VOD News | On 20, May 2025

Doctor Who’s Season 15 finale is heading to cinemas this May.

The Doctor will face one of his most terrifying and monumental battles to date in an extra-special-length episode of the long-running sci-fi series.

Following a cosmic journey of twists and turns as the Doctor attempts to get Belinda home, the episode will premiere simultaneously on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in a primetime evening slot on Saturday 31 May – and will also be playing in more than 450 cinemas across the UK and Ireland.

Titled The Reality War, the episode will follow on from Wish World, which will see traps sprung and old enemies unite as the Doctor and Belinda finally arrive home to find a very different world – can the Doctor see the truth before midnight arrives? Cinemas will be playing the two episodes together, back-to-back.

The Season 15 finale marks the second time the Ncui Gatwa Doctor Who has been in cinemas, with a similar big screen event taking place for the Season 1 finale last year. However, while that two-part screening started at 11pm, with the finale airing at midnight to coincide with the BBC iPlayer debut – and the US debut on Disney+ – this year’s screenings will be at the much friendlier time of around 5.45pm, likely paving the way for a 7pm broadcast on BBC One.

Showrunner Russell T Davies says: “The Doctor is doomed, Belinda is lost, Ruby is trapped, UNIT is powerless, the Unholy Trinity rule supreme and the Underverse is rising. And now we can all experience this devastating climax together, all at the same time, with a unique worldwide premiere. I can promise shocks, scares and revelations off the scale. Come and have fun!”

Doctor Who is produced by Bad Wolf with BBC Studios for the BBC and Disney Branded Television. That last part has been in doubt since the premiere of Season 15, with speculation surrounding the future of the year, and whether it will instead continue without Disney’s involvement and financial backing in the same way it has in the past. There is still, however, a spin-off series set to air later this year that is part of that deal: The War Between the Land and the Sea starring Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

You can find screening times and locations for the Season 15 finale at doctorwhoincinemas.co.uk

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