The Latest 'Doctor Who' Trailer Sees the Doctor Dance Through Time

There's rarely been a better time to be a Doctor Who fan than right now. The franchise is as successful as it's ever been, riding the high of a wildly popular sixtieth-anniversary outing last Fall that saw the return of the most popular actor of the modern era and kickstarted a brand new chapter for Ncuti Gatwa's new incarnation of the infamous Time Lord. (That he's the first Black man to play the Doctor also feels like another important step forward worth mentioning.)

Plus, with the show's move to Disney+, we not only get to see what Doctor Who looks like with real money behind it, but with dueling promotional budgets. Last week saw the arrival of the Disney+ trailer for Gatwa's first outing, which featured a David Bowie backing track, glossy establishing shots, and a surprise hologram of David Tennant's face. Now, the BBC version has arrived, offering a second look at the stories and guest stars to come in the weeks ahead and quite a bit more new footage as the Doctor dances his way through the Regency period to the 1960s and beyond, meeting old friends and facing new enemies along the way.

This season will see Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor head off on his first full set of adventures with companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson), following the pair's introduction in the Christmas special "The Church on Ruby Road". And since that episode involved both Doctor and companion performing a musical number while battling a flying ship full of goblins that eat babies, the bar for bonkers as far as the new season goes is already pretty darn high. 

In addition to releasing a second trailer with even more brand-new footage, the names, writers, and directors of the eight episodes of Season 14 (or Season 1 if you're using Disney+'s revisionist numbering) have also been revealed. 

The bulk of the season has been penned by Davies himself, with former writer and showrunner Steven Moffat and the duo of Kate Herron and Briony Redman pitching in for a pair of episodes.

The titles and episode order are: 

• Space Babies: Written by Russell T Davies, directed by Julie Anne Robinson
• The Devil's Chord: Written by Russell T Davies, directed by Ben Chessell (This is the Beatles episode and will feature a guest appearance by Jinx Monsoon.) 
• Boom: Written by Steven Moffat, directed by Julie Anne Robinson
• 73 Yards: Written by Russell T Davies, directed by Dylan Holmes Williams
• Dot and Bubble: Written by Russell T Davies, directed by Dylan Holmes Williams
• Rogue: Written by Kate Herron and Briony Redman, directed by Ben Chessell (The image shared alongside this episode title on Twitter indicates this is the Regency-set installment.)
• The Legend of Ruby Sunday: Written by Russell T Davies, directed by Jamie Donoughue
• Empire of Death: Written by Russell T Davies, directed by Jamie Donoughue

As an additional Easter surprise, it was also announced that Golda Rosheuvel (Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story) will guest star in the season's first episode "Space Babies". She's playing a character named Jocelyn, who the Doctor and Ruby collide with during their first adventure in the TARDIS together.

“It’s been amazing to see the whole world appreciate Golda’s talents, because of Bridgerton, and it’s been an absolute joy to invite her to Cardiff to help launch Ncuti and Millie’s first season," Davies said in a statement.

Other newly announced guest cast includes Callie Cooke (Wedding Season), Dame Siân Phillips (I  Claudius), Alexander Devrient (The Lazarus Project), Bhav Joshi (The Diplomat), Majid Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy (Hollyoaks), Tachia Newall (Pennyworth), and Caoilinn Springall (Citadel). 

Here's the official synopsis. 

The Doctor and his companion Ruby Sunday travel across time and space, with adventures all the way from the Regency era in England, to war-torn future worlds. Throughout their adventures in the TARDIS – a time-traveling ship shaped like a police box – they encounter incredible friends and dangerous foes, including a terrifying bogeyman, and the Doctor’s most powerful enemy yet.

This season will feature multiple returning fan-favorite characters, such as Bonnie Langton (EastEnders) as classic Who companion Mel, Jemma Redgrave (Grantchester) as UNIT leader Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, and Yasmin Finney (Heartstopper) as Donna Noble's daughter, Rose. Other previously confirmed guest stars include Indira Varma (Game of Thrones), Jinx Monsoon (RuPaul's Drag Race), Jonathan Groff (Hamilton), Lenny Rush (Am I Being Unreasonable?), Genesis Lynea (Silent Witness), and Aneurin Barnard (1899).

The first two episodes of Doctor Who's new season will drop on streaming on May 10 at 7 p.m. ET in the U.S. and at midnight GMT on May 11 on BBC iPlayer.  In the U.K. this will be followed by a linear broadcast at 6 p.m. GMT on BBC One. 

For those who need to catch up before the new episodes, Gatwa and Gibson's debut adventure, "The Church on Ruby Road," is currently streaming on Disney+.