Takes deep breath, prepares to duck volley of festival baubles for even mentioning it in October... Christmas is creeping closer like a sled pulled by an arthritic reindeer, and this year that means our Doctor Who drought is about to end with the traditional Christmas Special. A new look at the special has arrived alongside a full trailer for Who spin-off Class.
This year's special has something of a superhero flavour about it, as Peter Capaldi's Doctor meets an apparent hero called Doctor Mysterio (Justin Chatwin) and teams up with an investigative journalist played by Charity Wakefield to stop an extraterrestrial threat to New York. The Return Of Doctor Mysterio (for that is the title) would appear to be channelling the Christopher Reeve-era Superman, and departing executive producer Steven Moffat admitted as much at this weekend's New York Comic-Con.
The new teaser is largely a look behind the scenes (the better to keep spoilers to a minimum), though there are glimpses of Matt Lucas returning to the role of Nardole. Will we also meet new companion Bill? (Pearl Mackie) No one is saying. The episode will, as is usual, debut on 25 December, with the new series scheduled for April next year.
On the Class front, there was both a short teaser featuring Capaldi's Doctor (who we know will help kick off the companion series) and then a full trailer released for the show.
Class, created by Patrick Ness, is set at Coal Hill Academy in London, a school that has featured in Doctor Who since its inception. The story finds a group of ordinary kids thrust into danger when the side-effects unusual activity that has happened around the place start to cause more trouble.
“We’re not telling stories of the ‘chosen ones’,” Ness told Empire recently. “It’s happenstance that puts these people [at the centre of things]. What if your timing is just weird and things happen to you? How do you deal with it? I’m interested in real consequences. The Doctor is always exciting, but he never stays. He goes off on the next adventure. What happens to real people?”
Class is in session from 22 October in the UK, and appears set to premiere alongside its parent series in the States.