Doctor Who Series 10 Episode 1 - The Pilot - Review
Starring: Peter Capaldi, Pearl Mackie, Matt Lucas & Stephanie Hyam
Written By: Steven Moffat
Directed By: Lawrence Gough
For
the first time in a while, I get to start off a Doctor Who review
on a positive note. Although the new companion reveal was mishandled
last year, and the initial trailers for Series 10 were … OK at
best, the promotion for this series as of late has started to get me
reinvested in the show. Series 9's trailers, while far from bad,
reeked of hubris, but this year, the promotional material has
indicated a series that looks a bit more fresh and more focused on
fun and entertaining travels in the TARDIS, not to mention how amazing Peter Capaldi looked as the Doctor, by just walking down a corridor. Series 10 is also Steven Moffat and Peter
Capaldi's last series, and previous showrunner Russell T Davies'
final series turned out to be his strongest, so let's see if the same
can apply here.
The
Doctor is living under the guise of a professor at St. Luke's
University, with Nardole acting as his assistant. Canteen worker Bill
Potts is called to the Doctor's office after he notices her regularly
attending his lectures, and she agrees to become the Doctor's
student. As months pass, Bill develops a crush on fellow student
Heather, and as their friendship blooms, she asks Bill to look at a
mysterious puddle that gives off strange reflections. When Heather
gets consumed by the puddle, it leads to the Doctor intervening, and
a chase across time and space.
Obviously
the biggest thing to talk about with this episode is the introduction
of our new companion, Bill. Pearl Mackie's role as Bill was
introduced to us almost a year ago in the “Friend From The
Future” minisode, and while I initially liked it, the more I
thought about the clip and the way it was written, the weaker it
became. So I have to admit there was some scepticism about Bill
before The Pilot aired, but thankfully the writing for
her character was vastly improved and turned down a notch. Already I
can say that Bill is a breath of fresh air for the series, and a
character that provides a much-needed anchor for the audience. One of
the best things Russell T Davies introduced to the revived show was
giving the companion a life on Earth and a family, but with Amy and
Clara, we never really got to see this as they were products of
series-long story arcs, and even in the brief moments that we did, it
was weak. However, already we've learnt that Bill lives with her
foster mum, attends St. Luke's university, has a crush on a fellow
student and more. It's these things that make Bill feel like an
actual person and keep the audience invested in the human side of the
Doctor-Companion dynamic. In terms of performance, Pearl Mackie makes
a strong first impression, bringing a very genuine enthusiasm and
human ability to the role. Her chemistry with Peter Capaldi is also
on point, with possibly my favourite exchange of the episode being:
“'Why'd you run like that?' 'Like what?' 'Like a penguin with
its arse on fire'”. Not to mention, I love the new mentor and
student relationship between the Doctor and Bill, and it's a nice
callback to the 3rd Doctor and Jo's time on the show. Bill
fits well into the Doctor's world, and I was so glad to hear a
companion say that ultimate TARDIS line: “It's bigger on the
inside!”. It was almost enough to make me forget Clara's
loathsome, annoying line from The Snowmen: “It's
smaller on the outside!”.
The
Pilot has
been sold as a good jumping-on point for new viewers, and if that was
the intention, it's definitely succeeded. It is a bit of a strange
time to be appealing to new viewers, considering that this is Peter
Capaldi and Steven Moffat's last year on the show, and Chris Chibnall
will likely be overseeing a complete revamp next year. That being
said, Doctor Who
has
been doing its best to isolate casual and new viewers for the past
few years, so I'm not about to start complaining that its finally
opening back up to a wider audience. The Pilot is
the best jumping-on point for new viewers since 2010's The
Eleventh Hour,
and we're very much put in Bill's shoes for the majority of the
episode. My favourite shot of this episode has to be the reveal of
the TARDIS interior, as the camera pulls back from Bill standing at
the doors, the TARDIS console lights up the darkness, and it's
honestly the most awe-inspiring TARDIS reveal since Rose.
A big reason why The Pilot works
so well as an introduction to the show is its nice, simple plot.
We're introduced to Bill and re-introduced to the Doctor, before the
episode eventually becomes an entertaining chase across time and
space, which shows off where the TARDIS can take us.
Something
I didn't expect The Pilot to become was a genuinely
well-written tale of romance. (Spoiler Warning!) After Bill's
crush, Heather, is consumed by the alien puddle, and begins chasing
the TARDIS crew across time and space, it's revealed the reason she's
in pursuit is because she previously promised Bill she wouldn't leave
her. Usually, whenever Doctor Who adds an element of romance
to a villain, it just doesn't work, but I found this to be a
surprisingly heartfelt and touching twist, and I really love how it
eventually paid off. Speaking of love, let's address the matter of
Bill's sexuality. Shortly before The Pilot premiered,
it was revealed that Bill would be the Doctor's first full-time gay
companion. This sent the media into a frenzy, who seemed to forget
that gay characters have been in Doctor Who for years, and in
fact shortly after this episode aired, I honestly saw a tabloid
headline that read: “Doctor Who's lesbian sidekick in 'perving'
storm”. While the rest of the world depressingly continues to
live in the 1950s, I have to give Steven Moffat full credit for the
fantastic way he wrote Bill and Heather's love story. I had my own
worries when I learnt that Bill was gay, as Steven Moffat has not had
the best track record handling same-sex relationships in the past
(think back to Vastra and Jenny's incredibly contrived kiss in Deep
Breath). Here, it felt completely natural and while watching,
I never registered Bill's sexuality as being any different from the
likes of Amy and Rory's relationship, or Clara and Danny's.
Seeing
as The Pilot has bigger fish to fry in introducing
Bill, I can forgive the presence of the forgettable villain. The
“puddle”, while having a couple of creepy moments and the odd
jump-scare, never really became anything more than a combination of
the repeating words concept from Midnight, and the
water concept from The Waters Of Mars. Nonetheless, it
looked brilliant and well done to Stephanie Hyam for still being able
to be intimidating whilst also being constantly drenched in water. I
also found the little detail of her gliding along rather than walking
to be quite eerie. The rest of the episode looked great as well, with
strong production values all round. Director Lawrence Gough makes his
Doctor Who debut, and feels very much at home here. I've
already mentioned that beautiful reveal shot of the TARDIS, but I
liked the visual style throughout, especially the scene of the Doctor
giving a lecture after the title sequence.
Although
I really enjoyed The Pilot and as much as it opened
Series 10 on a strong note, that isn't to say it's a perfect episode.
I can't imagine The Pilot going down as a classic with
many fans, as it's far from being the most distinctive episode ever
made, even more so when we looks what's still to come in the rest of
the series. The episode did take a while to actually get going as a
result of its slow first act, and I wasn't a fan of the even slower
pre-titles sequence that seemed to open the new series with a fizzle
rather than any sort of bang. The TARDIS crew's chase through time
also gave us a cameo appearance from the Daleks, and while that
should feel exciting, it doesn't. With the exception of the last
series opener, I'm beginning to realize that the Daleks don't make
good villains for a first episode, particularly so when it's a new
Doctor or companion's first episode. The Daleks are Doctor Who's
biggest and most iconic enemies, so what else can you build up to in
future instalments once you've used them in the first episode? They
aren't really suited to cameo appearances either, as if they're just
here briefly, then you devalue the threat they're supposed to
present. More successful was the even briefer cameo appearance of the
Movellans, as it made for a nice, unexpected throwback that didn't
get in the way of anything. These scenes on the spaceship would have
been far better if the Daleks were replaced with just a villain we'd
not encountered before. Last of all, we have Nardole and his surplus
role. Once again, I love Matt Lucas as a comedic talent, but his
character has no real purpose for being here. I have calmed down from
my anger at his regular role compared to what it was when I reviewed
The Return Of Doctor Mysterio, and I even smiled at a
couple of his lines, but still a lot more has to be done to convince
me that Nardole should be here.
For
the most part, The Pilot is a fun, engaging start to a
new series that allows new viewers to easily join the fandom, whilst
being great standalone entertainment that even has time to set up a
new series arc with the Doctor's mysterious Vault. This is the first
time I've really enjoyed an episode of Doctor Who since Heaven
Sent. Bill is a welcome addition to the TARDIS, Pearl Mackie
works wonders with Peter Capaldi and the romance between her
character and Heather was heartfelt and maturely written. Hopefully,
this sense of fun and adventure can be kept up for the remainder of
the series to give the 12th Doctor the last hurrah he
truly deserves.
The Pilot
8/10