The returning showrunner is already hard at work on season 15 ahead of season 14’s premiere.

By Lidia Molina-Whyte

Published: Thursday, 23 November 2023 at 13:57 PM


We may be celebrating Doctor Who‘s 60th anniversary this year with the return of a familiar face in the shape of David Tennant, but showrunner Russell T Davies is now all about the sci-fi’s future.

So much so, that he’s already hard at work on season 15. During a chat with The Big Issue, he even revealed when we can expect it to land on our screens, so we can go ahead and mark our calendars.

“If I sound a bit hyper, it’s because I just this morning delivered a Doctor Who script that will be on air in May 2025,” Davies told the publication.

“And it’s brand new. It does things we’ve never done before. The writing really pushed me.  It’s such a mad episode, I had to deliver it with a diagram explaining what’s going on! I’ve never had to do that in my entire life before.”

Russell T Davies wearing a suit, looking into camera
Russell T Davies.
David M Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images

Ncuti Gatwa has yet to make his debut on the series, which returns this weekend with the first of a series of specials.

The Star Beast will see Tennant’s Time Lord – this time, the Fourteenth Doctor – reunite with Catherine Tate’s Donna Noble and usher in a new era for the sci-fi favourite, with the BBC partnering with Disney Plus to bring the show to international audiences.

A move that happened to coincide with Davies’s return, spurred on by an email sent to the BBC after Tate and Tennant told Davies they were up for it.

“That was not my plan. I would not have thought that was possible. But I’m delighted it’s there,” Davies explained to The Big Issue. “So they sprung that trap on me and I took the bait.

“And I agree with their plan, I think that’s important to say. Because Doctor Who is worth supersizing. It deserves more money. People deserve to see this on their screens.”

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It certainly sounds like the series’s future, at home and oversees, is secure. It also seems like there’s plenty to come for Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor. Both in his debut season, set to arrive in 2024 following a Christmas Day debut, and beyond.