In an interview with Radio Times, Russell T Davies said he is confidently working on a writing a third series for his new era.
“I’m working on the fourth script now for season three. 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.”
When this third series will air is yet unknown but Davies implied that Fifteenth Doctor Ncuti Gatwa is on board to film the third series in early 2025 after starring in a play which runs 20 November 2024 to 25 January 2025.
“Ncuti’s off to do a play, The Importance of Being Earnest. And so we’re coming back after that. Amazingly, we might be shooting those scripts early next year. Those scripts have to be ready by August for prep.”
Filming for the 2024 series started in December 2022 and concluded in July 2023. Filming for the 2025 series started in October 2023 and concluded in May 2024. It takes approximately eight months to film an entire 8-episode series and, according to the May 2024 start date for the 2024 series, approximately 10 months to complete post production.
If the third series follows the same pattern and the process has not been somehow streamlined, it should be ready by July 2026 — not an optimal time to drop a series. Perhaps the third series will be made available for viewing in Autumn 2026.
In the meantime, fans can enjoy the remaining two 2024 series finale episodes, the 2024 Christmas special with Ncuti Gatwa and co-starring Nicola Coughlan, and all eight episodes of the 2025 series.
The 2024 series finale consists of two episodes Written by Russell T Davies and directed by Jamie Donoughue. The Legend of Ruby Sunday will stream on 15 June 2024 midnight, 00:00 BST (14 June 7:00pm ET) on BBC iPlayer in the UK and Ireland and Disney+ everywhere else, where available. The Legend of Ruby Sunday will also broadcast on BBC One in the UK on 15 June at 6:45pm. On 22 June, the final episode of the series, Empire of Death will stream on iPlayer and Disney+.
Radio Times magazine is available Tuesday, 11 July 2024.