It's the Doctor Who and The Last of Us finales: What's coming up this week

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BBC Studios/Disney/Bad Wolf/Getty Images A composite image of The Doctor and Bella RamsayBBC Studios/Disney/Bad Wolf/Getty Images

This week, it's the finale of the latest Doctor Who series, with fans treated to an extra-special-length episode.

But that's not all the week has in store.

It's also The Last of Us finale, K-pop boyband Seventeen have a new album out, and new game Elden Ring Nightreign is being released.

Read on for what's coming up this week...

Whovians get ready for the grand finale

The section contains spoilers for Wish World, the penultimate episode of Doctor Who

BBC Studios/Disney/Bad Wolf A picture of the Doctor Who stars against a graphicised colourful backgroundBBC Studios/Disney/Bad Wolf

By Lizo Mzimba, entertainment correspondent

Ncuti Gatwa's second series as the Doctor in Doctor Who reaches its climax on Saturday with episode eight - The Reality War.

The previous episode Wish World ended on a cliffhanger with the Doctor plunging to Earth as Wish World tore itself apart.

The finale, The Reality War, clocks in at more than an hour. Fans will be desperate to find out how the Doctor survives - and whether evil Time Lady the Rani will succeed in finding the huge figure from Doctor Who's past that she's searching for deep within the Underverse.

Viewers will also be keen to discover whether the episode will shed light on the future of its star and indeed of the show itself.

For months there's been media talk that Ncuti Gatwa might be leaving the show. Doctor Who is no stranger to such speculation. In the past, rumours abut the sci-fi drama have ranged from being close to spot on to utter fabrication.

As for the show itself, six months ago showrunner Russell T Davies said that no decision would be made on commissioning series three until after series two had been broadcast.

With Doctor Who being co-produced with Disney+, one of the factors will be whether the BBC and the streamer decide to renew that arrangement, and what alternatives could be explored if they decide not to. And those kind of discussions take a significant amount of time.

The Reality War is on BBC One (Disney+ internationally) on Saturday.

The Last Of Us finale

This section contains spoilers for The Last Of Us, season 2

The first season of The Last of Us was haunting, terrifying and moving in equal measure.

So there was a lot to live up to when season two kicked off - but it has not disappointed.

The TV adaptation of the hit video game stars Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal as lead characters Ellie and Joel.

But early on in the new season, Joel was brutally killed. In doing so, showrunners chose to remain faithful to the game - but I've still not fully recovered from the trauma of it all.

Thankfully for Pascal fans, the latest episode treated us to more scenes with the actor as it went into flashback mode.

For me, this demonstrated once again why this series is so excellent - it jumps from the terror of dodging zombies and ruthless militia to poignant, heart-wrenching moments, in a way you can never quite tell what's coming next.

All this to say, the season has been building up to one heck of a final episode. UK viewers can watch it on Sky this Monday.

Happy Burstday, Seventeen

PLEDIS Entertainment A picture of all the Seventeen band members against a graphicised colourful backgroundPLEDIS Entertainment

On Monday, K-pop boyband Seventeen are turning 10 years old, and they're celebrating by releasing a long-awaited new album.

Called Happy Burstday, it features 16 new tracks including three group songs and 13 solo songs and is their first full-length album in nearly three years.

Seventeen, which boast a whopping 13 members, have had a remarkable 12 months, including making history as the first K-pop act on Glastonbury's main stage last summer.

Unlike most Korean pop acts, they don't do collaborations - and they also write and produce their own material.

Not much information has been provided about the new album yet, but a teaser video on the band's social media channels revealed a cake with candles spelling out "Happy Birthday", before transforming into the title, Happy Burstday.

"New tour, new unit single album, new Seventeen content... and more to come," it promised fans, with press notes suggesting the band is ready to "embrace a fearless new era" as they enter their second decade.

Elden Ring's developers choose hard mode

By Tom Richardson, Newsbeat reporter

After taking players out of their comfort zones for years, developer FromSoftware is getting out of its own.

The Japanese studio – famous for its incredibly challenging single-player titles such as Dark Souls and Bloodborne – is turning its hand to online multiplayer.

Elden Ring Nightreign, launching on PS5, Xbox and PC from Friday, drops squads of players into an ever-shifting landscape where they must survive for three days and nights against waves of enemies and hulking bosses.

A follow-up (of sorts) to smash-hit Elden Ring, it swaps the sprawling RPG's giant map and methodical gameplay for fast-paced, three-player action.

There's little doubt that the developers - masters of meticulously designed combat systems – will have effectively tweaked its trusted formula to fit the new mould.

But drawing players away from multiplayer behemoths like Fortnite and Call of Duty has proved, for others at least, to be a challenge more fiendish than even FromSoftware could dream up.

Other highlights this week

  • ABBA Voyage is having a third anniversary gala event on Tuesday
  • hits cinemas on Wednesday
  • The Salt Path is out in cinemas on Friday
  • Miley Cyrus' new album, Something Beautiful, drops on Friday
  • Garbage's new album, Let All That We Imagine Be the Light, also drops Friday
  • Britain's Got Talent final takes place on Saturday
  • Netflix Tudum 2025 will stream live on Saturday
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