“Doctor Who” Team Plans Two More Seasons

It looks like “Doctor Who” could live on past its current fifteenth season.

The Mirror reports that showrunner Russell T. Davies has already planned the next two seasons of the series, with the scripts for the sixteenth already complete, and stories for the seventeenth already worked out.

While there are online claims of falling ratings and a backlash against ‘woke’ storylines, the series still generates around £100 million for BBC Studios through global licensing deals and merchandising.

Though overnight ratings are lower than last year’s, “Doctor Who” reportedly remains one of the most popular titles on BBC iPlayer and new episodes average an audience of over four million each in the UK via the streamer.

It’s not yet known if Disney will end its co-production deal with the BBC, but the franchise’s popularity is not tied to the show being on the Disney+ service.

In addition, the report indicates much of the show’s extra budget with Disney – episodes coming in at reportedly up to $13 million an episode – is spent on shooting and completing the episodes fully in 4K for streaming.

The BBC on the other hand produces its shows in standard HD like most broadcast television. ‘Who’ would simply revert back to standard HD.

Their source says: “Doctor Who is an expensive show to make, with its effects budget taking up a significant part of the overall spend, so if Disney were to withdraw its funding, then there wouldn’t be as significant an impact on production as some fans may think. The TARDIS set is still standing in Cardiff, all ready to go on new adventures.”

What is likely is the show is going on hiatus with no new series until 2027. The trade adds that the already shot limited series spin-off “The War Between the Land and the Sea” will now likely air in 2026 to fill in the lengthy gap between ‘Who’ seasons.

As for Ncuti Gatwa’s future with the series? That remains unclear. There have been rumors he has shot his segment of a regeneration scene but no-one else seems to be lined up for the back half – suggesting a possible regeneration cliffhanger.

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