A copy of what appeared to be the first instalment in the upcoming 13-episode series leaked on the internet over the weekend.
The 45-minute episode is called Rose, after the assistant of the Doctor (Christopher Eccleston), who is played by pop star Billie Piper.
The BBC did not comment on the leak, and it's unclear whether it happened with or without the broadcaster's permission.
In the episode, the Doctor and Rose are chased by mannequins come to life called Autons.
Other long-standing elements of the show are also present, like the blue police call box that serves as the Doctor's spaceship, and his ever-present sonic screwdriver.
According to the BBC's official website, the new series will also see the return of the Daleks, the evil robot villains who are known for screeching "Exterminate!" before they fire their lethal lasers.
Eccleston is the ninth actor to play the character on the small screen. Doctor Who is an eccentric time traveller who "regenerates" periodically, a process that allows him to live for centuries — while also letting different performers take on the show's title role.
Doctor Who ran from 1963 to 1989 on the BBC, and was carried in this country by such channels as TVOntario and, later, Space.
It was also recently revealed that Eccleston, who has appeared in movies such as The Others and 28 Days Later, approached the show's producers in the hopes of being cast.
- FROM SEPT. 16, 2004: Christopher Eccleston becomes new Doctor Who
"He e-mailed me and said if we were looking for a Doctor Who, he'd be interested," the show's executive producer, Russell Davies, said in a recent interview.
"It was gobsmacking because you think he's going to be doing Hamlet all the time," Davies said. "Which, come to think of it, he was."
Doctor Who premiers on March 26. The CBC will air the series in Canada in April.
