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Doctor Who fans were treated to the season two teaser trailer at the end of last night’s Christmas special, and one scene dropped everyone’s jaw.
On Christmas day, Whovians came out in droves for the explosive Steven Moffat-helmed special, Joy To The World, starring Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor and Nicola Coughlan as the titular Joy.
As the episode ended the trailer for Ncuti’s second season as the space-and-time travelling Time Lord was released, offering a glimpse into the terrifying villains and heart-pounding confrontations the show has in store for fans.
The trailer begins with the Doctor saying: ‘There are forces beyond this universe,’ as we are plunged straight into the other-worldly action.
‘It’s all a game to them, but the games are deadly,’ the narration continues as we finally get our first proper look at Varada Sethu as season two companion Belinda Chandra (the actor was first introduced to the show in season one episode Boom).
But it seems they will be a difficult Tardis duo as Belinda demands to be taken back home after meeting the Doctor to which he replies: ‘This might be the long way round’.
Ncuti Gatwa is returning for a thrilling second season of Doctor Who in 2025 (Picture: BBC Studios/Disney/Bad Wolf/James Pardon)
And the season two teaser properly introduced Varada Sethu as season two companion Belinda Chandra (Picture: BBC Studios/Disney/Bad Wolf/James Pardon)
We also re-introduced Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday who, in the trailer at least, appears to be with Kate Stewart at UNIT headquarters.
As the official synopsis reads: ‘The Doctor meets Belinda Chandra and begins an epic quest to get her back to Earth.
‘But a mysterious force is stopping their return and the time-travelling TARDIS team must face great dangers, ferocious enemies and wilder terrors than ever before.’
But there’s one moment from the surprise trailer that has impressed fans. In one scene an animated creature (reminiscent of the video game character Cuphead according to one fan) appears to crawl out of the cinema screen to attack the audience.
This spine-tingling moment from the season two trailer was praised by fans (Picture: BBC)
Belinda is just trying to get home (Picture: BBC Studios/Disney/Bad Wolf/James Pardon)
Millie Gibson also makes a return as Ruby Sunday (Picture: BBC Studios/Disney/Bad Wolf/Latoya Fits)
It’s an unnerving, and astonishingly well-done, moment as fans praised.
‘Terrifyingly beautiful! I LOVE THIS!!!!!’ @andybfaedundee wrote on X.
‘Oh we are so f**king back,’ @sattlermonument added.
‘So this is insane,’ @wildbluejacob agreed.
‘This is presumably the episode with another Pantheon God but I really hope the Doctor gets pulled into animation because that is such a fun concept,’ @salamisandwich shared.
‘Nah cuz when I tell you, the CGI looks incredible compared to earlier seasons of (modern) Doctor Who! That budget is crazy!!!!!’ @miecyt993 echoed.
‘God this has been one of my like dream ideas for doctor who and it’s so cool seeing it being used,’ @kaardbord said.
‘This is absolutely wild and could possibly be the best use of the increased budget from Disney,’ @returnoftheolly praised.
Doctor Who has received a considerably larger budget since it’s partnership with Disney+ (who release the episodes for countries outside the UK) at the start of Russell T Davies return to the show in 2023.
There’s no release date for the second season yet (Picture: BBC Studios/Disney/Bad Wolf/James Pardon)
In a new interview with Metro, Steven reflected on the joys of writing a sci-fi show with an increased budget, and how it also hasn’t really changed at all since its reboot in 2005.
‘I look back at our Doctor Who in iPlayer and think it all looks pretty good actually,’ he said.
‘We’ve got more budget now. The amount of money Doctor Who always has is not enough because it’s a demanding show but it’s great to have that Disney money.
‘But make no mistake, you can do Doctor Who down a tunnel. When I did Boom, I did Doctor Who that could have been made in 1976.’
Nicola Coughlan starred in the Christmas special this year (Picture: BBC Studios/James Pardon)
The latest episode was Steven’s first festive episode since 2017, with the former showrunner deciding to include a plotline referencing Covid, and call out the government officials who allegedly broke lockdown rules.
He told Metro: ‘It’s not a jab not to the government, but to the people who broke the law, just be clear.
‘There’s no political element to this. There are plenty of people in the Tory government who did not break the law. Plenty of them who are equally angry, equally furious, so it’s not a political point.
‘When people claim it’s me having a jab at the Tories, I say, “do you think Margaret Thatcher would have done that?” the answer is “no, she would not.” Actually, most of them would not have done that. It’s the party of law and order after all.
‘I think when people break the law and break hearts, then they can take a bit of stuffing for that as far as I’m concerned. I think that’s legitimate and proper.’
Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer and return for a second season in 2025.
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