Peter Capaldi is the twelfth actor to portray The Doctor.
Soccer fans in the United Kingdom received an unexpected treat during Sunday night’s broadcast of the World Cup final: the first full-length trailer for the upcoming season of Doctor Who:
The footage is the first to feature the Twelfth Doctor, noted Scottish actor Peter Capaldi.
Capaldi is best known to American audiences as foul-mouthed, lovable political adviser (WARNING: the embedded link is in no way safe for work) Malcom Tucker in BBC comedy The Thick of It. He also starred in the show’s critically-lauded film spinoff, In the Loop.
As for the trailer itself: in addition to looking unusually dark (even by current Doctor Who standards), it promises a bevy of old standards and new mischief. Daleks, exploding TARDIS-es, and dinosaurs all make an appearance.
In other words, Doctor Who fans can expect an even broader exploration of both space and time.
BBC debuted the trailer just a few days after a security breach saw several new scripts leaked onto the internet.
More recently, unfinished footage from Capaldi’s first episode found its way online, via the BBC’s U.S. office.
That episode, entitled “Deep Breath,” kicks off the new season in UK and on BBC America on August 23rd.
