13 things we learned from the new Doctor Who trailer

1. Those emoji monsters are deadly

The much-heralded emoji monsters coming up in the new series (our prediction for their catchphrase: “How do you do, fellow kids?”) get a bit of a starring role in the new footage, becoming the object of some confusion from Bill before showing off their deadlier side via some creepy skulls.

Not sure why they didn’t just go for the one skull image instead of two small ones with skull teeth, but hey – maybe they just wanted to avoid him looking like this old favourite:

2. The gang are headed to Mars

…as stated by Bill in the footage, and in keeping with the fact that this series will see the return of classic foes the Ice Warriors.

And if we’re headed to their home turf, it might help explain why we’re seeing a new breed of Ice Warrior (as revealed by Mark Gatiss a few weeks ago) – perhaps we’ll be meeting non-warrior Ice Warriors, which we’ll be calling ‘Ices' for the sake of clarity.

3. …and 1814!

Again, thanks to the dialogue for filling in the blanks. We knew that the Doctor was taking Bill to Victorian times but not exactly when, so we’ll fill in our time traveller’s diaries accordingly.

The date would also seem to confirm our theory that the episode revolves around Victorian frost fairs (which took place on the frozen river Thames during the so-called “Little Ice Age”), as 1814 was the year of the last ever frost fair. Trust the Doctor to ruin them forever!

UPDATE: Thanks to @lisacartman for pointing out that Queen Victoria didn't ascend to the throne until 1837, so 1814 would technically be the Georgian period. History lesson learned!

4. And…Egypt?

The footage shows what looks like a pyramid, though its proximity to a forest suggests this is some kind of alien civilisation rather than a trip to the time of the Pharoahs.

Perhaps we’re seeing the past days of the Ice Warriors on Mars, or maybe it’s the same planet as the one with the strange water-geyser monster you see elsewhere in the trailer. Who knows!

5. As well as lots of other cool places

The trailer jumps around from submarines to space stations to futuristic cities (complete with some nice Tomorrowland-style wheat fields), and overall it looks like the Doctor and Bill will be up to all sorts of galaxy-hopping this series.

6. They’ll meet an underwater monster

This big eye seems likely to be part of the same episode as the 1814 frost fair, seeing as that story is rumoured to be about a giant sea monster living under the River Thames.

Maybe this creature is an enemy, or maybe it’s a benevolent space whale saving us all from global warming by freezing stuff (or something). As far as we can tell, only the Doctor (or possibly the Met Office) could possibly know the truth.

7. And face a few old foes (with new faces)

Following the announcement that the series finale would include classic Mondasian Cyberman last week, this new trailer offers new shots of the cyborg baddies in action, as well as a first proper look at the aforementioned new breed of Ice Warrior, who has a rather more slimline design but maintains a bit of hair on the shoulders. It’s good to keep it old-school sometimes.

Oh, and there’s a Dalek, but there are usually Daleks, right?

8. As well as some new ones (also with new faces, obviously)

Including a sort of…wet Dalek lady, who we’ve seen before and who looks a lot like The Flood from 2009's previous Mars-based episode The Waters of Mars, but who says “exterminate” and floats around, suggesting some sort of connection to the Doctor’s oldest foes instead. Hmm…

Other new faces include these fairly decrepit ones who look sort of like decomposed monks with long fingers (previously spotted in hologram form in another trailer), the aforementioned emoji ‘bots, a wooden creature and some folks with exciting face ink. It’s always good to meet new people.

9. Missy is back!

And speaking of returning faces, it would be remiss to leave out the exciting comeback for Michelle Gomez’ Missy, last seen negotiating with the Daleks and now apparently modelling a new haircut and some nice new outfits in a weird Perspex cube. Considering the huge amount of guest stars and monsters apparently peppered throughout this series, we can only hope her return isn’t overshadowed.

10. UNIT are also (maybe) back

One scene in the trailer sees the Doctor, Bill and Nardole standing at a checkpoint while Capaldi’s Time Lord puts on his sonic shades and says “Bring it,” in front of what looks like a UNIT battalion.

With that said, the uniforms don’t quite match with what we've become used to from the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, and it could be that the big “UN” refers to troops belonging to the real-life UN for some reason.

In other words, it’s either the return of the Doctor Who staple, the series delving into geopolitics or the debut of a completely different group who use prominent “UN” branding. Glad we could clear that up for you.

11. David Suchet is always in tune

In all the excitement it’s easy to forget one of the most intriguing castings for the new series, Poirot actor David Suchet, playing a mysterious character called The Landlord, of whom we still know very little about.

Anyway, we get a look at him again in the new trailer, whipping out a tuning fork and muttering that “It’s time…” – hardly dispelling those rumours about the Landlord being a Time Lord.

12. Bill is in serious danger

The previous trailer for series 10 seemed to hint that the Doctor’s latest companion could meet her maker in coming episodes, and new footage in this one only continues to hint at that possibility.

“You’re about to be exposed to the vacuum of space,” the Doctor ruefully tells a crying Bill (assuming the tears aren’t edited in from a different scene), suggesting that a near-death experience is at hand. Oh dear….

13. And finally – a classic bit of kit is making a return

Perhaps the most joyful moment in the whole trailer comes when Matt Lucas is thrown a sonic screwdriver (either by the Tardis or Capaldi’s Doctor), mimicking the scene from last year’s finale when the Doctor received his new one.

However, Nardole is disappointed to discover that the sonic is an older model – specifically the version used by Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor, presumably kept in storage somewhere until it was needed. A few other scenes seem to show Nardole using the screwdriver, so perhaps he just grabbed the first one he could find.

So basically, with both that screwdriver AND the revival of the Mondasian Cybermen, it’s clear that Doctor Who is going very retro this year. We predict a Time Lord in flares by series’ end.

Doctor Who returns to BBC1 on Saturday 15th April 2017