The New Season of 'Doctor Who' Will Feature Old Friends & New Threats

After over a year's hiatus, Doctor Who has roared back on our screens in a big way over the course of this holiday season, and the show's clearly not planning to take its proverbial foot off the gas anytime soon.

Thanks to its landmark 60th anniversary—which the show celebrated with a trio of special episodes starring former Doctor David Tennant —and this year's Christmas special, "The Church on Ruby Road," which introduced Ncuti Gatwa as the series' Fifteenth Doctor, Whovians around the world have been rather spoiled for content over the past few weeks. Thankfully, however, we don't have to get used to going without for too long. The series will return for a brand new run of episodes in May, and if the initial trailer is anything to go by, it's going to be a fun ride.

The teaser for Gatwa's first season—Season 14 if you're counting in modern-era Doctor Who terms, Season 1 if you're going by the rebranding hype that is attempting to partition Fifteen's premiere as a definitive hard reboot that draws a clear line between this the Disney+ era of the franchise and all that's come before—teases several key elements we already knew were coming: Jinkx Monsoon's mysterious, musically-dressed villain, a historical episode featuring the Beatles, and the Regency-set adventure that guest stars Hamilton alum Jonathan Groff. There's also a reference to the return of Bonnie Langford's classic companion Mel Bush, and a blink-and-you-'ll-miss-it shot of Yasmin Finney as Donna Noble's daughter Rose, who's also back in the next batch of episodes.

Here's the series' description. 

The Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday will face new monsters as they head off in the TARDIS for many out of this world adventures...

Gatwa and new companion Millie Gibson are obviously returning as the Doctor and new companion Ruby Sunday, and there's every reason to assume we'll see both Michele Greenidge (It's a Sin) and Angela Wynter (Time) as Ruby's adoptive mother and grandmother again during this run of episodes. And given all the theories and secrecy surrounding whatever is going on with the Sundays' neighbor Mrs. Flood—who clearly knows more about Time Lord technology than she should—here's hoping Anita Dobson (The Long Call) pops up again sooner rather than later. 

Other notable guest stars that have already been announced for the new season include fan favorite Jemma Redgrave (Grantchester), who is set to reprise her role as UNIT head Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, alongside newcomers Aneurin Barnard (1899) as the politician Roger ap Gwilliam, Indira Varma (Game of Thrones) as a dangerous Regency-era villain known as the Duchess, and Lenny Rush (Am I Being Unreasonable?) as a mysterious new character named Morris. 

Doctor Who Christmas special "The Church on Ruby Road" is now streaming on Disney+. New episodes of Doctor Who will premiere in May of 2024.