DOCTOR WHO: Series four is coming...

The trailer currently playing in cinemas across the country for series four of Doctor Who's new era is a beautiful thing. Edited just like a movie trailer, it teases, tantalises and raises all manner fo questions. The biggest thing in the trailer, naturally, is the single shot of Billie Piper, back in the role of Rose Tyler. This may well only be for one episode, but it is something the fans are goiung to lap up. Also, what the hell is Martha covered in at the end of the trailer? The goo makes her looks like she's just come out of the Matrix! A clone maybe? Even Donna (Catherine Tate) looks okay- she doesn't seem anywhere near as annoying as in The Runaway Bride, which can only be a good thing. I'm yet to be sold on season four really... The three big villains are all back now, Daleks, Cybermen and The Master have all come and gone, which leaves... Davros. Think about it. Dalek Caan escaped at the End of S3's Evolution of the Daleks. He is the last surviuving Dalek in existence, and where else would he go but back to their creator? I do hope this happens, as a new-era version of Davros would be an awesome thing to see on the screen. Davros was always one of the more convincing villains of the classic era, and also a good old fashioned bad guy in that he was absolutely and totaly evil in every way. Newer fans may not be familiar with stories such as 'Revelation of the Daleks', but that stands as a great example of the nastiness he is capable of. In one of the most unnerving scenes of 80s Doctor Who, we are privy to a severed human head, trapped inside a clear Dalek casing, begging to be killed by its own daughter. Davros was harvesting humans and building Daleks from the parts. This was supposedly kids TV! I do feel a new incarnation of him would go down a treat.

Then there are the Sontarans, which do pop up a couple of times in the new series. I'm not convinced yet that the new audience won't think of them as a knock-off Judoon, and their short stature and modified (almost cute) makeup doesn't help much either.

Something that did strike me when watching the trailer (check it out on Youtube while it lasts!) is the overwhelmingly bleak atmosphere. The music and Donna's monologue are rather downbeat, and the way it is edited suggests that this series is going to be quite harrowing in tone. Could this be the tenth Doctor's swansong? Will the wisecracking Time Lord finally be bettered by an enemy and be forced into regenerating into his eleventh incarnation? personally I'm looking foirward to finding out. Bring on series four, and lets hope the BBC continue to trounce everyone else in the originality stakes.