A cryptic new teaser for the upcoming Doctor Who 60th-anniversary specials was revealed on BBC One last night – featuring an intriguing look at David Tennant's Fourteenth Doctor and Catherine Tate's Donna Noble.

Advertisement

The ten-second clip aired during the channel's Saturday (29th April 2023) evening schedule, with a message flashing up onscreen that read Network Error before making way for a number of distorted images and seemingly indecipherable sounds.

But it didn't take sleuthing Whovians too long to work out some meaning behind the teaser, with fans noting that when the audio is played backwards Donna can be heard saying: "Why did this face come back?"

Furthermore, some viewers spotted that a sequence of code shown during the teaser reads "EV1305" which could well be a hint that we will be getting a brand new trailer during Eurovision (EV) on 13th May (1305).

Adding to the excitement, the official Doctor Who Twitter account also tweeted and then swiftly deleted a post made up entirely of binary number sequences – which also appear in the trailer itself.

Read more:

Catherine Tate as Donna Noble-Temple in the Doctor Who 60th anniversary teaser.
Catherine Tate as Donna Noble-Temple in the Doctor Who 60th-anniversary teaser. BBC

One fan noted that cracking the codes reveals the words The Star Beast – a reference to the 1980 comic book Doctor Who and the Star Beast which featured two monsters confirmed to be making appearances in the 60th-anniversary specials, the Meeps and the Wrath Warriors.

With a few months to go until the specials air, there are likely to be a lot more clues to decipher between now and then – and fans will no doubt revel in finding out more information as the countdown continues to the sci-fi show's return.

The special episodes will feature Bernard Cribbins in his final role as Donna's grandfather Wilfred Mott, while Heartstopper star Yasmin Finney will portray Rose.

Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here.

Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on.

Advertisement

Try Radio Times magazine today and get 12 issues for only £1 with delivery to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.

Authors

Patrick Cremona, RadioTimes.com's senior film writer looking at the camera and smiling
Patrick CremonaSenior Film Writer

Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement