'Doctor Who' Season 11 Teaser Brings Jodie Whittaker's Doctor, Her New Companions, And A Lot Of Easter Eggs
The Doctor will see you now. And she couldn't be happier. Jodie Whittaker made her highly anticipated debut as the first female Doctor in the BBC sci-fi show's 55-year history in the 2017 Doctor Who Christmas special "Twice Upon a Time," but the new season 11 teaser introduces us properly to the Thirteenth Doctor for the first time, sporting a beaming smile and some fresh new threads.
But the teaser reveals something even more exciting: the three new companions who will be boarding Whittaker's maiden voyage on the TARDIS. Geronimo!
Doctor Who Season 11 Teaser
Jodie Whittaker will take over the keys to the TARDIS from Peter Capaldi in the upcoming season of Doctor Who. For the first time in the BBC sci-fi show's 55-year history, the iconic Doctor will be played by a woman — a landmark achievement for a series that is one of the most beloved staples of British culture. And she'll have three new companions this time around, played by Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole, and Mandip Gill. This more crowded line-up is interesting — we haven't had a regular four-member TARDIS team since Peter Davison's Fifth Doctor, though Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, and Matt Smith's Doctors from the Doctor Who revival have had revolving companions that sometimes made up a large ensemble. We'll see how this dynamic works for Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor.
The teaser introduces us to Walsh, Cole, and Gill's characters, though it doesn't tell us much aside from giving us a glimpse of what they look like when they're puzzled. But the 50-second teaser is rife with nods to previous Doctors and seasons of Doctor Who. So since you're about to rewatch this teaser 10 more times, join me as we break down the Easter eggs in the Doctor Who teaser.
Doctor Who Easter Eggs
Fish Fingers and Custard: At the beginning of the teaser, we see Tosin Cole's Ryan eating a traditional English breakfast at a restaurant. But suddenly time freezes, and we see the Doctor glide by, dipping what looks to be a fish stick into the custard on his plate. A reference to the Eleventh Doctor's (Matt Smith) peculiar taste buds, perhaps?
The Beano 1981 Summer Special: Another Matt Smith-era callback. Bradley Walsh's Graham is reading a newspaper inside a diner, but after the Doctor enters and leaves a swirl of temporal energy in her wake, he finds that he's holding The Beano 1981 Summer Special — the very same issue that the Eleventh Doctor was reading in the season 7 episode "The Rings of Akhaten."
Jubilee Pizza: The teaser digs deep and gives us a Torchwood reference, showing Mandip Gill's Yasmin and her friends enjoying pizza that came from the same restaurant that featured in the first episode of the Doctor Whospinoff Torchwood, "Everything Changes." And Jubilee Pizza has appeared in the Doctor Who-verse before, showing up on a pizza box in the Season 1 episode "Dalek."
Did you spot any other Easter eggs?
The new season of Doctor Who will air this fall on the BBC. We'll learn more details at the BBC's panel at San Diego Comic-Con this week.