Posted in: BBC, TV | Tagged: doctor who, russell t davies

Doctor Who: RTD "Expecting" Season 3 Order, Didn't Expect Decision Yet

Doctor Who Showrunner Russell T. Davies isn't surprised that he hasn't heard about Season 3, adding that he's "expecting" to get the order.

With Nicola Coughlan (Derry Girls, Bridgerton)-starring, Steven Moffat-written, and Alex Pillai-directed Christmas Special "Joy to the World" hitting later this year and a second season on the way in 2025, there's a lot to celebrate if you're a fan of Showrunner Russell T. Davies' Ncuti Gatwa (Fifteenth Doctor) and Millie Gibson (Ruby Sunday)-starring Doctor Who. And yet… the rumblings on social media continue to rumble about whether or not Disney is truly happy with the results of its production deal with the BBC and Bad Wolf for the long-running series.

Fueling that speculation is that an official order for a third season hasn't been given – but Davies makes it clear that with the way the industry works now, "these things take time" and that he wasn't expecting a decision on Season 3 until the second season started hitting screens. That said, Davies also notes that the creative team is "expecting" a third season, and "that's what we've always been heading towards." During an interview with SFX Magazine, Davies had this to share about the show's future. "It's an industry decision; it's like any business – these things take time. I think the decision will come after the transmission of season two. That's what we're expecting, that's what we've always been heading towards."

Speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival earlier this month, Liam Keelan, Disney's SVP of original productions in EMEA, shared how "The Mouse" is feeling about the co-production arrangement. "[Doctor Who] is a fabulous series. Obviously, in the UK, it's fully BBC, and rightly so. We take 'rest of world' rights. But really, really happy to have it. I think just the quirkiness of it, the fact that it's in that sci-fi world, and when you think about what Disney offers in other regards, I think it feels like a really good fit to me. I mean, it's great to have it."

"We feel good about the first season. Just as 'Industry' was a really small experiment at the start, I think this new building of the franchise between the BBC and Disney+ – it's a whole new iteration, and us all coming back all these years later to do it. It was a whole new adventure. We're really pleased with the show that we've made and that there is a whole new audience being driven to the show who haven't watched 'Doctor Who' in the past, has been exactly what Russell [Davies] set out to do. So that's really good," Bad Wolf co-founder Jane Tranter shared during an interview with Deadline Hollywood from earlier this month.

From there, Tranter offered a rundown of what's in store for "The WHO-niverse" – including the spinoff mini-series that was announced during San Diego Comic-Con 2024 (SDCC 2024). "We announced last week that we're doing 'The War Between The Land And The Sea,' which is the first time there's a mini-series within the whole universe. So we're thrilled that the BBC and Disney+ have awarded us that to do," Tranter revealed. "We're still in the edit, very early days of the edit for Season 2, which obviously won't go out for another year or so. It's very exciting. We're right in the middle of the journey, and it's very exhilarating."

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