Daleks in Aleppo? British sci-fi show Dr Who to travel to medieval Syria

The next episode of the long-running BBC television series Dr Who will be set in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo in the Middle Ages. 

Promotional videos for the forthcoming episode, which will be screened in the UK on Sunday, featured a brief view of Aleppo's ancient citadel, which is one of the oldest castles in the world.

The citadel was badly damaged during the ongoing Syrian conflict.

The episode will feature mysterious beings known as Chagaskas terrorising Aleppo in the year 1380.

The episode promo featured a large clawed hand seizing a woman of Middle Eastern appearance dressed in medieval clothing.

Aleppo in 1380 was under the control of the Mamluks, a caste of slave soldiers who rose to power in medieval Egypt and Syria.

In the year 1400 the city was sacked by the Mongol warlord Timur Lang (also known as Tamerlane), who killed over twenty thousand of its inhabitants before building large mounds out of their heads out of the city.

In recent years Aleppo has endured more horror. Large scale pro-democracy protests broke out in the city in July 2012, and the eastern half of the city was captured by rebels opposed to Syria's Assad regime.

For over four years, the regime and its ally Russia pounded the city with missiles and barrel bombs, targeting schools, hospitals, and residential areas and killing thousands of people, destroying historic sites.

Rebel forces were also accused of indiscriminately shelling regime-held areas of the city.

Eastern Aleppo fell to the regime in December 2016.

The events of this period are portrayed in Waad al-Kateab’s BAFTA award-winning documentary For Sama.

Doctor Who is one of the most successful series on British television.

The main character is a humanoid extra-terrestrial known only as The Doctor, who possesses a time-travelling machine known as the TARDIS.

The series features an array of villainous aliens and has entertained and frightened generations of British children and adults since 1963.

The Doctor has been portrayed by thirteen actors over the years. The character is currently played by Jodie Whittaker, the first woman to play the role.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram to stay connected