However Doctor WhoThe 2024 Christmas special has yet to air, showrunner Russell T Davies has teased how 2025 season 15 will feature one of the scariest stories of Ncuti Gatwa's career so far. The second season of Davies' second tenure began production in October 2023, with cameras continuing to roll until May 2024, with an expected air date of early 2025. Doctor Who season 15 will 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 discuss Doctor Whothe next 2024 Christmas special with GamesRadar+, the showrunner turned his attention to what 2025 has in store for the Time Lord in season 15. When talking about the upcoming season, Davies teased that the episode featuring recently announced guest star Rose Ayling-Ellis would be a terrifying storyline that would make her take a standout performance alongside Gatwa:
We have a story with Rose Ayling-Ellis in the lead role. She is the protagonist of an episode that is impressive, I think it is our scariest episode, it is absolutely scary, she is magnificent in it… seeing Ncuti with her.
The showrunner would further tease the episode's unannounced cast members along with Season 15's wide range of storylines. Check out Davies' full response below:
And other guest names from this cast are phenomenal. There are great episodes to come, the whole gamut – crazy, scary, downright crazy.
What Davies' Terrifying Episode Tease Could Mean for Doctor Who Season 15
Season 14 downplayed the series' horror elements in its cosmic jaunt
With Davies' recent tease, it looks like the upcoming 2025 episodes will touch on an area that Doctor Who season 14 episodes were noticeably absent. While the sci-fi series has a reputation for forcing viewers to cower behind the couch, season 14's scares were more subtle and less overt. Enemies like the Bogeyman in “Space Babies” were subverted once all the reasons for their 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 how the exploration of abandonment by the former and the human horror of the latter by underlying bigotry and racism.
While the underlying horror of the last two episodes was effective, it's clear that Doctor Who Season 15 may have a more overt tilt toward visible, visual horror. Season 14 was all about introducing and establishing the dynamics of the new TARDIS team, 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' terrifying Doctor Who season 15 tease
Early clips tease the darker tone of the first episode
While the Fifteenth Doctor's next adventure may be more light-hearted for the holidays, viewers may be excited to see Doctor Who return to darker stories in 2025. While there are currently few glimpses of season 15, the first clip from the upcoming season released in the final episode of Doctor Who: UnchainedSeason 14's interconnected episodes saw Ruby taking command of a group of survivors on a stormy night. As such, Season 15 could dive head first into a scarier narrative from the first episode.
Plus, with the potential for more scares in Season 15, many viewers may wonder what kind of enemies the Time Lord might face. With Davies' greater inclination towards the fantastic in his second tenure, there are several classic horror archetypes that Doctor Who season 15 has the opportunity to add its own twists beyond the limits of what science fiction can offer.
Source: GamesRadar+