The latest trailer for Doctor Who’s exhilarating 14th season offers a chilling first look at the upcoming episode “Dot and Bubble.” In it, Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor and companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) find themselves in the seemingly perfect technological utopia of Finetime. However, they quickly realize a sinister truth lurks beneath the city’s gleaming surface.
The preview opens with resident Lindy (Cally Cooke) reveling in Finetime’s wondrous advancements and harmonious society. But the Doctor urgently warns her: “This world you think is perfect…ravenous, slug-like beings are stalking these streets.”
As Ruby tries to convince the disbelieving Lindy of the impending horror, glimpses of the slimy creatures intercut with shots of the city’s pristine buildings and happy denizens. The overall effect evokes the eerie, tech-gone-awry vibes of the acclaimed sci-fi series Black Mirror.
The ominous trailer plays on the classic science fiction trope of a seemingly utopian society concealing a dark secret or delusion. From the visuals provided, “Dot and Bubble” appears to be exploring potent themes around technology, surveillance, control of information, and the cult-like group-think required to maintain such an ostensibly “perfect” civilization.
With this episode promising to be a gripping, atmospheric techno-thriller, it continues Doctor Who’s fantastic renaissance under showrunner Russell T Davies. The 14th season has already taken the TARDIS team from a deep space “baby farm” to 1960s Beatlemania to an intergalactic war zone across its first four thrilling installments.
“Dot and Bubble” will serve as a pivotal middle chapter in the eight-story run before the two-part season finale, which has been teased to offer long-awaited answers about the new Doctor’s mysterious origins. As fans await those revelations, this new trailer whets the appetite for another audacious, thought-provoking adventure tackling classic sci-fi themes through a fresh lens.
The fifth episode of Doctor Who’s 14th season, “Dot and Bubble,” will debut on June 1st, 2024 on BBC iPlayer in the UK and Disney+ internationally.