'Doctor Who' SDCC Trailer Gives The Doctor Three BFFs and a New Sonic

The “Universe is Calling” and Jodie Whittaker’s 13th Doctor answers in the new trailer for Doctor Who Season 11 that debuted at San Diego Comic-Con 2018.

The Doctor Who panel, which featured Whittaker and showrunner Chris Chiball, began at 2:45 p.m. Eastern and included the debut of this new trailer. The footage is short, but unlike the somewhat cryptic teaser released over the weekend, it offers some legitimate video of the new Doctor in action.

“All of this is new to me,” the Doctor says. “New faces. New worlds. New times. So if I asked, really really nicely, would you be my new best friends?”

The trailer opens on the Doctor seemingly gasping awake. Recall that the last we saw of her, the TARDIS sent her hurling out the door and falling towards the Earth. She’s in the same clothes worn by Peter Capaldi’s 12th Doctor in the 2017 Christmas special for this and two other scenes, so it’s possible she crash lands and survives. (We also see her in some kind of cave and then using double-headed flamethrower in some kind of lab.) All of this is probably from the season premiere.

We also see little sequences from future episodes, during which the Doctor sports her sweet new colorful hipster outfit. She even gets a new Sonic Screwdriver that glows yellow as opposed to the blues and greens of other recent incarnations.

In addition to emphasizing that all of this is NEW, the trailer also has the Doctor call her new companions “best friends,” which is actually kind of great.

Doctor Who usually avoids “putting labels” on relationships to avoid awkward misunderstandings and instances of unrequited love — or even mutual, unconsummated romance. But to hear the new Doctor genuinely call her best friends just that is totally refreshing.

The entire tone is lighthearted and upbeat, which is a welcome new vibe after Peter Capaldi gave us one of the best Doctors that had the great misfortune of existing during a dour period for the show.

“Right? This is gonna be fun!” the Doctor says at the end of the trailer. We couldn’t agree more.