‘Doctor Who’ | ‘The Pilot’ S10E01 Overview
After an extended absence, The Doctor is back! And he’s brought with him a fresh companion, Bill Potts. With one of the scariest instalments to air on the BBC in a long time, readers should grab a pillow and hide behind the couch before sinking their teeth into this review!
SPOILER ALERT!
The Doctor (Peter Capaldi) has been teaching as a professor at Bristol University for some time now. When he notices a girl attending his physics lectures who is not enrolled as a student, he calls her to his office to find out why. Bill Potts (Pearl Mackie) may only work in the University canteen, but she loves The Doctor’s lectures, so he offers her private tutoring.
Months later, Bill meets a girl in a bar with a star in her eye, and comes across her again in the university grounds. Heather (Stephanie Hyam) seems worried about something, and she shows Bill a strange puddle where the reflections aren’t quite right. Enter one of the most frightening creatures we’ve seen in a long while - sentient liquid that imitates humans.
With effects reminiscent of ‘The Waters of Mars’, and jump scares worthy of a Weeping Angel, this series premiere packs a punch.
‘The Pilot’ was written by Steven Moffat at his terrifying best, and includes creepy creatures that burst out of everyday objects and substances - in this case, it’s puddles. Whovians are already wary of statues, shop mannequins, shadows, snowmen and Christmas. Is nothing safe? Not with Moffat at the writers’ desk!
Bill’s debut was brilliant, showing all the incredulity and awe that new companions always do, with a wide-eyed gaze around the TARDIS reminiscent of Amy Pond way back at the start of the Eleventh Doctor’s era. She’s bright and perceptive, noticing the TARDIS right away, and reasoning her way through the events of the episode. The only exception may have been the oddly irrelevant story she tells at the start of the episode - a girl she accidentally fattened up when giving her extra chips. It’s a strange way to establish her sexuality, especially since Bill met Heather shortly afterwards, to whom she was obviously attracted.
While the plot for this episode was fairly light, this episode was mostly meant to establish the relationship between the Doctor and Bill, and to reintroduce important concepts such as Nardole’s (Matt Lucas) small-box-inside-big-box explanation of the TARDIS.
The Doctor’s office at the university was full of nods to the past, including photos on his desk of River and Susan (his wife and granddaughter), a cup full of old sonic screwdrivers, and busts of his buddies, Beethoven and Shakespeare. There’s even a raven, a possible nod to the memory of Clara, or possibly a nice Poe reference for his writing desk.
After much excitement - including a whirlwind trip to Australia, the other end of the universe and a war featuring Daleks - the Doctor tries to wipe Bill’s memory, but she is too perceptive and attempts to stop him: “Imagine how it would feel if someone did this to you.” He stops, potentially thinking of when he wiped Donna’s memories of him several seasons ago. Viewers were also reminded that Clara wiped the Doctor’s memory of her existence.
Since the Doctor can’t help exploring time and space with young enquiring minds, he decides to grant Bill her memories, dropping the TARDIS into her path and sweeping her away.
‘The Pilot’ was an exciting setup for the new series, leading viewers into a new era without Clara or River- with Bill and Nardole instead. It promises to be Capaldi’s best series, and we only hope it continues to showcase his considerable acting skills.
There are still questions to be answered, though: what’s in the vault under the university? Why are the Doctor and Nardole hanging around to protect it? Who did they promise? And what will happen now that the Doctor has left with Bill?
Next week in ‘Smile’, Bill and the Doctor are headed to a far-flung planet where the earliest human colonists went - now populated exclusively with emoji-bots.
Watch ‘Doctor Who’ every Saturday night at 7:20pm on BBC One; 9pm on BBC America; and Sundays at 7:30pm on the ABC and iView in Australia.
