Empiric Ambition

The Time War Chronicles: Empiric Ambition was the first series of The Time War Chronicles spin-off series which ran from 23rd November 2026 to 25th December 2025. It was the first spin-off series produced by exclusively by Disney+. It starred Jeremy Irvine as the War Doctor and Lalla Ward as Romana. The series opened with "No More" and concluded with "Violent Beginnings".
==Overview==
Empiric Ambition introduces the War Doctor, along with Romana II in the first days of the Time War. It deals with the War Doctor attempting to understanding the reasoning behind the new Time War over the course of the series.
==Production==
Empiric Ambition consisted of 12 stories across 12 episodes. It was decided that the first spin-off series under the new creative team would be led by Doug Naylor given his past experience of writing Red Dwarf however Andy Wilkins would assist with the creation of the universe for Empiric Ambition. Despite people suggesting Irvine looked nothing like the late Sir John Hurt, Naylor said that ultimately whilst it could be suggested that Irvine isn't like Hurt in his facial features, he would resemble what the War Doctor was about in his acting presence instead. 
Jeremy Irvine would be cast as the young version of the War Doctor for Series 1, 2 & 3 whilst Dave Filoni was appointed as Head Director for the five seasons after having been involved with the Disney+ production of The Mandalorian. 
For the first time since her departure in 1981's Warriors Gate, Lalla Ward returned to the Doctor Who Universe to reprise the role of Romana II. She would be leave at the end of Series 1 with a regeneration scene filmed as Daisy Ridley succeeded her. Louise Jameson would also reprise her role as Leela for the first time since her departure in 1978's The Invasion Of Time.
For 11 weeks, the series would be aired on Monday night's on BBC 1 for UK viewers whilst also accessible for those wishing to stream the episodes on Disney+.
==Cast==
* The War Doctor - Jeremy Irvine
* Romana II - Lalla Ward > Daisy Ridley
* Leela - Louise Jameson
* Commander Andred - Christopher Tranchell
===Recurring===
*Borusa -
*Daleks - voiced by Nicholas Briggs
===Guest===
*
==Television stories==
===Story formats and arc===
Empiric Ambition would see 12 x 30 minute episodes throughout its run.
===Episodes===
Episode Number	Title 	Writer 	Director 	Notes	Air Date
1 	No More 	Andy Wilkins & Doug Naylor	Dave Filoni	 	23rd November 2026
2 	Warriors of Orion 	Nina Metivier 	Dave Filoni	 	23rd November 2026
3 	Hello Chancellor 	Nina Metivier 	Dave Filoni	 	30th November 2026
4 	Secrets of Romana 	Ben Aaronovitch 	Dave Filoni	 	7th December 2026
5 	Wheels of War 	Ben Aaronovitch 	Dave Filoni	 	14th December 2026
6 	Empire Illusions 	Mark Gatiss 	Dave Filoni	 	21st December 2026
7 	Mirror Of Regret 	Mark Gatiss 	Dave Filoni	 	4th January 2027
8 	The Knight of Drums 	Malorie Blackman 	Dave Filoni	 	11th January 2027
9 	The Resurrection Of Borusa	Malorie Blackman 	Dave Filoni	 	18th January 2027
10 	Tomb of Time 	Peter Jackson 	Dave Filoni	 	25th January 2027
11 	Passing The Lantern 	Peter Jackson 	Dave Filoni	 	1st February 2027
12 	Violent Beginnings 	Andy Wilkins & Doug Naylor	Dave Filoni	 	8th February 2027
==Stories set during this season==
===Novels===
*
===Audio stories===
*
===Comics===
*
===Short stories===
*
== Promotional trailers==
For the series, several promotional trailers were created, utilising shot footage of and 
*Several short, wordless five-second "stings" were also produced. These showed close-ups of the Doctor and the TARDIS. No series logo or title is shown, with only a snippet of the Doctor Who theme or the TARDIS sound effect to identify the programme.