Moments before the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final came live from Liverpool in the UK, viewers were transported out of this world as an explosive new trailer for the Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials gave viewers an exciting glimpse of what to expect later this year.
The TARDIS lands in time to celebrate its 60th anniversary, and the trailer exclusively revealed the titles of the three special episodes coming later this year.
Special One: “The Star Beast“
Special Two: “Wild Blue Yonder”
Special Three: “The Giggle“
Russell T Davies, Showrunner said: “The titles are just the beginning of the Doctor’s biggest adventure yet. Autumn is coming, with three hours of danger, Donna and disaster about to be unleashed!”
The series of specials will reintroduce audiences with David Tennant and Catherine Tate as The (14th) Doctor and Donna Noble, as well as a few familiar faces from Russell T Davies’ time running the show. As well as old faces, the specials will introduce Neil Patrick Harris‘ mysterious villain as well as Donna Noble’s daughter Rose, played by Heartstopper‘s Yasmin Finney.
Find the brand new trailer for the specials below:
Trailer Breakdown
“Why Did This Face Come Back?”
One of the most soul crushing lines of the trailer comes from the beginning as Donna askes why a particular face has come back.
“Why did this face come back”… “To say goodbye?”
Over the top of the dialogue, some establishing shots of David Tennant‘s The Fourteenth Doctor seen in London, outside of Cyberdog – seen in some of the most earliest days of when they shot the 60th Anniversary specials in Camden.
‘The Star Beast’
The first special, titled “The Star Beast” will adapt the Doctor Who comic “Doctor Who and the Star Beast”, a story which featured Beep the Meep and the Wrath Warriors, both previously seen in the first teaser trailer for the specials.
Potential spoilers in the next paragraph
In the story, Beep the Meep led the Meep armada to conquer the galaxy, but they were defeated by the Wrarth Warriors. Fleeing them, Beep was pursued to Earth where his spaceship crashed and was taken in by two humans who believed him to be harmless. From there, Beep took control of the towns people and forced them to fix his ship to return home before being recaptured by the Wrarth Warriors.
It isn’t known how much of the story will be adapted for the 60th Anniversary, but a lot of what is revealed in the new trailer paired with the first teaser seem to hint at it being the case, so I would expect a pretty solid adaptation.
For instance, we next see a spacship crashing to Earth being watched by The Doctor (David Tennant) and Rose Temple-Noble (Yasmin Finney), this is clearly a ship belonging to Beep the Meep, who we know is discovered by Rose from the footage released in the first teaser.
The Wrath Warriors
We then get a new glimpse of the Wrath Warriors in a repeat clip from one of the very first looks at the specials, as they march and blast their way through a London street, perhaps on the look out for Beep the Meep (more on him later).
First Time in Space (Again)?
Donna Noble gets the next line of dialogue, shocked to her new surroundings in what I can assume is a spaceship of sorts as she asks the Doctor, “Oh my god, where are we?”. It is unclear if the two following shots are featured in the same scene, but the first one definitely matches the alien interior previously seen in the first trailer.
Dance with the Devil
The second segment of the trailer teases Neil Patrick Harris’ mysterious villain, seen dancing in the streets of a chaos-inflicted London with The Fourteenth Doctor. Could he be Classic Who villain The Celestial Toymaker? Or someone completely new… Speculation has persisted for months that Harris would be playing a new iteration of the beloved villain, but we still have no official details on the character.
Harris’ villain is teased once again with The Fourteenth Doctor being seen in a UNIT headquarters watching a video released by the mysterious antagonist featured an incredibly creepy doll as he laughs at human kind. Not only could this be the setting for the long rumoured UNIT spin-off series but it’s also great to see more confirmation of UNIT’s involvement within the specials and nice to know they won’t only feature for the Wrath Warriors vs Beep the Meep segments.
Is that Ruth Madeley’s new character Shirley Anne Bingham in the bottom left too? Could be…
Before the screens switch to the creepy doll, a brief glimpse of AMNN can be seen on the far-left, bottom screen. Doctor Who viewers will recognise the American News Network hosted by Trinity Wells, who has appeared in 8 Doctor Who serials, 2 episodes of Torchwood and 2 episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures.
Fun fact: Russell T Davies revealed in The End of Time‘s edition of Doctor Who Confidential that he had originally planned for the Doctor to meet Trinity Wells in the two part special, however, the scene was cut.
Enter Beep the Meep!
The final sequence of the trailer gives us a brand new look at Beep the Meep doing his best impression of ET, as he hides amongst some soft toys in what we can assume is the Temple-Noble household – perhaps Rose’s bedroom? It would make sense for Rose to bring Beep home after discovering him, assuming he would be an innocent little ball of fluff, unbeknownst to his evil intentions…
Donna pokes Beep in the eye, leading to a hilarious “What the hell” moment from Donna as Beep the Meep wails in response. Easily the highlight of the trailer.
Overall, a pretty small trailer when compared to the first teaser trailer but it is still so exciting to be one step closer to Doctor Who‘s 60th Anniversary!
Be sure to stay tuned to Popped for all upcoming coverage for Doctor Who‘s 60th Anniversary and beyond!
Where to Stream the ‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Specials?
Thanks to a new worldwide deal, Doctor Who will be available to stream on Disney+ from November 2023. Under a shared creative vision, the BBC and Disney Branded Television will deliver this quintessentially British show to future generations on an unprecedented scale with Disney+ as the exclusive home for new seasons of Doctor Who outside the UK and Ireland.
In the UK and Ireland, BBC iPlayer will still be the exclusive home of Doctor Who.
When Are the Specials Streaming?
The three special episodes are set to air in November 2023. No specific dates have been confirmed. However, I would imagine that they will be close to the show’s actual anniversary, which falls on November 23.
In addition to the three specials, December will see the release of a Festive Special starring Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor and new companion Ruby Sunday, played by Millie Gibson.
