Plans for the Doctor’s adventures in 2024 are slowly being revealed!
Talking exclusively with Doctor Who Magazine in issue 585 (in all good newsagents now), showrunner Russell T Davies has revealed the number of episodes of Ncuti Gatwa’s adventures fans can expect in 2024. Series Fourteen will contain eight episodes in total. Plus there will be an additional ninth episode in the form of a special over the festive period.
This means Series Fourteen will be longer than the six episodes of Series Thirteen. But still shorter than Jodie Whittaker’s pre-pandemic series, which were ten episodes each. And it’s substantially shorter than the thirteen episodes a series during Davies’ original run in charge. On the other hand, it means that the total number of episodes in the ‘RTD2’ era currently in some stage of production is thirteen, when the three 60th Anniversary specials and Gatwa’s 2023 and 2024 festive specials are taken into account. Davies also hinted eight episodes may not be the norm going forward. So one could look at this as the new era’s epic first phase, from November 2023 to year end 2024.
Meanwhile, while Davies says he thinks of the year closing specials in terms of “the Christmas special,” he clarifies that there’s no absolute confirmation of a return to Christmas Day yet. Though, reading between the lines, the once traditional 25th of December time slot would appear to be his preference.
“No gap years, lots of content”
In addition to the plans he was ready to unveil, the showrunner also offered that the intention was that there should be “no gap years, lots of content” in Doctor Who’s foreseeable future. Of course, during his original time in charge of the Whoniverse, Davies launched four spin-off shows. These included series Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures, as well as the non-fiction Doctor Who Confidential and Totally Doctor Who. There were also tie-in animations like The Infinite Quest and Dreamland, bonus ‘Tardisodes’ and online exclusive commentaries for every episode.
Exactly what’s involved in the ‘lots of content’ to accompany Ncuti Gatwa’s first series of Doctor Who is still a closely guarded secret. But with Davies’ track record in that area, it’s fantastically exciting to imagine.
That’s just some of what Russell T Davies has to say about the production of Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson’s new adventures. Find DWM 585 in your local newsagent or supermarket, or at the official Panini store to find out more!
