Doctor Who Fans Were A Bit Thrown By One Actor In The 60th Anniversary Teaser Trailer
"Doctor Who" fans got a nice Christmas gift on Sunday, December 25, in the form of a new teaser trailer for 2023's 60th-anniversary trio of specials. The specials are nearly a year away from premiering, but the trailer features David Tennant as the 14th Doctor, despite taking the same form (and actor!) as the 10th Doctor, plus Catherine Tate's return as Donna Noble, and Ncuti Gatwa making his debut as the 15th Doctor.
However, it's not just the return of fan favorites Tennant and Tate or the quick glimpse of Gatwa that has fans talking. The minute-long trailer introduces the footage of a previously announced huge star who is set to join the Who-niverse, namely Neil Patrick Harris. The actor's role remains a secret, but with the character's flamboyant costume and demeanor, he's clearly the villain of the upcoming specials.
Viewers actually see very little of Harris' character. Donning a suit and a top hat in the first scene and a vest in the second one, the character announces "The show is just beginning" in his initial scene, and "Worldwide premiere" in the second one. The only other appearance of Harris is a second-long shot of his character amongst a bunch of flower petals, which he scoops up and somewhat seductively flings at the camera.
Whoever this character is, it's apparent he has some bizarre taste. However, there is one element that fans on Reddit are particularly surprised by.
Doctor Who fans are surprised by Neil Patrick Harris's character's German accent
Although the two lines are all we've heard from the new Doctor Who character, fans have noticed that those lines weren't uttered in Neil Patrick Harris's American accent, nor in any British accent one might expect from the BBC franchise. Rather, Harris's character speaks with a German accent.
On Reddit, user u/BeeHunter42 wrote, "Wow. Wasn't expecting the German accent from [Neil Patrick Harris]. This looks really cool though."
Responding to that comment, user u/Erdago wrote, "Yeah, the [Neil Patrick Harris] accent was nice, and reminded me of one of the Olaf disguises from 'Series of Unfortunate Events,'" referring to the many elaborate disguises and accompanying accents Harris' Count Olaf used in Netflix's adaptation of "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events."
Fans also debated the character's identity, with some saying Harris might be playing the Celestial Toymaker, a character not seen in "Doctor Who" since 1966. Other people noted the unexpected appearance of what seems to be Beep the Meep, a cat-like creature who has only appeared in supplemental "Doctor Who" material and never in the main series.
The 60th-anniversary "Doctor Who" special will come to Disney+ in November 2023.