Doctor Who has always been willing to try a variety of methods to build excitement for forthcoming episodes, whether it be Patrick Troughton making a direct plea to young viewers to hold Mummy and Daddy’s hand, Christopher Eccleston fleeing a ball of flame, or David Tennant herding reindeer.
The latest pre-transmission enticement has seen a #FindTheDoctor challenge via the official series website to solve clues, reveal a password, and unlock content which showed… well, who knows what? Except now, it seems, we do know…
It all began with the release of the Series 13 trailer back in July. Eagle-eyed fans noticed the text “/mystery” in faint lettering at the end, which in turn led to further hidden clues to reveal a password. Over the summer, more clues were planted, including a sonic screwdriver exhibit at the Science Museum in London, an anachronistic painting at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, and various Doctor Who images released on social media.
Thanks to the efforts of people with a lot more determination and nous than me, it can now be revealed that all this intrigue was leading to a brief video clip which gives a glimpse (and it is just a glimpse) of a new monster set to appear in the new series.
Based on this, it looks rather like the Sycorax leader who lopped off the Tenth Doctor’s hand in The Christmas Invasion, or maybe even a Sontaran. But we’re promised this is something new.
And we got a new photo of the Thirteenth Doctor!
It’s not yet clear whether there are more secrets yet to be uncovered…
All will no doubt be revealed when Series 13 of Doctor Who is screened this Autumn on BBC1.
