Posted in: BBC, Disney+, TV | Tagged: doctor who, Ncuti Gatwa

Doctor Who, Ncuti Gatwa & The Disappearing Season 3 Announcement

Seems Ncuti Gatwa's reported announcement about Doctor Who Season 3 filming in 2025 was cut from The Graham Norton Show. What does it mean?

As previously said on Doctor Who, there's always a twist at the end, and it has slipped into real life once again. Earlier, The Radio Times had reported that Ncuti Gatwa announced on The Graham Norton Show that he would be filming his third season of Doctor Who in 2025. Every outlet reported it since these things tended to be given to the news media in advance to drum up viewers when the talk show aired. He was reported to have said, "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." Fans were relieved, haters harrumphed, and then, guess what? When Graham Norton aired on Friday night, they cut out the bit where Gatwa mentioned he would be filming season three in 2025. It's subtle. It's in the bit where, at Graham Norton's prompting, he talked about his experience on Doctor Who and suddenly, he didn't talk about season three at all. TWIST!

Doctor Who Season 3 Renewal is "Uncertain" Again

Why did the BBC, which also owns The Graham Norton Show, cut that bit out? Was Gatwa not supposed to say it? Was that announcement premature? The BBC hasn't commented because it didn't air, so it doesn't exist. Fans went back to handwringing and fretting that Doctor Who wasn't renewed after all, that there wouldn't be a third season after all! Oh, no! We're back to Schodinger's Season Renewal. Some speculated that Disney objected to the announcement. Who knows? The fact is, it's up to the BBC and the series co-financier Disney to decide when to officially announce a third season. Until then, it doesn't exist officially.

Stop Worrying Already!

We'll say it again: don't worry. It's safe to assume there will be a third season because Doctor Who is an important property to the BBC. The series has consistently made the BBC at least £100 million in sales and licensing every year. The series also creates hundreds of jobs every year and has added hundreds of pounds to the Welsh economy and, by extension, the British economy as a whole. Doctor Who has been a major job creator in a country where complaints about the lack of jobs have been loud for ages. Why would the BBC want to cancel it? It's good business to keep making it. The BBC has announced that the latest series has been their most popular show amongst young viewers, including those 18 to 35. Disney would be loathe to let the show go and get picked up by a rival streamer.

What's Up with All the Worry Anyway?

Why is Doctor Who fandom all about worrying about the show getting cancelled when there is no indication it is in danger? Why does fandom keep thinking it'll be cancelled when most of the current fandom wasn't even born the last time it was cancelled? And it wasn't even cancelled officially. It just wasn't renewed. It's a waste of time and energy worrying whether the series will be cancelled now. It's not an unknown property like, say, KAOS, which got cancelled by Netflix after one season, but that's a different case. KAOS may be clever and high concept, but unlike Doctor Who, it didn't have characters for an audience to fall in love with forever. That might be the key to a series' survival.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!