One of the more notable aspects of Doctor Who last year was its tone. With episodes like The Zygon Invasion / Inversion, Face The Raven, Heaven Sent and Hell Bent, the show took on a darker direction; as is to be expected of a series where a companion dies (well, kinda dies). Yet next year’s series 10 will see the tone of the show shift once again — this time with a focus on making Doctor Who feel ‘brand new.’

Speaking at New York Comic Con, showrunner Steven Moffat revealed that episode one of series 10 will feel like episode one of series one; with new companion Bill, played by Pearl Mackie, allowing fans to see the Doctor in a fresh new light.

“The tone is very different,” he said. “The last series with Clara — that relationship had got tortured and dark and went to odd places. It was one of my favourite series to work on, I was delighted with it. But it had become darker. It just had. That’s where we were in that relationship.

“If I gave you one tone word for this series it’s ‘new’. It’s brand new. You’re getting to see the Doctor all over again through a very different pair of eyes. In fact, we went to particular pains to make sure that episode one is really episode one. It could be the first episode you ever see. It explains the entire mythos of Doctor Who — in the two minutes it takes — and you can start there. Brand new is the tone.”

What Steven Moffat is describing doesn’t sound a million miles away from what Russell T Davies did when he revived the show back in 2005. Back then, he used Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) to re-introduce the Doctor to fans both old and new — by providing a down-to-earth human lens to view him through.

However, this is not a show that’s returning after a 16-year hiatus, nor is it a new Doctor; so it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

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