You won’t need a TARDIS to catch the next season of Doctor Who the moment it airs in the UK. For those who can’t bear to wait a moment longer than our British cousins, the new episodes will be available to watch on ABC iView every Sunday morning, with the first episode premiering on Sunday 20th September at 5.30am.
Although we’ve been given a time for the first episode’s premiere, subsequent releases will depend on both the UK broadcast schedule and local daylight saving changes. The ABC hopes to announce the exact timing on the Friday leading up to the Sunday air dates, so if you are one of those who has to watch everything the moment it’s released, keep an eye on the ABC TV Facebook or Twitter for those announcements. For the more morning-phobic amongst you (me included), Doctor Who will still be getting a regular, more reasonable timeslot on ABC, airing later at 7:40pm.
If you’re still planning on getting up to catch the premiere of the first episode despite the punishing time (on a Sunday, really?), you’d best get ready for another early morning the following week, as the series will be kicking off with a two-part storyline. That’s right — be prepared for a 6am cliffhanger with this one, folks. The first episode is called The Magician’s Apprentice, and as with many season premieres in the Doctor Who series it opens with a companion (in this case, Clara), Earth, and a problem that only the Doctor can fix. Because things are never that easy, the Doctor is missing just when Earth needs him most. From the ABC:
When the skies of Earth are frozen by a mysterious alien force, Clara (Jenna Coleman) needs her friend. But where is the Doctor (Peter Capaldi), and what is he hiding from? As past deeds come back to haunt him, old enemies will come face-to-face, and for the Doctor and Clara survival seems impossible.
You can check out a sneak peek of the first episode below — and decide whether or not it’ll be worth getting up at 5:30am for.