Doctor Who Season 12 Trailer Confirms the Return of Major Villain

Today is Doctor Who Day and the BBC celebrated by releasing the trailer for Doctor Who Season Twelve. The new trailer shows Jodie Whittaker back as the Thirteenth Doctor. Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill also return as companions Graham O'Brien, Ryan Sinclair, and Yasmin Khan. But the heroes traveling in the TARDIS aren't the only familiar faces returning in the new season. The new trailer confirmed the return of one of the Doctor's oldest and most dangerous enemies. The Cybermen are back in the new season of Doctor Who. Or a Cyberman, at least. The trailer shows one of the cybernetic humanoids acting alone.

The Cybermen should be fresh in the mind of the Doctor. The Cybermen triggered the Doctor's latest regeneration. They shot the Twelfth Doctor as he defended the inhabitants of a colony ship in "The Doctor Falls." Though the Twelfth Doctor at first refused to regenerate, he gave in to the process — with some encouragement from the First Doctor — in "Twice Upon a Time."

The Cybermen first appeared in The Tenth Planet, the second-ever Doctor Who serial, where they faced the First Doctor. Rumors of their return in Season Twelve have been circulating online. Some of those rumors suggest a Cyberman will inspire Mary Shelley to write her seminal sci-fi/horror novel, Frankenstein.

November 23rd is Doctor Who Day, sometimes called TARDIS Day, the annual celebration of the first airing of Doctor Who on television in 1963. That makes today the perfect day to drop a new trailer, especially one that's bringing back one of the original Doctor's old foes.

Doctor Who wrapped production on Season Twelve last week. "We're off again!" showrunner Chris Chibnall said in the new season announcement. "Well we never actually stopped - as Jodie Whittaker's Doctor and friends have been winning the hearts of families across the nation this autumn, we've been busy with a whole new set of action packed adventures for the Thirteenth Doctor. We adore making this show and have been blown away by the response from audiences, so we can't wait to bring more scares, more monsters and more Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gill and Tosin Cole to BBC One. Brilliant!"

"We're delighted that the Doctor and her friends will be returning to thrill audiences in 2020," Charlotte Moore, BBC director of content. "I know Chris and the whole team are already working on a whole new set of exciting adventures. In the meantime we've got a very special episode on New Year's Day for everyone to enjoy."

How do you feel about the return of the Cybermen? Let us know in the comments. Doctor Who Season Twelve debuts in early 2020.