A brand-new theme for Doctor Who, ahead of the 60th-anniversary specials, has been released – giving audiences worldwide a musical taster to what they can expect from the specials. We also have news of Series 15 (hard to believe since we still have Series 14 to air) and a crossover between Doctor Who and a recent drama penned by Russell T Davies. Any guesses which?
We begin with the new Doctor Who theme (H/T The Radio Times). A live rendition of the new track was performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and conducted by Alastair King on Thursday, October 12. The performance was shared online, as seen below. Now available on BBC Radio 2 and presented by Jo Whiley, Sunday Night Is Music Night on BBC Radio 2 – Doctor Who @60: A Musical Celebration commemorated music from across the generations of Doctor Who.
Next, we have an announcement about Series 15. Returning showrunner Russell T Davies has confirmed nine episodes in the series – Ncuti Gatwa’s eventual second. It is unclear if the nine will include a Christmas special, in which case Series 15 will be one episode longer. No complaints, of course.
📢: THIS IS THE WORLD PREMIERE OF THE NEW DOCTOR WHO THEME TUNE!!! pic.twitter.com/UFs6xDOvx5
— Doctor Who (@bbcdoctorwho) October 12, 2023
“Back on the streets of Cardiff, to shoot the NEXT series,” Davies wrote in the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine (thanks to Digital Spy). “Five of the next nine scripts, finished and planned. So all of the excitement above is already in the past tense for us…”
Lastly, the crossover. The specials, Davies says, will feature an “in-universe crossover” to his recent ITV drama, Nolly, starring Helena Bonham Carter as veteran Crossroads star Noele Gordon, who was suddenly fired from the soap after almost two decades (The Radio Times).
The showrunner jokingly suggested the crossover would serve as part of his “RTD Universe” and teased it as “a genuine in-universe crossover with my ITV drama from earlier this year, Nolly, which is truly canonical and official, because I say so.”
More than 800 episodes of Doctor Who will land on the BBC iPlayer on November 1.
