Doctor Who Series 9 Prologue Released Online! [VIDEO]

With just eight days remaining until the return of Doctor Who, the hype machine is in full effect. Last night, a lucky audience in Cardiff was treated to an advanced screening of the Series 9 premiere, ‘The Magician’s Apprentice’/’The Witch’s Familiar.’ (We’ll have a few spoiler-free reactions posted later today). This morning, though, the BBC has released a short prologue video, giving us our first full look at the Twelfth Doctor‘s actions in Series 9.

Now, this is NOT ‘The Doctor’s Meditation,’ the prequel minisode being shown in theaters along with Doctor Who: Dark Water/Death in Heaven 3D. The Doctor does mention going to meditate at the end of this two-minute video, though, so it’s likely a sort of “prequel-to-the-prequel.”

All right, enough talk. Here’s the video:

As you can see, the video features Peter Capaldi and Clare Higgins as the Twelfth Doctor and Ohila, speaking on the planet Karn. Apparently an old enemy is seeking the Doctor, and now he’s made the decision to face this enemy. He gives Ohila the “confession dial” seen in the recent trailer for ‘The Magician’s Apprentice,’ which contains “the last will and testament of the Doctor.” The Doctor tells Ohila she knows who to give it to; we know it ends up in Missy‘s hands, but there’s no telling if she was the Doctor’s intended recipient or not.

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It seems clear the Doctor does not expect to return from this encounter. What enemy could the Doctor have that he would be convinced that going to face him would certainly result in his death? Rumors have suggested Davros is in the two-part story, but would the Doctor really assume he’s going to die just by confronting Davros? The Doctor always has a plan, especially if he knows in advance where he’s going and who (or what) he’s going to face. Then again, Ohila asks the Doctor is something has happened. Clearly it has, and whatever it is has drastically changed the circumstances.

All things said, Peter Capaldi is in fine form here, giving perhaps a more nuanced and confident performance in two minutes than he did in all of Series 8 (and bear in mind, despite my misgivings about the episodes themselves, I LOVED Capaldi’s performance in Series 8).

The answers are coming soon — we just have to make it for another week!

Doctor Who Series 9 premieres on September 19. For full episode information, check out our frequently updated guide, Doctor Who Series 9: Everything There is to Know So Far.

What do you think? Any theories about how or what the Doctor and Ohila are discussing in this prologue? Sound off in the comments below!

Next: BBC America Releases New Series 9 Trailer & Prequel Broadcast Plans

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