The 'Doctor Who' New Year's Special Trailer Is Stuck In A Time Loop

In its final season with Jodie Whittaker as the 13th Doctor, Doctor Who has gone downright experimental. Season 13, known as Doctor Who: Flux, may have wound up a wild failure, but so are many experiments run on long-running series like this, and one cannot blame them for trying. With the actress leaving the role at the end of 2022, the show will now move into a series of one-off specials, not unlike David Tennant's final episodes as the 10th Doctor in 2009. First out of the gate is the New Year's Special, which looks to be something of its own experiment, or at least it is in the marketing.

Since showrunner Chris Chibnall took over, the Christmas specials have migrated to New Year's Specials. It was not a terrible choice, as the showrunner before him, Steve Moffat, had gone wholly Christmas with them. Moving the date served as a way to de-holiday the specials and try something new. And as fans have noted, not all the New Years specials have even been stand-alone adventures; the "special" for Jan. 1, 2020, was, in actuality, the first half of a two-part premiere for Season 12, where the second half ran on the following Sunday three days later.

But the New Year's Special for 2022 will be a one-off involving Daleks, much like Chibnall's 2019 special did. And if you're feeling a little deja vu in watching the trailer, it's not you. However, this is not a throwback to that 2019 adventure, but a brand new one, which just happens to keep happening over and over and over.

....just like the trailer does.