With eight episodes behind us, Doctor Who season 12 reaches the first half of its two-part finale this weekend. Although technically, it’s a three-parter, as the last episode, “The Haunting of Villa Diodati,” reintroduced the Cybermen into the show and set up a Terminator-like plot about a Lone Cyberman traveling back into the past to avert the metal race’s destruction in a war with humanity in the future.
The Doctor and her friends will travel to this war-torn future in this week’s installment, “The Ascension of the Cybermen,” and today, the BBC have released a batch of promo images which tease what’s in store for the TARDIS team in the penultimate episode. Chiefly, it looks like the Time Lord (Jodie Whittaker), Yaz (Mandip Gill), Ryan (Tosin Cole) and Graham (Bradley Walsh) will get chained up at some point, likely captured by the Cybermen.
Other images, meanwhile, see the Doctor confronting Ashad (Patrick O’Kane), the half-upgraded cyber seen in “Haunting,” while guest stars showcased in these pics include Julie Graham as Ravio and Rhiannon Clements as Bescot, presumably both belonging to the human resistance.
For more, here’s the brief official synopsis for the episode:
In the far future, the Doctor and her friends face a brutal battle across the farthest reaches of space to protect the last of the human race against the deadly Cybermen.
Going into the finale, fans are expecting some major upheaval to the status quo. For one thing, the second part is called “The Timeless Children,” which surely promises that we’ll get an answer to the Timeless Child mystery that ties into the Doctor’s origins. It’s also likely that one or more of the companions could leave the TARDIS. One thing we know for certain, however, is that Jodie Whittaker is definitely remaining aboard the show for at least one more season.
Doctor Who 12×09 “Ascension of the Cybermen” airs this Sunday, February 23rd on BBC One/America.
