Doctor Who Season 14 has a significantly reduced episode count, according to incoming showrunner Russell T Davies.
Davies, who returns to Doctor Who after previously spearheading the show's 2005 revival, revealed the fourteenth season consists of eight episodes in an interview with Doctor Who Magazine. "Okay, that's fewer episodes than the last full season," he said. "But give us time. We have plans, and that's a promise!" Davies added that Doctor Who Christmas specials will return in 2023 and 2024, and assured fans that future seasons will arrive on a more regular basis. "It takes a while to get the empire in shape, but that's a serious plan: annual Doctor Who, no gap years, lots of content, on and on," he said.
Doctor Who Season 14 started filming on Dec. 5, 2022, a milestone the sci-fi series' official Twitter account marked by sharing a photo of the TARDIS. The photo featured a close-up shot of the Doctor's iconic time-traveling spaceship's blue doors with a branded clapperboard positioned in front of them. The clapperboard confirms that director Dylan Holmes Williams oversaw the first footage shot for Doctor Who Season 14, however, the name of the episode itself is obscured by black tape.
David Tennant's Second TARDIS Tenure
That said, fans already know who will be playing the Doctor in the fourteenth season: returning star David Tennant. Tennant portrayed the Tenth Doctor during Davies' original stint as showrunner and will now headline the series once more following the departure of Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor in the final 2022 special, "The Power of the Doctor." Tennant recently confessed he was "worried it would be difficult to get in the groove again," but ultimately found his comeback experience "straightforward."
The Scottish actor will eventually pass the torch to Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa, who is already signed on to portray the Fifteenth Doctor. Gatwa's Doctor even has a new companion ready to go: Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson). "Whilst still being in total disbelief, I am beyond honored to be cast as the Doctor's companion," Gibson said after her casting was announced. "It is a gift of a role, and a dream come true, and I will do everything to try and fill the boots the fellow companions have traveled in before me. And what better way to do that than being by the fabulous Ncuti Gatwa’s side, I just can’t wait to get started."
Doctor Who is set to return for a three-episode arc in November 2023 on BBC and BBC America.
Source: Doctor Who Magazine, via Bleeding Cool