For the whole of March 2005, the UK was filled with anticipation. Doctor Who was finally coming back after a gap of nine years. Unsurprisingly, there were plenty of posters, billboards, and, of course, trailers that built up to Doctor Who's return.
One trailer in particular stood out. If you saw it back then, then you know the one I mean. It features explosions and clips of what to expect, but what really grabs the audience's attention is the Ninth Doctor's speech. A speech that begins with a question:
"Do you want to come with me? Because if you do, then I should warn you. You're going to see all sorts of things. Ghosts from the past. Aliens from the future. The day the Earth died in a ball of flame. It won't be quiet, it won't be safe, and it won't be calm. But I'll tell ya what it will be: The Trip of a Lifetime! "The Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston)
The perfect invitation
Everything about the above speech works so well. The opening question that works as an invitation. The warning that promises time travel, thrills, danger, and of course, monsters. And of course, that final promise, what we all remember most: "The Trip of a Lifetime!"
Of course, other elements of the trailer work well. Not only do we get to see brief glimpses of the "ghosts" and "aliens" - including, of course, a very quick glimpse of a Dalek, something the older audience would've been extremely excited to see.
But we also have a slow-motion sequence exclusive to this trailer of the Doctor running from an explosion. Not only does it grab the attention, but it's also secretly a canon moment: specifically, when the Doctor blows up Henrik's right after telling Rose to "Run for [her] life" in "Rose".
There's one other aspect of the trailer that stands out in retrospect: the theme tune. If you listen closely, it's not the version used in Series 1, but another version in a different key. Considering this trailer was released just two weeks before "Rose" was finally broadcast, it highlights just how much everything was changing behind the scenes, right up until the moment of broadcast.
20 years later, it's a trailer that's not just a great piece of nostalgia. It also holds up extremely well. In fact, when Big Finish was releasing trailers for their audio series The Ninth Doctor Adventures, many of them were clearly influenced by this trailer, particularly Eccleston's memorable speech. More than that, however, the trailer is remembered so fondly because Series 1 completely lived up to the trailer's promise. It really was "The Trip of a Lifetime".