The tenth series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who premiered on 15 April 2017 and concluded on 1 July 2017 with twelve episodes, after it was formally announced in July 2015. The series is led by head writer and executive producer Steven Moffat, alongside executive producer Brian Minchin. It is the third and final series overseen by the two as executive producers, as well as Moffat's sixth and final series as head writer. This series is the tenth to air following the programme's revival in 2005 and is the thirty-sixth season overall.

Preceded by a Christmas special in December 2016, "The Return of Doctor Mysterio", the series is the third and final series starring Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor, an incarnation of the Doctor, an alien Time Lord who travels through time and space in his TARDIS, which appears to be a British police box on the outside; Capaldi announced in January 2017 that he would be stepping down from the role after the tenth series. The series introduces Pearl Mackie as Bill Potts, and also features Matt Lucas as Nardole. Michelle Gomez and John Simm return as their respective incarnations of the Master. The main story arc for the first half of the series revolves around the Doctor and Nardole occupying themselves at a university while they guard an underground vault containing Missy. Missy later travels with the team in the TARDIS, and eventually partners with her previous incarnation as they battle a Cyberman onslaught.

Steven Moffat wrote four episodes for the series. Other returning writers include Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Sarah Dollard, Jamie Mathieson, Peter Harness, Toby Whithouse, and Mark Gatiss, as well as two new writers for the revived era, Mike Bartlett and Rona Munro, the latter of whom wrote the classic-era story Survival (1989). Directors of the series included three who have previously worked on the show and three brand new ones. Filming occurred between June 2016 and April 2017. The series received positive reviews from critics. The performances of Capaldi and Mackie were met with the most praise, as well as the writing, plots, and themes of the episodes.

The sixth, seventh, and eighth episodes of the series, "Extremis", "The Pyramid at the End of the World", and "The Lie of the Land", constitute a three-part arc while remaining separate stories. The episodes "World Enough and Time" and "The Doctor Falls" serve as the series' two-part finale and only multi-part story, in the same format as the eighth series.

Peter Capaldi reprised his role as the Twelfth Doctor in his third and final series; he left after the 2017 Christmas special, while Pearl Mackie portrayed the newest companion Bill Potts, after the departure of Jenna Coleman. To avoid leaks while casting the new companion, the production team used the word "Mean Town", an anagram of "Ten Woman"; this is a reference to the fact that Bill is the companion of the tenth series, and was revealed by casting director Andy Pryor to Radio Times. Mackie made her first appearance in the first episode of the tenth series, and was the first openly gay companion. Matt Lucas returned in his role as Nardole, as seen in the 2015 and 2016 Christmas specials "The Husbands of River Song" and "The Return of Doctor Mysterio", in a regular role. Lucas was initially contracted to appear occasionally, but was ultimately written into every episode due to the production team's positive response to the character.

In June 2016, it was announced that Stephanie Hyam would be joining the tenth series. In July 2016, actors Mina Anwar, Ralf Little, and Kaizer Akhtar had been added to the cast and portrayed Goodthing, Steadfast, and Praiseworthy respectively in the second episode. On 16 August 2016, it was announced that David Suchet, famous for his role in Agatha Christie's Poirot, would appear as a character known as "The Landlord" in the fourth episode, "Knock Knock". Tate Pitchie-Cooper portrayed a child version of The Landlord. Fady Elsayed, who starred in the Doctor Who spin-off Class, was originally set to guest star in an episode of Doctor Who.

In October 2016, it was announced that Justin Chatwin was set to appear as a superhero in the 2016 Christmas special "The Return of Doctor Mysterio". He was joined by Charity Wakefield, Adetomiwa Edun, Aleksandar Jovanovic, and Logan Hoffman. On 16 November 2016 the BBC announced the cast for the fifth episode, which included Kieran Bew, Peter Caulfield, Mimi Ndiweni and Katie Brayben, with Justin Salinger portraying "Tasker", while Rebecca Benson, Daniel Kerr, Juwon Adedokun, Brian Vernel, Ben Hunter, Aaron Phagura, Sam Adewunmi and Billy Matthews were announced to be appearing in the tenth episode. Jennifer Hennessy, Nicholas Burns, Mandeep Dhillon, Mariah Gale, Corrado Invernizzi, Tim Bentinck, Joseph Long, Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo, Togo Igawa, Emma Handy, and Ferdinand Kingsley also made appearances.

On 14 October 2016, Michelle Gomez announced that she would reprise her role of Missy in the series, and in May 2017, she further stated that it would be her last series in the role. On 30 January 2017, Capaldi confirmed that the tenth series would be his last. On 6 April 2017, the BBC announced that John Simm would be returning in his role as the Master alongside Gomez. David Bradley made a cameo appearance as the First Doctor at the end of the series finale, "The Doctor Falls", which led into the 2017 Christmas special, "Twice Upon a Time".