Returning Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies has confirmed that the next proper season of the show will run to eight episodes.
David Tennant will take back over as The Doctor - albeit a new incarnation - for three special episodes next November, before Nucti Gatwa assumes the mantle in time for a Christmas 2023 special.
A new eight-episode season will then follow early in 2024, with a Christmas special airing later that year - and Davies has now revealed that there will be a new season every year thereafter.
As a result of the BBC's deal with Disney+, the budget of the show is thought to have tripled to around £10m an episode, while there is also scope for longer seasons and new spinoff shows in future years.
"OK, that's fewer episodes than the last full season," Davies told Doctor Who Magazine. "But give us time. We have plans, and that's a promise!
"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."
Filming on the new season officially got underway in Cardiff last week.
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