremendous voice.

Inua [Ellams] is just so good. Inua works as a poet, he’s also a performance poet. And he has so much culture in his soul. He brings extraordinary knowledge and imagination and cultural depth to Doctor Who, The Story & the Engine is unlike any episode you’ve ever seen before.

Juno [Dawson] is very experienced, she’s a Sunday Times bestseller with her fantasy novels. Those novels are extraordinary, they’ve gone around the world. And so, to tap into that imagination and to bring that to Doctor Who, was fantastic.

Sharma [Angel-Walfall] is young and so full of ideas and energy and excitement. Apparently I met Sharma when she was at school! I gave a talk at a theatre and she was there. So just all these years later here we are working together and that’s been a joy. When you work with someone that young and brilliant, I learn more of them than they could ever learn of me.

And lovely Pete McTighe! Pete lives in Cardiff. It’s kind of ridiculous that we haven’t got around to using him faster and sooner. He knows Doctor Who intimately, it’s literally his favourite show in the world. The great thing about him knowing Doctor Who so well is that he thinks of ideas that Doctor Who had never done before and pushes into that area. He writes the story of Ruby Sunday coming back, which is the life of a companion once the Doctor has left, which hasn’t been touched on before. We’re lucky to get Pete as he’s the showrunner of his own shows, he’s brilliant. So, you just count your lucky stars when you get a writer like that on board.

What can you tease about The Interstellar Song Contest, and Rylan as well? How did that all happen?

Rylan has been sending me DMs asking me to be in the show for about five years now! It took a long time to build up to this. Literally, for the past three or four years, I’ve been saying just wait, just wait. Because I kind of always knew we had this on the way. We had to work out whether we could do this Interstellar Song Contest and when we decided to do that, I did send out a text and that was a great day in the Clarke House, I think he was leaping around the place! I also I knew he’d be brilliant. He gave us a lot of his time. He doesn’t just pop up for six lines, he’s properly in the episode and it’s amazing because it’s one of the hardest things you can ever have to do is to cast people to act as television presenters, or as on -screen presences because it’s a real skill, he’s brilliant.

And moving on to Mrs Flood, there’s a big question around her and who she is going into this season. Will viewers get their answers this year? Or is there anything you can tease about that? 

There are very definite answers. It may raise more questions as well, but yes, we adore Anita. And a long time ago, it must have been a couple of years ago, I sat her down at my office and explained where we were heading, and that was a great moment, her eyes were popping out of her head, and she was so delighted to be given such a big story. So, she will be mysteriously cropping up throughout time and space, she’s no longer just a neighbour watching the Doctor go to and fro. Suddenly she has that ability across planets and history. So how on Earth has that happened? I promise you reveals. By the time we get to the season finale the doors are open, and the battle is on.

And we’ve mentioned Rylan, we’ve mentioned Anita but there are some incredible, incredible guest artists this year. How does it feel to be part of this show that just attracts such a high calibre of actors?

It’s just brilliant. When it comes to someone like Rose Ayling-Ellis, we all learn. We had to sort of sit down and write how would the deaf community live in the year of 400,000? How would that be different? What would be the same? Talking to Rose, and talking to her team who interpret for her, was just such a great learning experience, and you just come out of it just a bit wiser and bit better. What I didn’t quite realise is that we’d be getting one of the greatest actors I’ve ever worked with. I kind of knew she’d be wonderful; I watched her in EastEnders. I knew she was a class actor, but actually that character goes through absolute terror and bravery and twists. Then it’s fascinating to watch and its immaculately performed.

And then at the other end of the scale, you get Jonah Hauer-King coming in, who’s in big Hollywood movies. He has a big relationship with Ruby and you don’t just give that to any actor. He comes in with so much love and decency and imagination, he’s just lovely.

With Christopher Chung, you kind of build-up relationships among actors over the years, and hoping one day you’ll find the right path for them. That was another instant offer. Kadiff (Kirwan) as well, it’s extraordinary I’ve never worked with him.

And of course, Alan Cumming, the voice of Mr Ring-a-Ding, that was gorgeous. I didn’t get to meet him as his final voice work was done in New York. But that’s brilliant. And he’s very happy with it, apparently. We’re just so lucky.

And there are some guest stars we’re not even mentioning yet. Just keep watching, it’s very exciting…

What can you tell us about Ruby Sunday?

We’re so delighted that Millie’s coming back and that was always the plan. We’re so lucky she always wants to come back because she’s been so successful. We love the fact she will always give up her time and come back to Doctor Who because there’s so much more to be explored. And there are moments in this season where we see the Doctor and Belinda and Ruby together that are wonderful. Plus, her mother Carla played by Michelle Greenidge, and her grandmother, Cherry, played by the amazing Angela Wynter. They’re all back. The whole team is back. Millie just grows in strength and power. I adore watching her, and there is a really extraordinary episode for Ruby, doing things Ruby’s never had to do before.

And last year had quite a few hide behind the sofa moments. Is there going to be more of that this year?

Yes, I think it’s scarier this year. We’re keeping quiet about episode three because there’s some jumps and jolts in that one and some real horror in it. It’s a very unusual episode. The Interstellar Song Contest episode isn’t what people think. It’s tough, that episode. It’s much tougher than people think. And every episode has some really big thrills. I think a living cartoon is a really sinister idea. There’s something so enforced about the duality of the cartoon, there’s something sinister in that all on its own. So, lots of scares. And in the first episode, the enemy that Belinda ends up facing is really a tough piece of work, an amazing piece of design as well. Some of the best prosthetics I’ve ever seen from Neil Gorton and his prosthetics teams.

Last year saw Doctor Who launch globally for the first time ever on BBC iPlayer and Disney+ ahead of BBC One. Can you just talk us through that success?

It’s been great, we’re thrilled. Our last episode that went out at Christmas has been watched by over 7 million now, which is huge. The figures as a whole for Doctor Who on BBC iPlayer are ferocious. For the whole brand of Doctor Who, there had been over 70 million viewer hours in 2024 [according to BARB], and with people being able to go back and watch any episode in the Whoniverse, the episodes are all still growing. That’s just extraordinary – 70 million viewer hours! It’s one of the top five brands on iPlayer and let’s bear in mind that BBC iPlayer is one of the biggest and fastest-growing streaming platforms in Great Britain. It’s huge, it’s huge.

Doctor Who Series 15 continues every Saturday on BBC1, iPlayer, and Disney+.