Doctor Who trailer breakdown: Unseen aliens, Cybermen, spy missions and a deadly new threat
Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor faces her darkest adventures yet in new series 12 footage
The first trailer for Doctor Who series 12 has arrived, and it’s fair to say it’s one of the most action-packed teasers for the BBC sci-fi series that we’ve seen in a long while.
Showing off new aliens, old favourites (hello Cyberman!), sinister threats and some exciting guest characters, there’s a lot to unpack in its pacy 1-minute runtime – but luckily for you, that’s where we come in.
Here are the biggest and most intriguing things we spotted in the Doctor Who series 12 trailer - as well as a few mysteries we haven't quite solved ourselves...
Doctor Who meets James Bond
It looks like those rumours of Stephen Fry’s Doctor Who character being some sort of spymaster were true!
In what appears to be a James Bond-inspired story (“the name’s Doctor…The Doctor,” Jodie Whittaker’s Time Lord says while wearing a tuxedo), Fry’s avuncular M equivalent tells the gang “the security of this entire planet is at stake,” before sending them on a mysterious mission that seems to land them to Paris, 1943 – the height of wartime espionage.
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Other scenes set within this episode – which must be the opening story given Fry’s presence and the costumes – also seem to show the Tardis team driving motorbikes through a beautiful vineyard, while a character played by Sir Lenny Henry opens fire.
From the looks of it, this will be quite an action-packed opener – and good to know that since the days of Matt Smith, the Doctor still knows that bow ties are cool.
Goran Višnjić
You're welcome.
New aliens
AFter long being rumoured to be part of the series Sarah Jane Adventures star Anjli Mohindra’s character may have been revealed in the new footage as one insectoid alien, who might also be the scorpion like creature who crops up in later footage chasing characters through a historical background – presumably the same episode that ER’s Goran Višnjić appears in as an as yet-unknown historical figure.
Other new threats appear to be creepily masked attackers with powerful firearms, a swarm of bats that appears at a moment’s notice, a toothy baddie with a habit of banging against chainlink fences and – most unsettlingly of all – a monster who appears to have the ability to “phase” through material, even finding its way through the Doctor’s doors.
“I didn’t know things could get into the Tardis!” Mandip Gill’s Yaz says.
“Neither did I,” whispers Whittaker’s Doctor.
We also get a quick glimpse of returning monsters the Judoon (albeit less than we’ve already seen in pictures) – but we’re sure they’re not the familiar monster most fans will be discussing right this second…
Cybermen!
Yes, they’d been rumoured for a while but it’s still great to have it confirmed that some of the Doctor’s most iconic foes will be back this year – though it looks like they’ve fallen on hard times.
In the (very) brief shots of the one new Cyberman we see, it looks ragged, rusty and just about ready to drop. Though we’re sure just like the battered recon Dalek in the 2019 New Year’s special, it’ll be as deadly as ever…and ripe for an upgrade…
A greater threat for the Tardis team
“Something’s coming for me,” the Doctor says some way into the new trailer, while enjoying the Tardis' mood lighting. “I can feel it.”
And while at first glance this appears to refer to the Cyberman marching towards the screen, this moment could suggest that even tougher foes and challenges are facing the Whittaker’s Doctor this year.
“What have you brought here, Doctor?” Walsh’s Graham asks her, while Yaz weeps in the foregreound and various Tardis team members are pictured in dire straits.
In other words, yes, this is Doctor Who going darker – and frankly, based on everything we’ve seen in this trailer, we can’t wait to see what they have planned.
Doctor Who returns to BBC1 in early 2020
