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Mar 13, 2017 By Christopher Roberts Doctor Who

Peter Capaldi took over as Doctor Who‘s time- and space-traveling alien The Doctor in 2013, but he recently announced that his upcoming third season in the iconic role will be his last. Now a new trailer for his final season has been shared. The season starts April 15 on BBC America at 9 PM, although Capaldi’s last episode will be the 2017 Christmas Special. This season will also be Pearl Mackie‘s first as the new companion, Bill, and the trailer shows her off as much as Capaldi. You also get a glimpse of the return of the classic design of the Cybermen and fan favorite adversary Missy (Michelle Gomez). Watch it below.

Doctor Who first aired in 1963. The writers worked out a clever way to keep going when its original lead actor, William Hartnell, needed to leave the show in 1966-as The Doctor is an alien, instead of dying, when he is mortally wounded he “regenerates” into a new body and personality, allowing them to cast a new actor every few years while retaining the same continuity. Capaldi is the twelfth actor to play the role and the fourth one since the show came back in 2005 after a 19-year break from the screen. It’s not a huge surprise that Capaldi is leaving, as the previous Doctor, Matt Smith, also lasted three seasons.

This will also be Steven Moffat‘s final season as the showrunner and head writer on Doctor Who. His replacement will be Chris Chibnall, who has already written several episodes of Doctor Who and its spinoff series Torchwood and is also known for creating and writing the acclaimed British detective drama Broadchurch (which stars David Tennant, who used to star as the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who).

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