It feels like forever since we’ve been given a look at new Doctor Who but, alas, a new trailer dropped today ahead of the double-episode premiere on May 10th, giving us a good tease for what is in store for The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) throughout Season 1. This article is going to break down the trailer as much as possible, however, beware of spoilers as speculation in the following breakdown could end up becoming true!
But first… the trailer!
‘Doctor Who’ Season 1 Trailer Breakdown
Give me the loving! The trailer begins with The Doctor and Ruby Sunday making their grand entrance within the UNIT headquarters, last seen in The Giggle.
We’re soon treated to a mix of new and old footage featuring Ruby, her mother Carla and her grandmother Cherry. With the pair being treated to their apparent first meeting with the TARDIS in their flat.
Plenty of Ncuti Gatwa
We have plenty of the new Doctor on show in the trailer, with various shots of him in action, stranded in space (???), and aside his new companion. I am so excited to see more of Ncuti.
The previously mentioned shot of Ncuti in space is certainly an interesting one. What is causing the visual discomfort for The Doctor, has he lost Ruby, or is he lost, or perhaps an old face from his past has returned in a sinister manner? Who knows. His outfit appears to be the one he wears in the finale, so all signs do point to a cliffhanger ending leading into the 2024 Christmas Special…
Oh My ‘Bridgerton’!
A good chunk of the trailer comes from the Regency-era episode, which will feature guest stars Indira Varma and Jonathan Groff, though neither make a proper appearance in the trailer. We get a hilarious line from Ruby, which gives us a little insight into her Netflix viewing history when she references Bridgerton.
We get a glimpse of what appears to be the villainous monsters of the episode, disgusting themselves as guests at the party depicted in the trailer; my guess is that these work for Indira Varma’s character, The Duchess…
We also get a tease that the show isn’t done with David Tennant just yet, with the departing Doctor making a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance in the same episode, earlier on in the trailer. Seen in his Regency get-up, Ncuti’s Doctor is seen at a console of sorts, with 10/14’s face next to him in hologram form… could this be Jonathan Groff’s rumoured Time Agent character verifying The Doctor’s identity, perhaps a face from his past?
One shot which I’m incredibly speculative about comes towards the end of the trailer, with Ncuti looking upwards. I think it’s clear he’s looking at some form of spaceship/craft and I’d expect this during the closing moments of the episode as he and Ruby bid farewell to Jonathan Groff’s character. I’m really interested to see if RTD makes the bold choice to recast Captain Jack with Groff, which I wouldn’t hate!
Returning Faces
Plenty of returning faces make appearances in the trailer, with the majority of them set to show up in the season finale. Mel (Bonnie Langford) can be seen on the back of a moped with The Doctor, as well as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart (Jemma Redgrave) and Colonel Ibrahim seen at UNIT HQ, Both are rumoured to appear more than once this season, following set photos of Kate and Ruby whilst Episodes 4 and 5 were being filmed.
Additionally, Rose Temple-Noble (Yasmin Finney) can be seen in a small shot alongside Lenny Rush, who is playing a new character called Morris. Whether or not we’ll get to hear from any of the Noble clan this season is still up in the air, however, Donna was offered a job at UNIT so you never know!
We get a number of various looks for Ruby Sunday which opens the door for a possible new Impossible Girl-esque storyline with Ruby’s mysterious origins at the core of the season.
‘The Devil’s Chord’
An episode which I cannot wait for is “The Devil’s Chord”, from which we get a tonne of footage in this trailer. The season’s second episode is set in 1960’s London around the time of The Beatles and will feature drag icon Jinkx Monsoon as the villain. It also appears from the trailer that we’ll be getting oursleves yet another musical number (hooray!), but why? Could Jinkx’s character be one of the Toymaker’s legions, hence the increased number in songs performed on the show since his reappearance in last year’s specials?
Shots of Jinkx’s villain tease musical powers, with smashing glasses, windows and treble clefs and crotchets holding Ruby captive as if vines on a tree. A really nice touch and someone I cannot wait to see during the show’s double episode premiere.
‘Boom’!
We’ve been lucky enough to see snippets of Steven Moffat’s upcoming episode, confirmed to be the season’s third episode. The episode, rumoured to be focused on a story where The Doctor is stuck stood on a landmine in the middle of a battlefield.
Who Is the Mysterious Figure?
If you’ve been living under a rock, then you wouldn’t have realised that a possible twist is making its return in Season 1. That is… actor Susan Twist, last seen in The Church on Ruby Road, is set to return and make numerous appearances in the upcoming season. Whilst Twist isn’t seen (properly) in the trailer, speculation suggests she is the mysterious figure last seen in the Christmas 2023 teaser trailer.
Twist was seen in the background of one of the in-vision commentaries available on iPlayer and it appears her next alias will be “Susan Triad” – of Triad Technologies – which got a name drop in The Giggle. In one shot of the TARDIS, in UNIT’s glamorous HQ, one of the TV screens behind mentions the tech firm… could TRIAD be this season’s “Bad Wolf”?
Zooming in reveals the screen says… “S Triad Technology announcement” and “The World will be Hers” – I think we’ve just found our big bad!
To speculate even further, we get a look at the events at The Church on Ruby Road itself, could this be Twist’s character or someone new altogether?
