It’s worth noting that Gatwa’s statement appears to contrast somewhat with those made recently by showrunner Russell T Davies.
He wrote in the most recent issue of Doctor Who Magazine: "The decision to commission Season 3 won’t be made until after Season 2 has transmitted. And that’s always been the deal since the start. Hey, we might even have a day off!
Yeah, and even if it’s just a preliminary scheduling of an actor in fairly high demand, “sometime next year” is encouraging. Hopefully The war between what was it again will be a tolerable buffer between proper Doctor Who seasons.