Series 10 Trailer Breakdown

At the end of The Return of Doctor Mysterio we got our first look at Series 10 of Doctor Who. I've taken some screenshots to give us a closer look at what's going on and speculate on what it might be telling us. You should be able to click on the image to see them a bit bigger

Bill says that she "serves chips". Obviously this doesn't tell us much but at least suggest Bill is from a fairly ordinary background like most recent companions. 

The Doctor is some sort of teacher or lecturer here. Maybe Bill is also a student and the chip serving is just a part-time job? That would explain how they end up meeting anyway. Is the Doctor undercover here a la School Reunion?

Nardole is still around. He doesn't appear too much in this trailer but he's certainly present. I would assume he will play a similar small role like in The Return of Doctor Mysterio and maybe doesn't leave the TARDIS in every episode.

An alien/ futuristic city. Looks pretty awesome but no idea what it actually is. 

This is one of many shots showing a historical episode. The Doctor and Bill are in historical dress for it. It's unclear exactly when/where it is but it looks maybe 18th or 19th century. 

A blue-skinned alien. Lots of shots from the trailer appear to be from this futuristic episode where the majority of the cast seem to be in some sort of spacesuit.

It's unclear where the Doctor and Bill are here. It looks to be some sort of vault or catacombs. It's enormous whatever it is.

This appears to be some sort of wooden alien. It looks a lot like the walking trees in The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe but it would be odd for them to return.

Smiley robots. These look friendly but I suspect they may end up being rather nasty. Note that their eyes are exclamation marks in this image. 

Very hard to get a clear screenshot of this. There's a big war involving the daleks and someone is thrown against a wall. It looks like a Movellan from Destiny of the Daleks. I might be tempted to suggest that it's just their hair but there are definitely two character in this shot with that hair. Maybe the Movellans are back!

Here's a closer look at those spacesuits from the futuristic episode. It's interesting that no characters are ever shown wearing a helmet so it's not clear why they are all wearing spacesuits. Nardole is here, the only time he's shown outside of the TARDIS in the trailer other than a brief encounter with a dalek.

The Doctor saves a small boy in the historical episode. What on Earth is the Doctor wearing here? It looks like a steampunk spacesuit. Maybe it's a diving suit but why is he wearing it?

Ther Doctor's wearing shades again. There's loads of people in the TARDIS here, more than ten by the looks of it, and they look like they might be monks or something similar. Has the Doctor rescued them? 

The Doctor punches someone! Full on punches them in the face! That's not normal is it? The set and costumes look historical so it is probably from the same episode we've seen a fair bit of. 

The Series looks a lot of fun in my mind and that's bearing in mind it doesn't look like we've seen much of it here. A tiny bit from a contemporary opening episode, a historical 18th/19th century episode, a futuristic in spacesuits episode and dalek war episode.Those last two may be one and the same and it's not clear where the city and the robots fit in either. Still, that's a long way a full series of episodes so there's a lot more to see!

Doctor Who Unlocked: The Return of Doctor Mysterio

The episode is based on the idea of Superman's alter-ego of Clark Kent and indeed Superman images appear in the episode. Superman was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and permission for the images was given by Jerry Siegel's family. The creators are then namechecked straight after the credits with Mr. Brock saying that any questions "can be handled by Miss Shuster and Miss Sigel".

The episode is set in New York but most of the external New York street shots were actually filmed in Nu Boyana Film Studios in Sofia, Bulgaria.

On the street you might be able to make out the name of the film being shown at the cinema- it's Mind of Evil, named after the Third Doctor story of that name. Also on the street is Joe's Pizzas which is where Peter Parker worked in Spider-Man 2.

The Doctor references the famous Spider-Man line "With great power comes great responsibility".

The Doctor mentions how he always has invasions at Christmas. This references the various Christmas Specials such as The Christmas Invasion and The Runaway Bride where he has fought off Christmas Day invasions.

This episode follows on from The Husbands of River Song in various ways. Scratch in Husbands has similar physical characteristics and said "I represent the Shoal of the Winter Harmony" which is very similar to the company name Harmony Shoal.

Nardole returns, now with a full body again. In The Husbands of River Song his head was attached to Hydroflax but mention is made that the Doctor reassembled him.

Nardole tells Grant and Lucy about River Song and a night that lasted 24 years- he is referencing the end of The Husbands of River Song where the Doctor takes River to the Singing Towers of Darillium. He also mentions that River died in a library a long time ago. This happened in Forest of the Dead but was a long time ago for the Doctor.

The UNIT soldiers dealing with Harmony Shoal mention Osgood, the British UNIT scientist.

The episode title The Return of Doctor Mysterio is explained in the episode from what Grant calls the Doctor. In Mexico the show is known as 'Doctor Misterio' which Peter Capaldi discovered during the 2014 world tour, much to his delight. Writer Steven Moffat recalled that delight and used in for the episode.

Lethbridge-Stewart: Times Squared

The Brigadier has a much needed holiday after his recent adventures so he takes fiancee Sally and nephew Owain to visit New York. Upon arrival they quickly become embroiled in an alien plot- the Great Intelligence is back and Yeti are in the New York Subway. 

This certainly made for an interesting change to the series. Previously we've had what are essentially UNIT stories but with the Brigadier technically off-duty here and in the USA it has a rather different style. He's well out of his comfort zone and I like that. Sally has a bigger role here than in previous books as she is properly involved with the adventure. 

I did have a lot of issues with this though. Essentially it's The Web of Fear but in New York. The author has changed a few things to make it a little more interesting, notably stripping some of the Yeti of their fur and adding lots of essentially rabid rats. The plot itself is different but it's still the Great Intelligence doing the same sort of evil stuff again. 

I also felt that the book could have been shorter considering how little plot there is. There seems to be a lot of long descriptions of lots of rats approaching people which gets a bit samey after a while. Then there's the problem that this has to fit with the Great Intelligence's ever more complicated continuity- and the author even throws a time-traveling Professor Travers into the mix too. It feels like half the book is dedicated to explaining how it fits in with Doctor Who and The Forgotten Son and I still feel a bit confused. 

That said, I enjoyed plenty of bits of this book. There's an interesting character in Kramer and I'm tempted to seek out the book she originally appeared in. The rats are a really good idea and certainly creepy, it's just a shame they are overused. Owain gets a much bigger part then he's had for a while and the author really plays around with his connection to the Great Intelligence. He's great here and I am intrigued to see how he will play out in future books. 

It's not the best Lethbridge-Stewart book by any stretch but I still enjoyed it. The idea of the Brigadier in New York is as awesome as it sounds!

Lethbridge-Stewart: The HAVOC Files 2

This is the second collection of short stories from the Lethbridge-Stewart series of books.

Ashes of the Inferno by Andy Frankham-Allen: This story links the parallel worlds of  The Schizoid Earth and the Doctor Who story 'Inferno'. It's a nice exploration of parallel worlds and the idea of how they might affect those that find out about them. What I really liked from this story was the hints at how the Lethbridge-Stewart novels work with Doctor Who and why there seems to be more to the Brigadier than we ever saw on TV.

House of Giants by Rick Cross: Another story which deals with the aftermath of a Who story, this time First Doctor story 'Planet of the Giants'. It sees Anne Travers become miniaturized and the Brig attempt to clear things up. It's a lot of fun and sets up an element of The Grandfather Infestation well.

In His Kiss by Sue Hampton: A different style this one, set in 1945 and featuring a young Alastair through the eyes of his friend Jemima. It deals with the aftermath of James Lethbridge-Stewart's death and is really a dark story about a young girl dealing with grief.

The Lock-In by Sarah Groenewegen BEM: Another different style. This is set late in the Brigadier's life and sees an exchange of letters between a woman called Pearl Hammond and the Brig in his care home as she recounts an encounter with the Fifth Operational Corps and aliens. I liked the style but felt the plot didn't quite work. 

The Black Eggs of Khufu by Tom Dexter: Lethbridge-Stewart arrives at the Great Pyramid in Egypt where ancient alien activity has been uncovered. There's an alien body and mysterious black eggs but when a group of Russians get involved Lethbridge-Stewart finds himself racing across the desert on a camel. It's a decent story and I liked the alien explanation for the pyramids. It certainly made good use of the locale although it's never really explained how on Earth Lethbridge-Stewart ending up going there. 

The Band of Evil by Roger J Simmonds & Shaun Russell: An alien band called Totem Pole is brainwashing it's fans. It's a plot that has been used before but done well here. The story also introduces Captain Younghusband who is immediately a great character. 

The Playing Dead by Adrian Sherlock: Sherlock wrote a Lethbridge-Stewart novel set in Australia which I thought was never published but will apparently be next year. This follows on from that future book. Bishop and Anne Travers are in Darwin and find themselves in a zombie apocalypse. Whilst I am a big zombie fan it felt out of sorts with the feel of the series. It worked in a Torchwood novel but I don't think it works here. 

Schädengeist’s First Love by Jonathan Cooper: This is a deleted scene from The Showstoppers. It delves into how Schadengeist/ Mondegreene ended up as the villain of the book. I really liked this and felt it would have worked well in the book. 

Exodus from Venus by John Peel: The original prologue from The Grandfather Infestation. It sees a failed invasion of Venus by the grandfathers. It's a good story but I can see why it was cut as it reveals too much of the aliens of the book. 

The Lost Skin: Episode One by Andy Frankham-Allen: The first part of a longer story which is set parallel to Times Squared. Whilst the Brig is away in New York, Anne Travers, Bishop and Samson have their own problems to deal with. Harold Chorley and Larry Green are investigating the Brigadier so a distraction involved Anne's father Professor Travers is conceived. Travers inevitably finds a myth to investigate... It's a fantastic first part of the story and I am really looking forward to seeing where this goes. 

Overall, I thought this was a great collection. It's great to see how the publisher's have decided to expand it's short stories for this range and experiment with different styles and eras of the character. As with any short story collection some are better than others but I thought generally the standard was very high.

Lethbridge-Stewart: The Grandfather Infestation

Lethbridge-Stewart and the Fifth Operational Corps face their greatest challenge yet!

When a pirate radio ship disappears, the Navy investigates. When the Navy submarine disappears, Lethbridge-Stewart knows something is up. Deep in the sea an alien race known as the Ynir are preparing plans for their 'grandfathers', a species of intelligent killer plants, to wipe out all life on Earth and take the planet over.

This is the book in the series that really captures the era well. It feels like a James Bond movie but with killer plants akin to The Day of the Triffids or Doctor Who's own Seeds of Doom. At the same time it fits in well with the previous six books and Doctor Who in general. Unlike previous books the threat is world-level here and it's interesting to see that additional tension and the way the team deals with it- they are starting to get used to this sort of thing. There's also a great link to the First Doctor story Planet of Giants which I thought was fantastic.

Peel's other strength in this book was the characterisation. For a start he deals with the main cast really well, making Lethbridge-Stewart and Anne Travers feel just like do on screen. He also introduced us to some great one-off characters like pirate radio DJ Mary. The thing that really surprised me was his excellent characterisation of the aliens. So often the idea that aliens have some sort of personality is ignored but Peel addresses it really well and in doing so creates a more believable threat.

My one issue with this book was the ending. It felt a little rushed and much of the solution came from a frustrating deus ex machina, albeit a previously established one. As much as I thought this was clever it felt a little frustrating in terms of the story.

Overall though a stunning read and this series continues to reach a high standard.

Lethbridge-Stewart: The Showstoppers

This sixth Lethbridge-Stewart book again feels different to the previous books in the series. The team commissioning these book is doing a fantastic job at finding great authors and ensuring we get a range of stories. 

This time Jonathan Cooper gives us a tale which focuses on the world of spy-fi TV shows, which were of course massive at the time and many fans of classic Doctor Who loved. Journalist Harold Chorley meets a tramp wearing a tinfoil hat and somehow manages to persuade Lethbridge-Stewart to investigate the making of a new TV show called BLIMEY. It's star, Aubrey Mondegreene, is playing all the main characters and is nearly single-handedly running the show. But he seems to get into character in an extreme way and people are convinced he seems to be in more than one place at once.

The actual plot isn't revealed to the closing stages of the book which means this is largely about the mystery. It's great because as a reader I had little idea in what was going on and frankly when all was revealed I realised I never would have guessed. 

My favorite part of this book was where Anne Travers and new character Samson Ware find themselves trapped by one of Mondegreen's characters, an over-the-top German scientist. Such a ridiculous character was common in the sort of TV shows that BLIMEY is representing but they rarely work as a proper character. Thanks to the context though we can have a ridiculous German scientist and Cooper even manages to give him that brilliant accented quote from The Underwater Menace, "Nuzzink in ze vorld can schtop me now". 

Cooper does a great job at ensuring all the main characters are properly involved with the story and represents them all well- even Harold Chorley, who fits into this book so well. This book also had my favorite epilogue of the series so far for reasons I won't spoil. 

Yet another hugely enjoyable book in the Lethbridge-Stewart series and I look forward to reading the next one.

Lethbridge-Stewart: Moon Blink

This is the first book in Season Two of the Lethbridge-Stewart series. After the events of the previous books Lethbridge-Stewart is becoming more experienced in dealing with alien threats and has a strong team to help him. Here he heads up to Edinburgh to prepare to lead a new unit, the Fifth Operational Corps (a prototype UNIT).

In London, Anne Travers gets a visit from an old friend who announces she has an alien baby from the moon in tow. Lethbridge-Stewart discovers there is a new drug on the streets called Moon Blink which seems to have actually come from the Moon. It's up to Anne, Bill Bishop and Lethbridge-Stewart if they can ever contact him, to protect the alien baby from being used and abused by both the US and the Soviets.

I had my concerns about the publisher choosing Sadie Miller as the author of this book. She is the daughter of Elisabeth Sladen, who played Doctor Who's most popular companion Sarah-Jane Smith. But it turns out that Sadie Miller is a fantastic author, perhaps the best this series has seen so far. I liked her style of writing and she manages to some fantastic details. This book really fits into the series excellently with references back to previous books and indeed into the Doctor Who universe- there are references to everything from The Ambassadors of Death right through to Victory of the Daleks.

I really liked the plot here as it manages to be original and very different from the previous books. Here we have good aliens and it's humans that are the villains. There's a fantastic section where Anne considers that this is more scary which I thought was one of the best moments of any Doctor Who novel I've ever read.

There are a few minor quibbles though. Even more so than some of the previous books, this focuses more on Anne than the title character. It worked well here though and I can totally understand why an author would choose to do this- Anne is more of an interesting character. The ending here is what let the story down a little- it got very exciting and then suddenly fizzled out.

I thought this was probably the best book of the series so far and a strong start to the second series. I hope Sadie Miller writes more books because with this as a debut I can only imagine how fantastic her later books might be.