Doctor Who Season 2 Confirms April Release Date As BBC Tease Alan Cumming Villain Mr. Ring-A-Ding

Vworp! Vworp! What's that noise? No, it's not a TARDIS materialising somewhere — some_time_ — nearby; it's the sound of brand spanking new Doctor Who Season 2 (or Series 15, or 41, depending who you ask) flying in direct from the BBC. Yes, following last Christmas' Whoniverse special 'Joy To The World', Whovians the world over have been hungering for an update on Ncuti Gatwa's second season as everybody's favourite Time Lord. And now, thanks to the Beeb, we know not only when the Fifteenth Doctor will be returning to our screens, but also one of the foes he and new companion Belinda (Varada Sethu) will be facing. Prepare to meet Mr. Ring-a-Ding, voiced by the inimitable Alan Cumming, who'll be haunting our dreams when Who returns on 12 April:

Per the BBC's official description of the Cumming voiced cartoon, Mr. Ring-a-Ding — who we can expect to see in the upcoming series' second episode — is "a happy, funny, singalong cartoon, who lives in Sunny Town with his friend Sunshine Sally." So far, so sweet, right? Well... not quite. The write-up continues, reading, "However, in 1952, after years of repeats in cinemas across the land, Mr Ring-a-Ding suddenly looks beyond the screen and sees the real world outside - and the consequences are terrifying." Given the Doctor's tussles with The Toymaker, Maestro, and literal God of Death Sutekh since showrunner Russell T. Davies' return to the Whoniverse's helm, a malevolent toon sounds about right for Who's new, more fantasy-inflected flavour of sci-fi. "“Only Alan Cumming could give a runaway cartoon so much wit, malice, danger and fun," said Davies in a statement accompanying the casting announcement. "He makes the whole universe of Doctor Who wilder and madder than ever, and it’s an absolute honour to welcome him on board the TARDIS.”

Talking of welcoming folk on board the TARDIS, alongside the aforementioned Mr. Ring-a-Ding and Sethu's mysterious Belinda Chandra — who, in thetrailer for the season ahead, appears to be trying to get back to Earth rather than away from it when she meets the Doctor — the new season is set to see a whole host of new and returning stars adventuring in time and space. These include Millie Gibson, Rose Ayling-Ellis, Anita Dobson, Christopher Chung, Michelle Greenidge, Jonah Hauer-King, Ruth Madeley, Jemma Redgrave, and Susan Twist.

And for fans of cool-looking, cosmic character posters, we've been treated to a couple of those too:

Does Mr. Ring-a-Ding have anything to do with the Whoniverse's mysterious Pantheon of Gods? Will Belinda get back to Earth? Is the fact she looks exactly like 'Boom' character Mundy Flynn ever going to be explained? And just what exactly is Anita Dobson's Mrs. Flood up to? We'll find out the answers to at least some of those questions — and most definitely be left with a whole bunch more — when Doctor Who Season 2 premieres on BBC iPlayer in the UK and Disney+ across the rest of the world on 12th. Anybody got a spare TARDIS so we don't have to wait any longer? Asking for an Empire...