The new series is upon us and with the tag line "A Time For Heroes" it is being promoted as a good, if not perfect jumping on point for any new viewers. It sounds a little cynical especially when Steven Moffat points out that the first episode (originally to be titled "The Girl With The Star In Her Eye") was cheekily named The Pilot to give an extra sense of it being the first episode (though the story does present a genuine reason for that title). We are to meet a new companion and go through all the usual exposition and learning that goes along with that. We are promised a fresh look at all the regular questions so they have a more genuine twenty-first century feel to them, from the perspective of someone who lives n the real world and has seen science fiction movies and isn't phased by technology. But she will be a genuine down-to-earth girl with real attitude and emotion... it's time to meet Bill Potts...
We were also promised a more stripped back approach to this series with some aspects going back to basics and with less weight on its shoulders in the form of baggage and over-hanging story arc... so it was with a little intrigue as well as the usual new episode excitement that I sat and watched this series opener. And it was a little odd to be sitting down to watch a new series again having only just finished re-watching the end of the last series and concluded that with two Christmas specials. It's been a long time since the last series and almost exactly a year since we were introduced to Pearl Mackie as new companion Bill. How would we meet her 'for real' and how would she meet the Doctor...?
The episode opens gently with a grand panelled office. A squeaking from outside approaches then Nardole opens the door and it becomes clear that he, or more specifically his joints are the source of the squeaking. Making a little more sense of the fact that the Doctor has pieced him back together, rather than just stitching his head back on as might have been assumed before. He even goes so far as to drop a loose bolt, just to reinforce the concept. He ushers in Bill and leaves her on her own. As she takes a look around the office we see a clutter of objects on the desk including a photograph of River Song next to one of original companion Susan. There is even a pot of Pertwee and Baker era Sonic Screwdrivers! Never before have so many Sonics been seen together. Suddenly the rocking sounds of Beethoven's Fifth come crashing through from an antechamber and the Doctor's now familiar electric guitar punctuates the air. A loud cough from Bill announces her presence and we hear the sound of the Doctor turning off the sonic amplifier before he enters the main office.
We learn that the Doctor has been giving lectures at a university and that Bill has been going to them even though she's not a student. The Doctor has summoned her to find out why. When she asks why he picked on her when so many others do the same, he tells her that he noticed her and the camera cuts to the photo of Susan. An interesting point is being made here. It's not exactly clear what that point is, but the reference to his granddaughter could signify many things. It will be an odd moment for anyone who doesn't know who she is, this young girl in 60's style, but to those of us who do know, it signifies a paternal (grand-paternal) interest rather than anything even remotely salacious. Susan was noticed by her school teachers because she had greater knowledge than she aught to but was also interested by deeper aspects of science and history. When you consider that the camera cut to Susan rather than River, there is also the suggestion of innocence and honesty, even naivety. All of this will of course have been lost on any new viewers but may have been enough to draw them to question and investigate who that 60's styled girl was. The Doctor explains his interest by pointing out that Bill smiles when faced with something she doesn't understand, rather than frowning.
Next, it is Bill who turns up the intrigue. She mentions that the Doctor has been there a long time, some say fifty years, but nobody seems to know what he is supposed to teach - he started a lecture on quantum physics and ended up talking about poetry. The Doctor says they are the same thing... because of the rhymes! Finally, the Doctor announces that he will officially become Bill's personal tutor if she gets top marks every time and meets him every day at 6pm "Never be late," he says, "I'm very particular about time." She excitedly accepts but has just one question: "Everyone calls you the doctor, but what do I call you?" the answer is obviously "The Doctor" but Bill isn't happy with that, "Yeah, but doctor what?" ooooh, rolls titles!
The pre-title sequence also introduced Bill to the Police Box (parked in the corder of the office) having been allegedly lifted in by a crane after the window and part of the wall was removed, and that it's heavy than it looks. We also learnt that Bill works in the canteen and tried to start a relationship with a girl by giving her extra chips only to realise that by the time the girl showed any interest in her she had gained a lot of weight from all the chips! Post titles, we learn that Bill lives with her foster mum who she doesn't really get on with particularly well. We see time pass as she gets 97%, 88% and 92% on course work, she buys the Doctor a rug for Christmas and is puzzled when she later sees it tucked under the Police Box, her mum gives her money because she doesn't want to get her something she wouldn't like and she meets an amazingly pretty girl in a night club (the subtle but pointed choice of music worth noticing in the background was and instrumental part of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart", electrifyingly atmospheric but poignantly prophetic for those who recognised it and knew the title, though I'd say it's a fairly obscure reference given its 37 year age) We also see a box of photographs of Bill's real mother with a cheeky reflection of the Doctor holding the camera!
The episode races along at quite a pace while somehow managing to be a gentle stroll going almost nowhere. This is very much a getting-to-know-you episode. The montage sections crams that all in nicely, including the Doctor continuing to lecture and wax lyrical about Time and Relative Dimension In Space and how it means life! But that doesn't mean it is without adventure and action. The adventure comes in the form of an odd puddle that Heather (the girl with a star in her eye who Bill met at the night club) is worried about because it exists despite there having been no rain for a week and there is something odd about it. For some strange reason she doesn't tell Bill what is odd about it but wants her to see it for herself. The star in her eye has no significance at all to do with anything but is used as a visual clue.
The Doctor decides that the puddle isn't water but 'space engine oil' that is actually supposed to be part of the space ship that has since departed, morphing into whatever it needs to be. Without the ship, it mimics people yet is still able to travel beyond the abilities of the liquid it appears to be. The Doctor takes Bill to an underground part of the University where he has a secret vault and it follows them there (no explanation of what is inside the vault at this stage, other than it being something the Doctor doesn't want anyone being curious about!) Another quick hop to Australia and it follows them there. Finally, they travel to the other end of the universe and 23 million years into the future and it still manages to follow them (this is all Bill's introduction to the TARDIS's abilities and shouldn't really be glossed over like this so I'll come back to it). The Doctor determines that the only way to get rid of it is to take it into the deadliest fire in universe... he describes it as a war zone but instantly plays it down, it's really just a skirmish and he has friends there... when he says friends, as Nardole is already aware (oh yes, Nardole, I'll get back to him too) they aren't really friends, they are Daleks! It is during the following scenes that we see the 'special introductory scene' from twelve months ago when Pearl Mackie was announced, only its somewhat cut down, possibly to keep pace. The Daleks themselves feature very little in the sequence but there is the chilling moment (when seen out of context in the trailer at least) where the puddle, mimicking Heather, mimics the Dalek that confronts it - a pretty girl made of water coldly saying "Exterminate" and herself not being affected by the Dalek's gun. The mimicking goes one step further when the Doctor and Bill next see the puddle as it now looks like a Dalek but for one tell tale sign. It has a star in its eye!
Ultimately, having taken on Heather as its pilot (oh, there's the title explanation), the puddle was not actually a threat (classic piece of pacifist Doctor Who there) but was merely following Bill because Heather's last words and thoughts were her promise to never leave her. They hold hands and share a magical moment of space and time until the puddle finally uses its own words (rather than directly mimicking what it hears) and says "Goodbye Bill", but perhaps they are Heather's words. The scene ends with classic Moffat sentimentality as the Doctor asks if Bill is alright. When she says she is, Nardole questions the fact but is shot down by the Doctor "That's the Doctor for you," he says reassuringly to Bill, "he never notices the tears." A close up shows us that there really are tears, then Bill says softly "I don't think they're mine"
Adventure over and the Doctor wants to wipe Bills memory of it, which seems odd as he clearly sought her out. But it is a chance for her to walk away from the danger so in a way the Doctor is being unusually cautious. Instead, she argues her way out of it and makes the Doctor imagine how he would feel if it were his memories being wiped... echoes of Clara's theme put a spotlight on his memory of just that happening so he lets her off, but still send her running away from him. Bill departs, seemingly content that this had been a worthwhile adventure but as she steps outside she is confronted by the Police Box. The Doctor opens the door to invite her aboard. "What changed your mind?" she asks "Time." says the Doctor. "Time?" "And relative dimension in space. It means what the hell!" Episode ends.
Going back to those Tardis hops, when Bill first entered, the lights were all off. She and the Doctor were merely hiding from the puddle so it just felt like an empty cupboard to her. She was doubtful when the Doctor told her than nothing could get through the doors, because they are only made of wood and have windows! The Doctor wanders off and switches the lights on to revel in the reveal. Capaldi too seems to particularly enjoy saying the word "TARDIS" and it is a glorious moment. A moment which is humorously shattered when Bill thinks it looks like a high-tech kitchen and thinks the whole room is a knock-through because she had only seen the Police Box up against a wall. When they arrive at the vault she thinks the TARDIS is a lift until it dawns on her that the whole room moved (rather than just the boxy entrance, presumably) "It can take you anywhere in the university?!" she exclaims, missing the point by one syllable. She eventually realises that it is bigger on the inside and Nardole offers an explanation "Imagine a big box fitting inside a smaller box. Then make it. It's the second part people have trouble with!". The second hop takes them from dark night time to bright mid-day and Bill asks if they've travelled in time "Of course not," says the Doctor "This is Australia" which gives him yet another grand reveal when they actually do travel through time to the other end of the universe - represented in time honoured tradition by an empty quarry!
Final mention goes to Nardole. I think I said last time that I wasn't happy about his return from a narrative perspective and indeed because he seemed to have been shoehorned into the episode. His presence here wasn't much more significant other than to act as a buffer between Bill and the Doctor when it came to the finer details of conflicting temperament. I don't dislike the character or Matt Lucas's portrayal, I'm just not won over by his presence. Still, at least he is just being a side addition for the most part.
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