Guess Who’s Back!

Forget the Olympic fever that’s infected the UK of late, the BBC has released some footage more exciting than watching a Jamaican run for ten seconds. Yes folks, it’s the trailer for the new series of Doctor Who, due to hit our screens in autumn. It’s been months since the last series ended, and it seems like the latest series will only get bigger and better.

So what can we expect from a bow tie, a feisty Scottish woman and a man who appears to do as he’s told? Well the trailer promises quite the collection of treacherous adventures, the most significant of which being the Doctor and his companions at the mercy of the Daleks. Not many shows could make plungers dangerous, but when the Doctor is surrounded by millions of them, you can be sure that it’s not the contents of a toilet that’s going to be exterminated. By the end of the trailer, however, the Daleks appear to have been melted (perhaps a warning about the dangers of bleach?). Unassuming Rory asks, “Who killed all the Daleks?” as the Doctor walks in holding the limp body of Amy. He replies, “Who do you think?” Is this the end for the Daleks? I doubt it; they’ve had more comebacks and changes than the Sugababes.

As well as the Daleks, series seven sees the return of the Weeping Angels. Made out of stone they look inanimate and harmless enough, but lose eye contact with them and you’ll meet a grisly end. The Angels also seem to have developed the ability to exhale air as Rory stands with a lit match next to a Weeping Cherub by all accounts and it is magically extinguished. Hiding behind the sofa is the only way to deal with the fear created by watching these Angels on TV, although you are better advised to maintain eye contact with them the entire time they are on screen.

Moving on to even more bizarre encounters, and this time it’s dinosaurs… on a spaceship. As if spaceships weren’t implausible enough, it seems only natural to add a bunch of long-extinct giant lizards to the equation. Generally speaking, the Doctor either goes into the future or the past on his travels with the TARDIS, but this seems to be an unlikely combination of the two. When confronted by a dinosaur (words I thought I’d never hear, let alone say), you might think it wise to turn and run in the other direction. But if you’re Doctor Who, a triceratops becomes the perfect getaway vehicle and the trailer sees the Doctor and his companions riding one… in a spaceship. In addition, the gang are chased along what appears to be the welsh coast by pterodactyls, a regular occurrence in Wales I’m sure.

We also have the delight of a Western-themed episode coming to our screens this Autumn, and Stephen Moffat appears to have gone for more of a Cowboys & Aliens look rather than a Spaghetti Western one. Explosions abound as an extremely weathered looking individual with some form of robotic eye chases the Doctor. However, it appears the Doctor has chosen a much more suitable, if less characteristically eccentric, mode of transport in the form of a horse. Continuing the American theme, the Doctor and the Ponds are seen in New York’s Time Square, clearly continuing an affiliation with America after they filmed on location there for the sixth series.

Series seven will be Amy and Rory’s last adventure with the Doctor. Although not in the trailer, Moffat has announced that Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill are leaving the show and will be replaced in the Christmas special by former Emmerdale actress Jenna-Louise Coleman. The fate of the enigmatic River Song is not so certain and the trailer shows her reveal her face from the cover of an oversized hat with a smile you just know wants to say “Spoilers!” in that sultry voice of hers.

What can you expect from series seven then? Explosions (a good 30 seconds of the trailer is various bits and bobs blowing up), new and old faces, the end of an era and a screwdriver that does more than screw. In the words of the Doctor, “Geronimo!”.