First ‘Doctor Who’ Trailer Released

BBC has released a first look at the new series of Doctor Who.

The new trailer gives fans its first real taste of Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor, along with new companions Graham (Bradley Walsh), Yaz (Mandip Gill) and Ryan (Tosin Cole). We briefly see the Doctor and her friends traveling through some alien terrains, along with the Doctor wielding what appears to be a flamethrower. We also briefly see the Doctor wield her iconic sonic screwdriver, which now has a distinctive yellow glow.

“All of this is new to me,” the Doctor says. “New faces, new worlds, new times. So if I asked really, really nicely, would you be my new best friends?”

Doctor Who is a longrunning BBC program starring a Gallifreyan time traveler known only as the Doctor. Using a ship called a TARDIS (which resembles a British police box), the Doctor travels through space and time, usually accompanied by one or more human companions.

While Doctor Who fans are used to change (the Doctor has changed actors multiple times and is explained by a Gallifreyan process called regeneration), this marks the first time that the Doctor has been played by a female actress instead of a male one. Whittaker replaces Peter Capaldi, who played the Doctor from 2014 to 2017.

Doctor Who will also have a new showrunner as Chris Chibnall took over as the executive producer from Steven Moffat. Chibnall hinted in an interview last year that the new season would be filled with risk and boldness, a move solidified by bringing in the first ever woman for the leading role on the series.

Other big changes include Bradley Walsh playing a companion of the Doctor. Walsh will be the oldest actor to ever play one of the Doctor’s traveling companions. The average age of companions is 28, and Walsh is 58 years old.

Although no specific air date was announced for the new season of Doctor Who, the BBC confirmed that first episode of the sci-fi series will air in October 2018.