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Doctor Who Showrunner Russell T. Davies Drops Season 2, Spinoff Teases

Doctor Who Showrunner Russell T. Davies had a handful of Season 2 and "The War Between the Land and the Sea" teases to pass along.

Showrunner Russell T. Davies and stars Ncuti Gatwa (Fifteenth Doctor) and Millie Gibson's (Ruby Sunday) Doctor Who is looking at a pretty busy 2024 and 2025 – and we've been learning more and more about it over the past few months. Later this year, we have the Nicola Coughlan (Derry Girls, Bridgerton)-starring, Steven Moffat-written, and Alex Pillai-directed Christmas Special "Joy to the World," Following that, we have a second season of adventures expected in 2025 – and the spinoff series The War Between the Land and the Sea, currently in production. In fact, it's been a pretty busy summer for Davies, Gatwa, Gibson, and EPs Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson – and some of that being busy is leading to some interesting teases of what's to come. If you haven't had a chance to check out Doctor Who Magazine #607, you definitely should – as you should with every issue that drops. In the most recent issue, Davies covers how everyone has been spread around the globe over the past month or so – here's a look at what caught our eye:

Noting that Collinson was in New York, Davies shared that, "He's there to record ADR (that's Automated Dialogue Recording, replacing or adding or enhancing dialogue for the show, so it's a sound session, no cameras)" and that, "He's recording with a great guest star for next year's Season 2." Time to start stepping up the social media hunting for some clues. But Collinson is also in town with a film crew "to shoot a special sequence for… oh, redacted, sorry, but you'll know all about it next issue!" Based on what Davies wrote later on, it looks like he's talking about filming something for The War Between the Land and the Sea. In terms of filming on the second season, even though filming wrapped back in May, Davies notes that "there are still moments we need to pick up." Apparently, "after much wrangling," Davies was "given permission for a very particular shot of London, to be grabbed in the next month or so, for FX work." Then he added this little extra: "New York isn't the first time we've shot abroad this year – we had an important drone shoot in a major city, thousands of miles away. All to come!"

Previously, Davies had some teases to drop during the show's official podcast (more on that in a minute) – and he had more to add in the show's official behind-the-scenes featurette for "Empire of Death." Near the end of the video below (kicking in at around the 8:45 mark), Davies notes, "Now the Doctor voyages forward, and guess what always happens to the Doctor every so often – Christmas! Here comes Christmas. I can't give away much more, but work has begun on it already, and it's mad; it's one of the maddest Christmas specials you'll ever see. It's epic; it goes to so many different places. And it's a great story of who the Doctor is when he's alone." While the segment itself might be a bit dated (filming on the special was happening a few months back), the description of the episode is a pretty intriguing one – one that we can add to the other clues out there so far.

Even though we have a few months to go to process the first season and the storyline threads that are carrying over into Season 2 (let's not forget that we still have a new companion, Varada Sethu, joining the TARDIS), it's never too early to preview what's to come – and that's exactly what we got shortly after the season finale aired on BBC One. While we were hoping for some actual footage, Davies did appear on the show's official podcast (check out the video below, beginning at the 38:40 mark) to drop some teases about Mrs. Flood (Anita Dobson) and Ruby's story being far from over in terms of the special.

Doctor Who: The Road to "Joy to the World"

In November 2023, Coughlan checked in personally via video to let fans know that they can expect to see her in the 2024 Christmas Special as a guest star in the "Joy to the World":

"Happy New Year's Eve! And the point is – there, right behind us, that's one of the sets from the Christmas 2024 episode of Doctor Who! The future! Right there ♥️ But what terrible secrets does it hide..? (etc)," Davies wrote in an Instagram post on December 31, 2023, dropping one of the earliest clues to what's to come:

In March of this year, social media posts included screencaps of Producer Alison Sterling's CV that listed the 2024 Christmas Special – with Pillai directing and Moffat penning the script. Shortly after, the listing was removed – but not replaced with a "corrected" writer. During the Radio Times Covers Party that same month, Moffat looked to shut down the idea of his returning to the long-running series. "It would be career madness, even by my standard, to go back into a junior capacity on a show I used to run. I would have to be insane to do that!" Moffat added – eventually proving that he truly was insane by penning the Season 1 episode, "BOOM."

Two months later, Moffat confirmed to TV Choice that he was writing the Pillai-directed "Joy to the World" – which would be the writer and ex-showrunner's 50th Doctor Who script. "I should probably introduce that one from an armchair, 'Here we are — number 50,'" Moffat shared. "But I'm not involved in next year's series. There are other things coming for me, so I might never write for 'Doctor Who' again. As I got to the end of 'Joy to the World,' I did think, 'Is that it? My final moment?' So that could be my goodbye. Number 50? I'll take that."

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