After a Painful 16-Month absence from our screens, with only a mediocre Christmas Special in between, Doctor Who is Finally Back with Series 10.
To start off this Series is 'The Pilot', written by Steven Moffat, and this made me concerned for a start. Would he just give us a fun, exciting adventure like The Eleventh Hour, or a awkward, universe breaking mess like Hell Bent.
What we got was an Eleventh Hour script, which is great... Mostly!
Obviously this episode's main focus is to introduce us to new companion Bill Potts, and unlike previous Moffat episode that have the job of introducing the new companion, The Pilot doesn't feel the need to mess with time, and give us incomprehensible, convoluted plots to introduce us to the companion Bill Potts.
She simply walks into the room which is a nice change of pace, and gives her more of a relatable character than Amy Pond or Clara Oswald.
The pre-credits sequence showed us the Doctor working at a University, giving science lectures to students, when he decides to become canteen-worker Bill's personal Tutor.
Just after this opening sequence, Bill felt like a relieving departure from Moffat's past companions. She's a proper character that's not bound or defined by some character-limiting nickname like 'The Girl who Waited' or 'The Impossible Girl'.
She's also the first openly-gay companion which is interesting, but as of yet, hasn't impacted the story much so more on that next time.
We still have the same boring old title sequence that I haven't been a fan of since the start of series 8 but oh well...
After the titles, we get an insight into the world of Bill Potts, and she really reminds me of Rose Tyler in many ways. They both have uninteresting, low-paid jobs and are both waiting for something exciting in their lives. Bill however, feels more vulnerable than Rose who displayed a street-smart attitude.
They're also both held back by interfering mother figures, and Bill's foster-mother in this episode, oh dear! I'm sure it's deliberate but I really hope she gets killed off at some point during this series.
Bill meets a girl that she finds attractive, and the girl shows her a puddle of water on the floor (as you do), explaining that she thinks there's something wrong with it, before abruptly walking away.
She immediately tells the Doctor who can't help but investigate, and finds that the puddle is not reflecting them, but projecting the image back at them.
It's great seeing Capaldi's Doctor helplessly getting involved in the mystery even though he's clearly trying not to.
He sends Bill home where she is suddenly attacked by something hiding in her shower drain-pipe. She runs to tell the Doctor, but encounters the girl she saw earlier, only drenched and preparing to attack.
When she joins with the Doctor, they hide in the TARDIS, and queue the best moment of the episode. It's always great seeing a companion's first steps inside the TARDIS, but the way it was done here is masterful.
It was a very unique was of doing things that I can't remember ever being done before, and the Doctor is clearly loving her reaction.
This is where things get a little weird for me though. The Doctor uses the next 10 minutes hopping from place to place trying to see how far the girl would go. This was clearly meant as filler space while Bill got introduced to the TARDIS, until suddenly the Doctor comes up with a plan.
Head for the Dalek war! Huh? This was a plan the Doctor instigated to take-out the creature that was following them, but feels more like Steven Moffat desperately trying to fit his 'Friend from the Future' short into the episode somewhere, but if you add the entire scene, it still doesn't quite fit.
This whole Dalek scene feels like padding for the third act, and doesn't fit with the story at all, but it's great seeing the Movellans back after nearly 40 years.
It's not exactly revealed why the creature was following the TARDIS crew but her motivations are a promise the she made to Bill earlier in the episode. She promised not to leave without Bill, before being caught by the puddle, so she follows Bill throughout the universe to take her with her. Bill releases her and they head back to Earth.
Not exactly a thrilling resolution, but oh well, it works.
They head back to the university where the Doctor attempts to wipe Bill's memory of the adventure, but she stops him by asking him to imagine someone doing that to him, at which point a beautiful rendition of Clara's theme plays which almost had me welling up and reminded me that I do actually miss Clara quite a bit.
She heads for home, but finds the Doctor and the TARDIS just outside and heads off on an adventure with him.
So... Overall, The Pilot works as a good character introduction story, but not so well as a serious piece of sci-fi. It feels too drawn-out and padded in places, and that ruins the pacing and the suspense.
Apart from that, it works wonders with the character of Bill, and brings us back not by throwing us in at the deep end like in Series 9, but by holding out hand into an adventure that you suddenly realise is going to overflow with excitement.
I can tell this will be a fun series, and we have a great new companion too. See, no woman Doctor's needed, this is what Doctor Who should be!
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