New Doctor Who Season Eight Teaser Trailer & Production Details Released

Source: The Telegraph

A familiar foe stalks the shadows in a new preview of the Twelfth Doctor's first series...
The BBC have today released a new teaser trailer and further details on the production of the eighth season of their revived science-fiction drama Doctor Who. Set to premiere on BBC One and BBC America next month, the latest run will open with a feature-length instalment called "Deep Breath" which fully introduces Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor and additionally sees Jenna Coleman, Neve McIntosh, Catrin Stewart and Dan Starkey reprise their roles as Clara Oswald, Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint and Commander Strax respectively.

You can check out the trailer for yourself below. Back? Right, then. As one might come to expect from what is arguably the entertainment industry's most speculative and analytical fanbase, Whovians are already deep into discussions regarding the withheld owner of the mysterious voice who claims to be able to "see into [the Doctor's] soul" and the "beauty, divinity, hatred" which lies within the Time Lord's (here electrified) two hearts (at least in the case of his current incarnation). A particular favourite amongst the metaphorical bookies is Davros, yet the voice does seem to warp from sounding akin to Julian Bleach's 2008 version of the character to something more along the lines of a standard Dalek voice (no doubt envisioned by Who's incumbent go-to extraterrestrial vocal artist Nicholas Briggs) in the video's final moments. As such, it's impossible to say for sure. Various sources have previously claimed that Phil Ford's instalment of Season Eight (Episode 2, which he teased with the words "behind enemy lines" earlier this year) will play host to the return of the Doctor's most persistent adversaries, but it remains to be seen who'll be at the helm of this armada when the Twelfth pits his wits against them in eight weeks' time.

The news doesn't stop there in this instance, though! In addition to launching a new teaser during last night's Wimbledon coverage on BBC One, the show's production team also confirmed yesterday that beloved children's author Frank Cottrell Boyce (who penned the superb Carnegie Award-nominated novel Cosmic as well as a sequence used in the 2012 London Olympics' Opening Ceremony) has written Episode 10 of Season Eight. This announcement (coupled with news of Sheree Folkson's appointment as its director and that its supporting cast will comprise child actors such as Harley Bird and Ashley Foster) serves to fill in the final remaining gap of the series' writer and director slate, such that we can now reveal the completed twelve-episode roster in its entirety:

• DEEP BREATH- Writer: Steven Moffat; Director: Ben Wheatley; Airdate: August 23rd
• EPISODE 2- Writer: Phil Ford; Director: Ben Wheatley; Airdate: August 30th
• EPISODE 3- Writer: Mark Gatiss; Director: Paul Murphy; Airdate: September 6th
• EPISODE 4- Writer: Steven Moffat; Director: Douglas Mackinnon; Airdate: September 13th
• EPISODE 5- Writer: Stephen Thompson; Director: Douglas Mackinnon; Airdate: September 20th
• EPISODE 6- Writer: Gareth Roberts; Director: Paul Murphy; Airdate: September 27th
• EPISODE 7- Writer: Peter Harness; Director: Paul Wilmshurst; Airdate: October 4th
• EPISODE 8- Writer: Jamie Mathieson; Director: Paul Wilmshurst; Airdate: October 11th
• EPISODE 9 (UNCONNECTED TO EPISODE 8)- Writer: Jamie Mathieson; Director: Douglas Mackinnon; Airdate: October 18th
• EPISODE 10- Writer: Frank Cottrell Boyce; Director: Sheree Folkson; Airdate: October 25th
• EPISODES 11 & 12 (TWO-PART FINALE)- Writer: Steven Moffat; Director: Rachel Fairlay; Airdates: November 1st & November 8th

Doctor Who will return with a new series of time-travelling voyages on BBC One and BBC America this August 23rd.