After well over a year without Doctor Who, Christmas specials aside, our beloved Time Lord is back for Season 10. (Or Season 36 if you’re a bit more proper about all things Whovian.) Picking up from my recaps past, we return to the TARDIS with an episode that offers something of a soft-reboot for the show with the introduction of Bill Potts (Pearl Mackie), the Doctor’s new companion.
Reboot, regeneration, however you want to label The Pilot, it serves its main purpose well, which is to reestablish the show and offer viewers a point of entry. The show works in cycles, and with over 50 years of history, it’s hard to know when to jump in. A new companion coming on board is usually the perfect time, reestablishing the enigmatic titular character and the show’s overall concept. An episode usually takes on the POV of the new character, delivering the sense of fear and wonder you’d expect from encountering a mad man with a box.
The Pilot Synopsis:
Two worlds collide when the Doctor meets Bill. A chance encounter with a girl with a star in her eye leads to a terrifying chase across time and space. Bill’s mind is opened to a Universe that is bigger and more exciting than she could possibly have imagined. But who is the Doctor, and what is his secret mission on Earth?
While many in this Nu-Who era cite Rose as the best companion, she wasn’t given the greatest introduction in a clunker of an episode (Rose). But it was the relaunch of the show after years off air, so we’ll forgive it. No, the best introductory episode was one that in addition to Karen Gillan’s Amelia Pond also gave us a new Doctor in Matt Smith, The Eleventh Hour. It was a magical piece of writing that laid the foundations for perhaps the best all-around season the show has given us so far. The Pilot is FAR better than Rose, but not as good as The Eleventh Hour (nor the lovely Martha’s introduction in Smith and Jones). It’s an enjoyable romp that gets a little overly convoluted with the story at hand, but makes the hard stuff, introducing characters and concepts, seem easy.
While Pearl Mackie left me a little cold on her initial introduction, that is quickly dispelled by her work as the street-smart Bill Potts, who also seems to have academic leanings. There’s something really genuine about her, maybe due to the fact this is her TV acting debut, and her rapport with Capaldi offers much promise. While Clara’s arc in learning from the Doctor was interesting, her transformation into a character in his mold took away one aspect of the show – the curious, naive human thrown into the midst of time and space. Bill brings that back and highlights how sorely it’s been missing. The reason for the Doctor’s interest in her? “Most people when they don’t understand something, they frown. You smile.” It’s a nice change from the random encounter that usually pairs the Time Lord with someone. The fact that Bill is eager to learn and is doing so even though not formally enrolled in college is a good message for younger viewers. Be curious, it’ll take you places.
Much has been made of the character’s sexual orientation, and while some say it’s an overly PC move, statistically it’s about damn time it happened. It’s delivered in a rather off-hand way, natural and in passing, and later woven into part of the plot, not rammed down your throat as former showrunner Russell T. Davies was wont to do. Best of all, this aspect of her character immediately removes the romantic tones that have befallen some parings in the past; in fact, the episode very deliberately frames the pair as a teacher-pupil dynamic. Unless we get a end of season regeneration into a woman as many are clamoring for. In which case, a section of fan-fic writers will have a field day.
The Pilot also serves as a reminder as to how utterly perfect Capaldi is for the role. His introduction in Deep Breath saw a return to the more brash, (other)-worldly alien tendencies typical of the classic Doctor, welcome after the youthful exuberance of Smith and Tennant. He’s also given us wonderful romps such as The Husbands of River Song, and bold, intense fare like Heaven Sent. Now, settled into he role, he’s as mercurial as ever but tempered with a romantic sentiment: about knowledge, about an individual showing an interest in the universe, but also still about the TARDIS and the opportunities it offers. His gruffness means the gesture he makes concerning Bill and photos of her mother is all the more touching.
In The Pilot, we find him quite settled, lecturing at a University for over 50 years, even having photos of his wife and granddaughter on his desk. The last time he was “stuck” on Earth it was a punishment for ignoring the Time Lords. The Third incarnation, played by Jon Pertwee, spent his entire tenure on Earth working with UNIT. This time, he’s tied to the place due to some mysterious vault on the campus grounds he is standing watch over due to “a promise to keep.” He seemed fine to saunter off in the TARDIS at the end of the episode, but clearly the basis for this season’s arc of big bad lies behind those vault doors.
Showrunner/writer Steven Moffat does his usual trick of turning something everyday into something more unnerving, but again he falls into his habit of overcomplicating things. Once his twisty (timey wimey) plots were fresh and enthralling; now they often feel like retreads or unnecessary fluff. Despite this, the writing for the most part sparkles, with the interplay between the Doctor and Bill being very promising. As to Nardole, Matt Lucas brings a nice wry delivery, but his purpose and contribution to the show don’t really manifest here. Final gripe: many will be consternated at their deployment here in such unnecessary fashion, but the bigger question is, when did the Daleks become such bad shots? Still, we got a look at the Movellans, yay!
The Pilot achieves exactly what it needs to, reacquainting the viewer with the Doctor and his TARDIS, but primarily introducing us to Bill and drawing her into this world. It’s a breezy affair that makes the cast shakeup feel natural and invigorating, offering much promise for the season to come.