Recent press reports are stating that Ncuti Gatwa is returning to film a third series of Doctor Who in 2025. However, it appears the situation is not quite so clear-cut.

During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Ncuti Gatwa was widely reported to have confirmed his future involvement, indicating at a third run for his Doctor. However, this part of his comment was notably edited out from the final BBC broadcast, raising questions about the certainty of these plans.

Originally, Ncuti Gatwa was reported as saying:

“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.”

But in the final broadcast version of the interview, Gatwa said:

“It’s all going well. We finished the second season earlier this year, we’ve got the Christmas episode coming out … at Christmas … But it’s been amazing.”

While fans took his original comment as a clear confirmation of a future series beyond next year, the decision to omit the part about the third series filming suggests that things are still very much up in the air.

Adding to that, Russell T Davies reiterated that no official commission for Series 16—or “Season 3,” as he referred to it—has been made (yet).

“The decision to commission Season 3 won’t be made until after Season 2 has aired,” Davies said in this month’s DWM (released last week). “And that’s always been the arrangement since the start.”

It is entirely likely that there are at least plans for filming and Gatwa is just getting a bit ahead of himself. This all will likely be dependent on the Disney+ deal and their plans with the show after their two seasons have aired as it is far from clear at the moment whether Disney will extend their involvement with Doctor Who beyond their initial two season deal or whether the BBC will look for another partner, perhaps even bringing it back fully in-house, only time will tell!

Ed: Were you in the studio audience for this recording of The Graham Norton Show, can you let us know exactly what was said, if so, we’d love to hear from you!