A trailer, images and information were released for the second Doctor Who Season Two episode Lux
In the Palazzo Picture House, projectionist Reginald Pye (Linus Roache) cradles a film cannister labelled ‘Helen 1928’. The cast list for Lux includes a character named Helen Pye (Jane Hancock).
An old cartoon, Mr Ring-a-Ding Goes to Town, is playing at he Palazzo. Mr Ring-a-Ding (voiced by Alan Cumming) is a happy, funny, sing-along cartoon, who lives in Sunny Town with his friend Sunshine Sally.
However, after years of repeats in cinemas across the land, Mr Ring-a-Ding suddenly looks beyond the screen and sees the real world outside. As the hapless projectionist looks on in horror, Mr Ring-aDing somehow steps from the screen to the terror of the audience.
In an attempt to return Belinda (Varada Sethu) to the day she left Earth, the Doctor (Nucti Gatwa) tinkers with the TARDIS and creates a device to assist with his quest.
But a mysterious force keeps making the TARDIS bounce off course, and one of those bounces takes them to Miami, at four in the morning in 1952.The Doctor and Belinda dress for the period.
“Things are different at night,” says the Doctor, aware of danger from the moment they arrive.
The Doctor employs his new device.
The abandoned Palazzo Picture House is hiding a terrifying secret.
The Doctor and Belinda investigate the disappearance of 15 people. One of those people is young Tommy Lee (Cassius Hackforth).
They talk to Logan Cheever (Lewis Cornay) in the 10¢ Diner across the street. Cheever tells them “The movies keep playing to an empty house. Gives you the chills, don’t it?”
The Doctor and Belinda break into the abandoned picture house.
“There are forces beyond this universe,” the Doctor explains to Belinda. “We think we are so clever but we’re like children. And when these vast creatures look down on us, our entire reality is in danger. It’s all a game to them – but the games are deadly.”
They encounter Mr Ring-a-Ding, who is at turns twee, melodramatic and sinister.
The TARDIS duo are forced to flee the movie house.
Mr Ring-a-Ding follows. Some animated chaos ensues.
Can the Doctor uncover Lux’s power? And where and when does Mrs Flood (Anita Dobson) make an appearance?
Written by Russell T Davies and directed by Amanda Brotchie, the 43-minute Lux transmits on Saturday 19 April at 8am on BBC iPlayer and 7:15pm on BBC One in the UK. Those outside of the UK can stream Lux on Disney+ where available simultaneously starting at 3am ET/12am PT. The remaining six episodes of Doctor Who Season Two will transmit on subsequent Saturdays.
Directly after the BBC One broadcast, Steffan Powell goes behind the scenes of Lux in Doctor Who: Unleashed at 8:00pm on BBC Three and on the official Doctor Who YouTube channel where available.