12 Notable Moments From The Pilot
Mark McCullough makes his picks from the opening episode of Series 10.
After what seems like far too long, Doctor Who is finally back on our screens for a proper run. It’s been even longer still since I wrote one of these articles, as due to life commitments I was unable to cover The Return of Doctor Mysterio, and the reason why this article is so late. Those of you who followed last year will know the score, but for any newcomers I will be picking twelve moments from each of the new episodes that are worth talking about, and doing just that. So, without further ado, let’s get cracking with The Pilot.
12. Out of Order
11. A Star in Her Eye
Heather’s defect in the iris of her eye ends up playing a considerable role on the narrative, initially presented as the reason why the puddle was suspicious in the first place. It does in fact represent a lot more than this as the probably reason behind Heather’s desire to escape, confirmed by the fact that she wants to get it fixed. This provides a stark contrast with Bill who is unashamedly proud of who she is, and completely owns everything that makes her who she is. This proves the foundation of their admittedly shallow relationship (they really haven’t shared enough time together on screen for the relationship to have been established in any detail). But it works well and comes across as very believable and gets you rooting for their happy ending, which may be yet to come.
10. The Doctor’s Lecture
Steven Moffat is a genius, but then that’s something most of us know already. Here we see him use his wonderful way with words during the beautiful lecture sequence. There’s a stark contrast in the supernatural content of the Doctor’s monologue and the scenes of Bill’s daily life spliced between these. This symbolises the two worlds that are about to collide, the on-edge fantasy life style that the Doctor leads, and a normal girl, Bill Potts. The description the Doctor gives captures the essence of the show perfectly and proves once again that Moffat’s understanding of the hearts of Doctor Who is nothing short of impeccable.
9. Changing Faces
Despite being a so called “soft reboot” to the show, the episode is still littered with nods to the past. One of the more obvious ones comes as the Doctor and Bill are discovering exactly what is wrong with their faces in the puddle. This allows for the Doctor to make a joke that the audience will obviously pick up as a reference to regeneration. But it’s not the only nod to changing faces in this episode. The Doctor is not the only face that changes between series of the show, companions come and go as is obvious with Bill’s introduction here. But it’s the reference to River and Susan, the faces that have meant so much to the Doctor in the past, that just feel so right here.
8. Bill’s Personal Tutor
The first episode of this year’s series had an awful lot to do, it had to introduce Bill and reintroduce the Doctor. In previous companion introductions, there has been a little bit of focus on one or the other before they eventually meet. Here we see their first as essentially one and the same in a scene which serves as the pre-titles. The scene is also used to demonstrate that Bill is smarter than the position in which she finds herself, and to show the audience that the Doctor is the person who helps people by way of his offer to tutor her. Also interesting is the inversion of the trope of the Doctor meeting a companion by chance circumstances, with him essentially hand picking Bill.
7. The Vault
As mentioned before, the Doctor has assumed an undercover role at the University. It is revealed later in the episode that this is to protect something held within a vault there. This is probably something that will play a huge part this series as the focus of the arc, but also acts as an anchor ensuring that wherever the TARDIS takes us this series, Earth will always have to be the return point. This gives this series a slightly different dynamic to its predecessors. Also worth noting is the fact that the vault’s access is set to “friends only” which sets the Doctor up for betrayal, or could also be met by one of the most complex relationships in TV: The Doctor and The Master.
6. The Daleks
Contractual obligation or not, I think it was an excellent idea to include the Daleks in this episode. As already stated, this episode acts as a soft reboot to the show. For that reason, it makes sense to use it to also introduce the show’s most iconic villains. The way they are utilised here also plays into this idea with very little revealed about them. Bill’s question “What’s a Dalek?” mirrors what a new viewer would be asking, and with very little in the way of answers hopefully this will be encouragement to look at the plethora of Doctor Who material that feature them. For those fans who are already acquainted with the Daleks there is reward too in the contrast between the pure hatred of a Dalek, and the love between Bill and Heather which can span all of Time and Space and is the driving force behind the narrative.
5. Bill’s Sexuality
Ideally this would be something that we didn’t need to single out, but such is the way of society that representation is extremely important, and even more critical that it is done right. Most striking is the obvious contrast between the pre-episode chatter where it dominated a lot of the discussion around the character, and the episode itself where it is introduced in a very low-key way. I thought Moffat handled the reveal extremely well and developed it in such a way that is sure to have a positive impression on viewers. From early impressions, Bill looks like she could be an incredible role model, and that Doctor Who will continue with its reputation of being a progressive show by doing its bit to help with acceptance of minorities.
4. The TARDIS Reveal
One of the best parts of a companion introduction is that we get to see that initial reaction to the TARDIS again, which is always a magical moment. This time Moffat opts to bring a little originality to proceedings by drawing it out and making us wait for the inevitable “It’s bigger on the inside” line. The cinematography here also needs commended as the camera pans to change the perspective of a small cramped box, to the real expanses of the TARDIS. This moment is also used to afford Bill an opportunity to show how she is different from all our previous companions by first comparing the TARDIS to a kitchen, and then by being more preoccupied by the bathroom rather than the situation she finds herself in.
3. Clara’s Theme
One that will totally pass by the newer viewers was the small nod to the events of the previous series finale made by the inclusion of music. Inadvertently Bill asks the Doctor how he would feel if someone wiped his memories without his permission. This obviously brings up painful memories for him and ultimately leads to him respecting her autonomy and letting her keep her memories. Interestingly this is not the first time a companion has changed the Doctor’s mind by accidentally referencing their predecessor in the TARDIS (The Snowmen). I don’t think it’s by chance that this trope has been repeated. In fact this episode follows a lot of tropes from previous episodes, but that does not mean it lacked originality. Revisiting concepts helped the episode achieve what it set out to do acting as a soft reboot while still maintaining the heart of the show.
2. “Time and Relative Dimension in Space. It means what the hell.”
Possibly my favourite single moment was the one where the Doctor decided to take Bill on as his companion proper. It really is a wonderful scene as we are led to believe that the opportunity is gone and that the Doctor is too scared of losing someone else. We see his agony at initially turning her away, and the conflict this causes him in the immediate aftermath. Hence why it was the most uplifting moment of the entire episode when he decided to chance his mind. Given the heartache the Doctor has endured over the last few episodes, it’s nice to see him enjoying himself and saying ‘what the hell’ once again.
1. Bill Potts
How do you fill the space left by Clara Oswald? This is a question that has been asked many times since her departure in Hell Bent. As a character widely regarded as one of the best companions in the history of the show, it always looked like Bill was going to face an uphill battle to match what had gone before. I’ll admit that I was pleasantly surprised by how easily Bill managed to win me over. Within the first half of the episode, I was already on her side and wanting everything to go her way. There’s something about her that just draws you in and makes it impossible not to like her. She’s confident, fun and inherently kind. Everything we’ve seen of her looks great so far and I can wait to see how she grows over the course of the next eleven episodes. It’s no mean feat introducing a new companion, but it certainly looks like we have one who fits the Bill.
