Russell T Davies has teased that he’s already planning for Doctor Who Series 15 — presumably also starring Ncuti Gatwa as the next Doctor.

During the livestream for BBC Academy’s Climate Creatives 2022, Davies was asked whether the show would tackle climate change while he’s showrunner. And while it looks like there will be tales touching upon this, Davies also noted:

“It’s hard because the Doctor’s such a genius, it’s such an in-built problem with the show. He’s such a genius, you think, “Why don’t you step out of the TARDIS and fix this problem?” and then you have to take a deep breath where he makes a moral speech and says, ‘It’s up to the human race to solve that problem,’ which is a very true speech – it’s also a dodge.

“There are stories on the way that are specifically looking at stuff like that – not all the time, but it has to become part of the atmosphere of the whole show, because it’s true. It’s the world we’re living in right now.

“And I’m much more interested in trying to look at – very much looking forward to season two actually – which is how we ignore these things. I think that’s very interesting. No, that’s already in some of the specials, isn’t it? How we think of ourselves and don’t look at the bigger picture.”

Yes, he called it ‘season 2’, but he means the second series under his new stewardship, i.e. Series 15. And that’s very exciting, albeit not exactly a surprise. Davies is said to have an exciting new plan and trajectory for Doctor Who, just as previous showrunners Steven Moffat and Chris Chibnall have, so to hear he’s sketching out the future is good news.

Previous stories that have tackled climate change include The End of the World, The Waters of Mars, Orphan 55, and Praxeus. We doubt it’ll play a key part in upcoming serials, but you never know.

Russell T Davies’ latest era of Doctor Who begins later this month, at the conclusion of The Power of the Doctor…