The “What? What?? WHAT???!!!” heard around the Doctor Who world is still reverberating a few months later, as the big surprise transformation has opened the door to a lot of questions.
We saw the Thirteenth Doctor, played by Jodie Whittaker for the past five years, make her big change at the end of 2022’s third special episode. But who she transformed into was the shocker.
(Warning: Spoilers for the final moments of the episode “The Power of the Doctor” ahead. Get moving on that first.)
Appearing in place of Whittaker’s No. 13 was not Ncuti Gatwa, the recently announced next Doctor, but David Tennant, the much-loved Tenth Doctor.
Now, a trailer teasing the upcoming 60th anniversary of Doctor Who begins to lay out what happens next, which involves not just Tennant, but also one of his favorite companions and someone who promises to be a very interesting villain.
Doctor Who trailer includes Neil Patrick Harris and something called a Beep the Meep
See the trailer below. Allons-y!:
The 60th anniversary specials, set to be released in November 2023, appear to center around Donna Noble, the companion played by Catherine Tate. In the trailer, Tate’s Noble seems to feel like she’s missing memories, which she is: During their run on Doctor Who, Tennant’s Doctor had to wipe the memory of Tate’s Noble because she absorbed his knowledge, which is too much for a human mind to take.
We are also introduced to the villain, a vintage-dressed Neil Patrick Harris with a Germanic accent, Yasmin Finney, who will play new companion Rose, and another character who may be familiar to Who comic book fans, Beep the Meep.
Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies said on Instagram that Harris is playing “the greatest enemy the Doctor has ever faced.” (A comment on the trailer on YouTube said they hope Harris is playing the Music Meister from the animated series Batman: The Brave and the Bold: “I’ll watch it simply for that.”)
We also see assorted nasties, The Doctor trying to hide from Donna (not very well), and general mayhem.
At the end, the trailer also offers a quick glimpse of Gatwa, asking “Will someone tell me what the hell is going on here?!” Which, honestly, is something we Whovians occasionally ask ourselves. Usually that means it’s a REALLY good episode.
