I’m back everyone, and I’m healthy now, too. I’d make a bunch of excuses for my lack of posting lately*, but instead I’ll just dive straight into the teaser, pointing out all the symbolism, hidden meanings and foreshadowing that many of you less intelligent folk might’ve missed.
0:00: A pitch black screen. Is this Moffat’s way of saying that the new series will be darker and edgier than ever? If this means more Game of Thrones-esque beheadings and nudity, I hope so. Or perhaps it symbolizes the darkness inside the Doctor’s soul, which may play a major part in his journey to find Gallifrey and his ultimate decision to bring it back into the universe. Only time will tell.
0:01: Just like the Twelfth Doctor himself, the title pops up out of nowhere, for some reason. I believe this means we can expect more scary monsters to appear, which makes me optimistic for the show’s future.
0:02: Notice how the title starts out big and shrinks to a smaller, more reasonable size. This may foreshadow a decrease in the Doctor’s self-esteem. This is a brilliant, inspired piece of plotting, if you ask me.
0:04: We are shown a split second glimpse of the Doctor standing in the Tardis interior, with flames/weird lights bursting from the interior. Perhaps that’s not actually the twelfth Doctor, but The Master instead? It would explain why the Tardis doesn’t appear to be in a healthy state. Actually, there are rumors that the new companion, Danny Pink, is actually the Master in disguise, and it looks like this teaser has just confirmed it. Wow, way to give away such a major twist already, Moffat. Geez. Trailers reveal way too much these days.
0:05: Now the screen is completely blank again, almost definitely representing a companion’s death. Looks like Clara won’t make it to the ninth season, by the way things look. Killing off a major character is a bold thing to do, especially for a children’s show, but I think I like this new dark, pessimistic direction the show seems to be taking. It’s much more… sophisticated, in my humble-yet-superior opinion.
0:06: The shot keeps flickering while spooky music plays in the background, which makes me wonder: could series eight actually be a continuation of the one of the most subtle story arcs in the show’s history? Think about it: there were a lot of instances where light was shown flickering. Three times in Asylum of the Daleks and also in Blink, The Time of Angels and Flesh and Stone. What do all these episodes have in common? All were written by the Moffat himself. We might have just found ourselves in a story arc starting all the back from series 3. Perhaps even earlier.
0:07: I like the clever juxtaposition of the dark, ominous background music and the happy DW logo that brings hope and joy to Whovians all over the world. Well done, Moffat. I never knew you have such a great sense of cinematic art.
0:09: Remember how River Song, back in series 5, said how the Tardis wasn’t actually supposed to make that sound—it was just the Doctor leaving the breaks on? Well, perhaps that wasn’t just some throwaway line, and actually some very subtle foreshadowing on Moffat’s part. Here we hear the Tardis sound, and we know that the Doctor is on the search for Gallifrey. Perhaps this is symbolizing that the Doctor is subconsciously stalling himself from finding his home planet? He says he wants to find it, but perhaps he is secretly afraid of what he’ll find? Man, that is deep.
0:10: There is a bright flashing light that then dissolves into the BBC One logo, that looks eerily similar to the Tardis exploding. Could this mean the show plans to revisit the events of series 5?
0:11: Now you could see “The New Doctor Lands,” while familiar, catchy music plays in the background. Notice how it says ‘lands,’ and not ‘arrives’ or ‘is back.’ Clearly, this is alluding to the Doctor landing on Gallifrey, or perhaps Earth or some other planet? Looks like we can expect to see new alien planets this series, or perhaps a Titanic themed episode. Or maybe the Slitheen are making a comeback.
0:13: Now “This August” is added. Notice how it doesn’t clarify on which series it is. This is probably because of the whole series/season** conflict, and the show runners don’t want to start a bunch of arguments in the comments that go a little like:
U.K. fan: It’s series 8, not season 8. Get it right.
American fan: Actually, this is a season. The show as a whole is what you’d call a series. Gosh, get a clue, stupid Brit.
U.K. fan: Maybe in America, where everyone is fat and lazy, but this is a British TV show, and thus should have British terms applied to it.
American fan: I’ll have you know that you British folk are almost just as bad as us when it comes to obesity rates, so you can’t really say anything there. Go drink some tea and watch Top Gear, loser.
U.K fan: Sorry, I couldn’t hear you, over the sound of our UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE!!!
Sheldon: Bazinga.
So that was a wise move on Moffat’s part.
0:14: The teaser trailer ends, leaving us with quite a lot to work with. From just fourteen seconds, we now know that:
- The show will head in a darker direction. We can expect beheadings and nudity.
- A plot twist regarding the series five finale will be revealed.
- Amy Pond will make a return, along with the Slitheen and the exploding Tardis.
- This will be the most aesthetically impressive series.
- The Doctor will land somewhere.
- Series 8 will air in August.
- That’s it, really.
*I had mild elbow pain. You can’t possible expect me to be productive when I have mild elbow pain, can you?
**In the United States of America, and several other countries, I assume, shows are divided into seasons, and as a whole are considered series. While in the U.K. and other countries, an American season is considered a series. This causes all sorts of confusion and misunderstandings and several tragic deaths, yet both sides refuse to agree on a single term. Also, I apologize if I offended anyone with that fake argument above, but in my defense, I’ve seen several conversations on YouTube that were startlingly similar.
Also, check out Tess the Dancer’s entry for my blog party. It’s so terrible that it made me wonder whether the terribleness was actually intentional or not, and I think that was the point, so great job, Tess.
The Little Engine that Couldn't 
I died at Sheldon’s Bazinga.
Well that’s not good. You came back to life, right?
*facepalms* This trailer was just… what. Like, I know it’s supposed to be a teaser. But it didn’t tell us anything. xD Apparently 12 does a lot of dramatic posing.
I don’t know. I for one, learned quite a lot from that trailer. Over a thousand words were spent analysing it.
Yeah good skills but i think u read too much into some things. E.g. Blank screen … “Claras gonna die!” And why on earth do u think amy’s gonna return, i mean Karen Gillan is great as is the character amy but Moffat made it pretty impossible for her to return.