The Doctor returns for the annual festive episode this Christmas Day with an episode entitled The Return of Doctor Mysterio. Today we received the first full trailer for the episode.
Peter Capaldi reunites with Mendorax Delloran Nardole (played by Matt Lucas) from last year’s Christmas jape (The Husbands of River Song) for another seasonal adventure. Justin Chatwin, Charity Wakefield, Tomiwa Edun, Aleksandar Jovanovic and Logan Huffman arrive to act in support.
All eyes will be on Capaldi following a Doctor-free 2016, and though he did turn up in the first episode of the spin-off Class, we’ve missed The Doctor this year. Rumours persist about his involvement beyond next year’s series in which will see Capaldi joined by Pearl Mackie as new companion Bill, but nothing – as expected – has been revealed about his fate.
Chris Chibnall (whose bleak, almost somnambulist drama Broadchurch brought him great acclaim) is the new showrunner for the series beyond and, while Whovians argue endlessly about who is better, the succession of Steven Moffat over Russell T. Davies certainly brought about a new tone to the long-running show.
The Christmas episodes of Doctor Who have a habit of existing out of time, and have sometimes suffered because of it, almost seeming like pantomime edition of the show. This new trailer does seem to suggest that The Return of Doctor Mysterio will continue this tradition, but it’ll be good see Capaldi back on screen again as The Doctor.
Doctor Who 2016 Christmas Episode Synopsis
The Christmas sees The Doctor join forces with a masked Superhero for an epic New York adventure.
With brain-swapping aliens poised to attack, the Doctor and Nardole link up with an investigative reporter and a mysterious figure known only as The Ghost. Can the Doctor save Manhattan? And what will be revealed when we see behind the mask?
Sounds like it’ll be a lot of festive fun, though the superhero angle seems a little too on the nose and the sight of those creepy surgeons will have the nosocomephobics hiding behind the sofa.
Here’s the trailer, the Doctor Who Christmas episode will air on BBC One on Christmas Day at 5.45pm.
