Doctor Who, the longest running Science Fiction program on television, is a regular staple of Comic Con’s and 2024 was no different. Featuring on the panel were fan favorite show runner Russel T. Davies. Millie Gibson who plays Ruby Sunday, a companion to The Doctor on his voyages through space and time. Also, the 15th Doctor himself Neuti Gatwa also sat on the panel. They revealed some big things happening in the “Whoniverse” as fans of Doctor Who like to call the shared universe.
A new spinoff of Doctor Who has had rumblings on the internet for some time. It was confirmed at SDCC that UNIT (a military organization that operates under the auspices of the Untied Nations to counter paranormal and extraterrestrial threats to Earth) will have a five-episode miniseries. It’s titled “The War Between The Land and The Sea” and will bring back Classic Who villains The Sea Devils. It’s being described as a story that happens when “The Doctor isn’t in town”, and it’s release date is unknown as of this writing. Jemma Redgrave and Alexander Devrient are slated to return in their respective roles from previous Doctor Who series.
Season 14 of Doctor Who introduced a new set of villains called “The Pantheon”. They are a group of individuals with god-like abilities and are more powerful than even The Doctor. They are so powerful, in fact, he fears them more than any other villain in the universe, save the Daleks. Neuti Gatwa confirmed that they will be returning in Season 15 and they would be explored more. The Doctor has already went against five of The Pantheon but eight more still remain for him to grapple with. It seems that The Doctor may have his work cut out for him this upcoming season.
In April 2024 the BBC announced that Varda Sethu would be joining the cast in Season 15 but revealed no other information. However at SDCC, seemingly on a whim, Russel Davies dropped a bit more information on her character. He said her name is “Belinda Chandra” and that her character is “strong and wonderful”. It is suspected that she will have some connection to the character of Rani Chandra from the Doctor Who Spinoff “The Sarah Jane Chronicles”, however nothing has been confirmed.
While The Pantheon will be returning as the main antagonists in the newest season it has also been said that new villains will be introduced in more one-off story lines to compliment them as adversaries for The Doctor. Also, two underused Tenant-era actors Russell Tovey and Gubu Mbatha-Raw will be returning. They will be in new undefined roles as of this writing.
December 2024 will be the second year that a Doctor Who Christmas special has aired since it dropped the tradition. With the announcement of Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan the excitement for it continues to rise. Audiences were given a special sneak peek at SDCC 2024 and it confirmed that the Silurians will be returning. It’s interesting to note that they are cousins to The Seas Devils who are also returning in the Unit spinoff show although no connection has been established as of this time.
And finally there is speculation that a musical episode is in the works but it hasn’t been confirmed. Russell Davies said that there is an episode with “a lot of songs, not necessarily a musical however”. Star Trek Strange New Worlds notably, or infamously, had a musical episode in its second season. It very much divided the fanbase or whether it was a good episode or not. Only time can tell if Doctor Who can pull it off and if so will it be any good?
