A flying superhero called “the Ghost” saves the heroic Time Lord known as the Doctor in the first full clip from the Doctor Who Christmas special: “The Return of Doctor Mysterio.”
Debuting during the BBC’s charity drive, Children in Need, the clip finds the Doctor infiltrating a nefarious facility where there are “brains with minds of their own.” The Doctor is in America, and New York City by the looks of it. After eating some sushi, the Doctor teams up with an undercover journalist named Lucy Fletcher. Soon, they are joined by the Doctor’s buddy Nardole, and then the three are cornered by an unscrupulous bad guy who looks and acts like a supervillain out of Bond movie.
But all three are then suddenly rescued by a fairly by-the-numbers superhero who Lucy calls “the Ghost.” The Doctor’s facial expression reveals jealously towards this superhero. As this masked “super-man” takes down the bad guy, we can tell the Doctor is impressed and confused. Obviously, the Doctor himself is used to being the person who usually “saves people.”
The clip doesn’t give us much in the way of the plot, and we still aren’t clear on the superhero’s actual name or who “Doctor Mysterio” is supposed to be. But it hardly matters, because the clip is delightful. Peter Capaldi’s dialogue is hilarious as ever, and the warm send-up of American superheroes is hitting all the right kitschy notes.
Watch the full clip below.
Doctor Who’s “The Return of Doctor Mysterio” debuts on BBC America on December 25.
