A nine-year-old, award-winning thriller is about to return for one last ride.
Doctor Foster is coming back for a third and final season, which is slated to air via the BBC. The psychological thriller series follows Dr. Gemma Foster, a general practitioner who begins to believe her husband, Simon, is having an affair. The series is inspired by the Greek myth of Medea, acting as a modern reimagining of the story.
Now, according to Deadline, Doctor Foster season 3 has been confirmed, nine years after season 2 aired. The upcoming season will see a multitude of returning actors, with Suranne Jones as Gemma, Bertie Carvel as Simon, and Tom Taylor as their son, Tom. Series creator Mike Bartlett serves as the writer. Filming begins in the UK in the spring.
The report indicates Doctor Foster season 3 will pick up 10 years after the events of season 2, which ended with Tom running away from home and going missing. Now, a decade later, she’s preparing to marry someone new, something that begins to drum up echoes of the past. Jones spoke about season 3’s script as well, revealing additional details about the show:
When I got the call to ask if I wanted to return as Gemma Foster, I knew the time was right. We needed space from the first two series, and we needed Tom – Gemma and Simon’s runaway son – to return as an adult with questions. For me, this time around it’s about accountability and questioning, ‘Can we ever truly sever ties with our past and the damage or traumas that haunt us, so we can fully move forward?’
Doctor Foster was an award-winning TV series across its first two seasons. Jones in particular won multiple awards for her performance as Gemma, including a BAFTA for Best Actress in 2016. The series was also a massive hit in the UK when it aired, the final episode drawing over 10 million live viewers across the country.
The BBC is no stranger to reviving shows that ended some time ago. In November 2025, it was confirmed that their police procedural Line of Duty would be returning for season 7 in 2027, following the end of season 6 in 2021. Bartlett previously stated in 2019 that, if there was more story to tell with Doctor Foster, the show would come back.
As for the show’s universe, it’s only been six years since characters from the show appeared on TV. Bartlett’s single-season drama Life, which aired in 2020, included actor Victoria Hamilton reprising her role as Anna Baker from Doctor Foster. But this new season of the original will be continuing with Gemma’s story back in focus.
Although it’s unclear who else is going to be coming back for Doctor Foster season 3, if anyone, the core members of the family returning to the show means all the important players will be returning. It also means the series can have a more definitive ending than season 2, one that could be either happier or more tragic depending on its direction.