BBC One has released a second mini-prequel for the upcoming Doctor Who holiday episode.
The next episode of Doctor Who arrives on Christmas Day the and BBC is running a number of major promotions for the occasion, including photos, posters, trailers, and even some prequel scenes.
As you may recall, a lot of things will be changing for the show this year. The doctor has been alone for some time since the departure of The Ponds; holed up in his TARDIS being generally curmudgeonly. In the first mini-prequel, we saw some interesting characters around Victorian London trying desperately to convince the Doctor to come out of retirement and start adventuring again, to no avail. In this one, we are introduced more explicitly to those characters, and see the beginnings of the case that will eventually draw out the Doctor from his malaise.
The new episode will also feature the introduction of a new companion, Clara, played by Jenna-Louise Coleman, apparently a governess or some other kind of servant in this classic setting, and a redesigned TARDIS control room, which should create a more mature, sleeker look over the glass-and-light-strings interior of the last few seasons.
The episode will also feature a couple of well-known guest stars. Richard E. Grant will be taking on villain duties, and Ian McKellen will be providing the voice for the Snowmen.
It will especially be nice, however, to see a new, more mature version of the Doctor. I was getting kind of tired of the sulky-child Doctor that the character turned into with Amy and Rory around. I hope he doesn’t become sappy-in-love Doctor though. I prefer mysterious-adventurer Doctor.
We have this synopsis of the episode:
Starring Matt Smith as the Doctor and introducing Jenna-Louise Coleman as Clara, his new companion, this year’s Christmas Special is called The Snowmen and follows their adventures as they battle the villainous Doctor Simeon (Richard E Grant) and his army of sinister snowmen.
The second half of the series kicks off in the new year, but in between we’ll have the holiday episode, which is slated to air on December 25, 2012 (at 9pm on BBC America). A Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special will also arrive sometime in 2013, but the series will be on hiatus after that until Fall 2014, when series 8 is scheduled to be split across the new year, similar to this season.
