In a pre-taped episode of The Graham Norton Show which will air on BBC One at 10:40pm this evening, Ncuti Gatwa revealed that he will film another Doctor Who series some time in 2025.
“It is all going well. We did the second series this year, the Christmas special is coming up, and we are filming a third series next year.”
The filming is expected to occur the second half of next year since Russell T Davies said in Doctor Who Magazine 609 that a third series won’t be commissioned until after Season Two completes transmission.
“The decision to commission Season 3 won’t be made until after Season 2 has transmitted. And that’s always been the deal since the start. Hey, we might even have a day off! Although maybe not, with the whole of [the Doctor Who spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea] to complete and the rest of Season 2 to hammer into shape. So the Great Work goes on.”
The transmission date for Season Two has not yet been announced. The earliest fans can expect for the eight-episode series to begin transmission is some time in spring 2025. This would mean the series would complete transmission some time in the middle of the year at the earliest.
This is good news and bad news. The good news is that fans can enjoy a third full series with Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor. The bad news post-production on Doctor Who is a lengthy process, most notably in regard to visual effects. It may not be possible for there to be a full series of Doctor Who in 2026.
Filming for Season One started in December 2022 and concluded in July 2023 for a May 2024 transmission. It takes approximately eight months to film an entire 8-episode series and, according to the May 2024 start date for the Season One, approximately 10 months to complete post production. Filming for Season Two started in October 2023 and concluded in May 2024 which would make spring 2025 transmission possible.
Based on the timing for Season One, if production doesn’t begin on Season Three until mid 2025 or later, the earliest Season Three could transmit would be spring 2027.
In the meantime, fans can enjoy the 2024 Christmas special Joy to the World with Ncuti Gatwa and co-starring Nicola Coughlan, eight episodes of Season Two in 2025 and, at some point, five episodes of the Doctor Who spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea.