ThoughDoctor Who’s 2024 Christmas special has yet to air, showrunner Russell T Davies has teased how season 15 in 2025 will feature one of the scariest tales of Ncuti Gatwa’s run so far. The second season of Davies' second showrunning tenure began production in October 2023, with cameras continuing to roll until May 2024, with an expected airdate of early 2025.Doctor Whoseason 15will feature the return of Gatwa and Millie Gibson as the Fifteenth Doctor and companion Ruby Sunday, as well as season 14 guest star Varada Sethu as new companion Belinda.
As Davies sat down to discussDoctor Who’s upcoming 2024 Christmas special withGamesRadar+,the showrunner turned his attention to what 2025 has in store for the Time Lord in season 15. When speaking about the upcoming season, Davies teased that the episode featuring recently announced guest star Rose Ayling-Ellis would be a terrifying storyline that sees her give a standout performance alongside Gatwa:
We’ve got a story with Rose Ayling-Ellis in the lead. She’s the lead in one episode which is stunning, I think it’s our scariest episode, it’s absolutely terrifying, she’s magnificent in it… to see Ncuti with her.
The showrunner would further tease the episode’s unannounced cast members, alongside season 15’s wider range of storylines. Check out Davies' full response below:
And other guest names in that cast are phenomenal. There are great episodes to come, a whole range – mad ones, scary ones, completely mad ones.
What Davies' Terrifying Episode Tease Could Mean For Doctor Who Season 15
Season 14 Downplayed The Series' Horror Elements On Its Cosmic Joyride
With Davies' recent tease, it appears that 2025’s upcoming episodes will address an area thatDoctor Whoseason 14’s episodeswere noticeably lacking in. While the sci-fi series has a reputation of forcing viewers to cower behind the sofa, season 14’s scares were subtler and less-overt. Foes such as the Bogeyman in “Space Babies” were subverted once the full reasons for its existence were explained, while the terrors of “73 Yards” and “Dot and Bubble” were less about the creatures and more woven into the subtext, such as the former’s exploration of abandonment and the latter’s human horror of underlying bigotry and racism.
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While the latter two episodes' underlying horror was effective, it is clear thatDoctor Whoseason 15 may have a more overt lean into visible and visual horror. Season 14 dealt with the introduction and establishment of the new TARDIS team’s dynamic, but now that audiences are familiar with their characterizations and relationships, season 15 has the opportunity to push the characters to their limits in more challenging episodes.
Our Thoughts On Davies' Doctor Who Season 15’s Terrifying Tease
Early Clips Have Teased The First Episode’s Darker Tone
Though the Fifteenth Doctor’s next adventure may be more light-hearted fare for the holidays, viewers may be eager to seeDoctor Whoreturn to darker tales in 2025. Though there are currently few glimpses at season 15, the first clip of the upcoming season released in the final episode ofDoctor Who: Unleashed’s season 14’s tie-in episodes saw Ruby taking charge with a group of survivors on a stormy night. As such, season 15 may dive headfirst into more frightening storytelling from its very first episode.
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Furthermore, with a potential for more scares in season 15, many viewers may wonder what kind of enemies the Time Lord may face. With Davies' greater lean into the fantastical in his second showrunning tenure, there are several classic horror archetypes thatDoctor Who season 15has the opportunity to add its own twists to beyond the limits of what sci-fi can offer.
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Doctor Who: Released on July 31, 2025, this series follows the Doctor and their companion as they journey across time and space, encountering a range of extraordinary friends and adversaries, expanding the universe of the long-running British science fiction series.
