Chicago Med season 12 release schedule: When is the new season on Sky Witness?

** Warning: contains spoilers for the Chicago Med season 11 finale.**

Chicago Med is one of three shows, along with Chicago Fire and Chicago PD, that make up the One Chicago universe, created by Law & Order's Dick Wolf.

The medical drama launched in 2015 and is now on its 12th season, with Oliver Platt (as Dr Daniel Charles) and S Epatha Merkerson (as Sharon Goodwin) the two stars who have remained with the show since the first episode.

In recent years they have been joined by Steven Weber (Wings) as Dr Dean Archer and Jessy Schram (Veronica Mars) as Dr Hannah Asher, whose characters had a baby together in the tense final episode of season 11.

If giving birth wasn't stressful enough, Hannah not only started having contractions while performing a C-section, but Archer almost missed the birth due to the hospital being in lockdown following the escape of a dangerous prisoner who was being treated in the emergency department.

That's all in a day's work for these doctors, who have had to deal with a devastating train crash, mass shootings, a multi-vehicle crash in a blizzard and even the capsizing of a commuter ship during the series' 11 year run so far.

Read on for everything you need to know about Chicago Med season 12.

The 12th season of Chicago Med is due to premiere in the US on Wednesday 7 October 2026 on NBC.

In the UK, Sky Witness is currently showing season 11 and will not finish until early December. Fans will likely have to wait until 2027 for the 12th season but a UK release date has yet to be officially confirmed.

Chicago Med season 12 release schedule

Below is the confirmed US release schedule so far for Chicago Med season 12.

• Episode 1: Shots Fired – Wednesday 7 October 2026
• Episode 2: Third Rails – Wednesday 14 October 2026

We know that there will be 21 episodes in total, likely continuing to air on Wednesdays outside of a midseason break, but keep an eye on this page for the latest news on when subsequent episodes will air.

Chicago Med season 12 cast: Who is returning?

Sarah Ramos, who plays Lenox, was pregnant during filming of season 12, so will not be in as many episodes of the new season as usual. Speaking to Give Me My Remote, showrunner Allen MacDonald confirmed that Ramos's real-life pregnancy would not be written into the plot for Lenox.

He said: “Because of the pregnancy, there will be episodes [where] Sarah does not appear. Sarah, because of her pregnancy, will be taking the majority of the beginning of the season off. She will be away for a while.”

MacDonald also confirmed that Marlyne Barrett, who plays Maggie Lockwood, would not be returning for season 12 after she departed the show between seasons 10 and 11. "There will be references to Maggie, but there are no plans for Marlyne to come back this season," he said.

In September, Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut confirmed she would not be returning either. During a conversation with fans on TikTok, she was asked whether her character, Dr Naomi Howard, would be back for season 12 and she replied: "No... would’ve love to come back!"

Actors confirmed to return for the new season include:

• S Epatha Merkerson as Sharon Goodwin
• Oliver Platt as Dr Daniel Charles
• Steven Weber as Dr Dean Archer
• Jessy Schram as Dr Hannah Asher
• Darren Barnet as Dr Jonathan Frost
• Luke Mitchell as Dr Mitchell Ripley

Chicago Med season 12 plot: What will happen?

Season 11 ended with the birth of Hannah and Archer's daughter, Mabel, and tension for Charles and Sharon Goodwin after she was accused of leaking medical files to save Charles's career, an action that could cause her to lose her job.

The new season picks up a few months later and Allen MacDonald teased what will happen to Give Me My Remote. “I will say that in the wake of everything that happened in the very last few scenes of the season finale last year, that when we pick up things are very icy between Goodwin and Charles, in a way that the audience is not going to be used to,” he said.

Meanwhile, Hannah and Archer are "figuring out" what it is like to raise a child together. "They are definitely communicating with each other, and Archer is essentially living at Hannah’s house because of the baby…they’re cohabitating.”

The new season will open with an episode entitled 'Shots Fired' featuring a shooting at a wedding, with most of the action taking place in the emergency department. Former Beverly Hills 90210 actress Gabrielle Carteris will guest star as the groom's mother.

Is there a trailer for Chicago Med season 12?

NBC have released a trailer teasing the return of all the One Chicago shows in the US and you can watch it here.

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Chicago Med is available to watch on Sky Witness and NOW in the UK. You can sign up to Sky TV from £15 a month.

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