Doctor Who Gets a Mysterious New 60th Anniversary Teaser

By Nicole Drum

Doctor Who will return later this year for a series of 60th anniversary specials and now, the iconic television series is getting a mysterious new trailer. Saturday night, BBC One aired a brief, ten-second clip that kicked off with a Venus flytrap, then glitched into a "network error" before further glitches revealed mysterious sounds and images, as well as glimpses of David Tennant's Fourteenth Doctor and Catherine Tate's Donna Noble. You can check out the strange teaser footage for yourself below.

As you can see, the sounds in particularly are hard to decipher, but Doctor Who fans quickly took to trying to break things down — with one even playing the audio backwards to discover that Donna can be heard saying "Why did this face come back?", a likely reference to Tennant's appearance as Tennant previously played the Tenth Doctor.

What we know about the upcoming Doctor Who specials

As part of the celebration of Doctor Who's 60th anniversary, there are three specials coming up in November. They will be directed by Rachel Talalay, Tom Kingsley, and Chanya Button respectively, and each special was written by Russell T. Davies. Tenant will appear as the Fourteenth Doctor with Tate reprising her role as Donna Noble. Ncuti Gatwa will also make his debut as the Fifteenth Doctor in the specials. It was also announced that Neil Patrick Harris has been cast in an undisclosed, villainous role. Jacqueline King and Karl Collins are also set to appear as Sylvia Noble and Shaun Temple, reprising their roles from Tennant's final story as the Tenth Doctor, while Ruth Madeley and Yasmin Finney have also been cast.

When will Doctor Who return?

Doctor Who Season 14 will be the first new season of Doctor Who, following the anniversary specials, to stream globally on Disney+ as part of a new deal between Disney Branded Television and the BBC. Just days after Whittaker's farewell episode, the BBC and Disney announced a plan to "transform Doctor Who into a global franchise for UK audiences and the rest of the world." Rumor has it that Disney has some creative control over the franchise and wants to give Doctor Who a "Hollywood makeover."

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"I love this show, and this is the best of both worlds – with the vision and joy of the BBC and Disney+ together we can launch the TARDIS all around the planet, reaching a new generation of fans while keeping our traditional home firmly on the BBC in the UK," returning showrunner Russell T. Davies said in a press release. Davies previously expressed his belief that Doctor Who should be a franchise with multiple shows similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He achieved a measure of this during his original run as Doctor Who showrunner, reviving the core Doctor Who series and launching spinoffs Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Doctor Who returns in 2023 for its 60th-anniversary specials ahead of 2024's Season 14.

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