DOCTOR WHO: SERIES 10 EPISODE 1 - THE PILOT
Doctor Who returned to our screens last night after a year's absence, and during that time, a lot has happened and a lot has changed in regards to the production and regards to the story.
We've got two new companions in the form of Pearl Mackie as Bill Potts and Matt Lucas as Nardole.
Steven Moffatt is stepping down as show runner after this series.
Peter Capaldi has also stated that this series is to be his last as the current doctor.
A lot has gone on with the production over the course of last year. There's no harm in saying this now that there was an issue with the budget and that's one of the reasons why there was no series last year because the production company couldn't afford to do a series last year. But it's back now, there's a new team in the TARDIS with new adventures to come, all of which look very promising. I've been following the progression of this series as updates have been released online, in Doctor Who Magazine, on TV, in Interviews with Peter Capaldi, Pearl Mackie and Steven Moffatt and all of which have shown that this new series has a lot of promise, wants to be different to any other series of Doctor Who that has gone on recently, that much is evident the way Pearl Mackie talks about her character Bill in the fact that she says "She's very real" in the fact that she reacts to the unusual, alien things she sees naturally, she freaks out, she needs to take a breath to process it all in, as well as showing true investment and excitement for the adventure of it all.
So "The Pilot" an interesting title, given what the word "Pilot" means in television terms and especially when starting a new series of Doctor Who. It's almost like, you're re-introducing a whole new audience to the show who have never seen it before, and welcoming back the loyal fans like myself who have stuck with the show through thick and thin.
The story, in short, is about us getting introduced to the new companion, Bill, and how she comes into the Doctor's world of time and space travel in the TARDIS and basically how she becomes a companion.
Without giving too much away, to tell you a little bit about the story, The Doctor is working undercover at a university, for what reasons we don't know, it's never explained clearly as to why he's there. But he's playing the role of a tutor who gives the most extraordinary lectures, this fascinates and interests Bill a lot, so much so that she goes to his lectures and the Doctor notices and acknowledges that, so he invited Bill to his office to ask her if she wants private tutorial lessons. And that's everything that happens in the first three minutes, in the pre-title sequence. So already, it get things off to a good start. Not sure what was going on with the whole Nardole/ robot thing. That to me was a bit odd, but I'll over look it as it wasn't a massive issue.
As the story goes on, Bill continues to learn more about the doctor and his activities as she's very inquisitive and her interest and fascination is something which could lead her into danger and a lot of trouble, which in this case it does, when she befriends this girl called Heather who is not all that she seems. And that's all I will say without giving too much away for anyone who hasn't seen the episode yet, but for me, I really enjoyed it.
I never thought I would say these words, but, "How good was that?" seriously. I was smiling after watching it thinking, "gosh, wasn't that good." You're probably thinking "My god! An episode of Doctor Who that Daniel actually liked" well I did. I was grinning at the end of it, feeling really pleased after watching it. That's the mood I want to be in when I watch Doctor Who all the time. It's that pleasure and satisfaction I can't get from any other show, it's the fact that it was adventurous, mysterious and in some cases emotional, in the connection that Bill had for Heather, especially in the final scenes of the episode. Now, I have been one in the past for saying "oh emotional, soppy endings, I hate them" that is only the case, when a monster or alien threat is defeated by soppy sentimentality, like in 'Closing Time' where Craig blows the cybermen up with love or in 'The Rings of Akhaten' when Clara defeats the sun creature with her leaf, it's stuff like that I don't like, because it just gets boring after a while. This wasn't the case with Bill and Heather, I felt a bit of a connection with those two throughout the whole episode, particularly from Bill's perspective. That's what made the relationship work and what made it hard for Bill in the end, but she did it, and she managed to overcome the obstacles which she faced in the episode, and I felt like she managed everything really well.
In regards to my comments on Pearl Mackie, I thought she was really good as well. I liked Bill in that episode a lot. I'm not sure, how I feel about her as a character yet, I think I'll know whether I like her or not after a few more episodes have gone out. But, judging from just that episode alone, yes, she's a good character, and Mackie plays her really well. I'll forgive her for making that comment on the one show for thinking that the TARDIS ran engine oil. I also liked Bill's back story, not that we got very much of it, but we got enough to know that she works in the university canteen, likes serving chips, lives with her foster mother because her mother died when she was young. So all of that just adds something to do with Bill's background and makes the audience get to know her a little bit as a person.
Peter Capaldi, I'll say what I always say. His Doctor is brilliant, he's just as good in this episode as he is in any other.
Even Nardole wasn't so bad. His character has changed a bit and become less and less annoying since I saw him last. In "The Husbands of River Song" I couldn't stand him. In "The Return of Doctor Mysterio" I did sort of have the impression of "Oh, why are you here" and he was okay in that, a bit annoying in places but nowhere near compared to how annoying he was before, and in this, considering we're stuck with him whether we like it or not, I get that he's meant to be the comic relief character, so all the jokes are going to be on him, and I'd rather have him than Strax any day. I think, as long as he stays as he is now, he's fine with me. He's toned down a lot, so he's not quite as annoying as character. So I didn't mind him in this, I thought he was pretty good.
The water creature and all the visual effects surrounding her were absolutely amazing to see, she was a bit creepy, she looked very sinister to the average eye, and to someone who has never seen Doctor Who before, this could come as something new and interesting.
Bill's reaction to the TARDIS, Yeah, a bit obsolete and weird to say it looks like a kitchen. That's a bit of weird comment to make. I don't know why she'd say that, but again, I'll over look it because it's not a big issue.
Good to see the Daleks again, if only for a short while, that's their appearance for this series ticked off and the production can keep their license to use them. My one tiny criticism I'll make about the Daleks is, the design is wrong. If it is as the doctor says in his past, and the Daleks are fighting the Movellans, surely they should be the grey and black colour scheme as they were in Destiny? That to me would make much more sense and fit into the version of events better. Not that we sure that many Daleks in the episode anyway, just one. That's my only thing I'd pick about the Daleks, it's the fact that it would have been better to have proper Destiny Daleks rather than the usual 2005 model that we're used to seeing.
The Movellans, the less said about them, the better. It's good to see that the production today is still making nice nods and references to the old series, as not to forget where the new series originated from, but it's kind of like those references and nods have gone into over drive and there are too many in the show now, with the doctor having his picture of Susan on this desk and a collection of all his sonic screwdrivers, which look like toys and probably were the toy versions as well. In my personal opinion, it's just as well we didn't see much of the Movellans, because they looked ridiculous back 1979 when they appeared in "Destiny of the Daleks" and they're not my favourite, so even though it was good to see them, also good not to see too much of them.
For me, visually, the best bit to see was the edge of the universe, it may look like a bleak, colourless quarry to average eye, but to me, that landscape looked visually spectacular, I loved all the colours and wide ranged atmosphere. Probably the best location in the episode that the Doctor, Bill and Nardole went to.
The last scene of the episode was also really good as well, as well as being very well acted. It shows that in the space of forty-five minutes, give or take, the doctor and Bill's relationship starts as being the tutor and pupil relationship but turns into something much more complex and deeper than that.
The next time trailer looked good. Didn't say anything about the episode though. Not sure what to make of it yet. I hope it's not going to be one of those stupid, comic relief style funny episodes. The coming soon trailer which followed it looked good as well. This series shows a lot of promise and I just hope that such promise, doesn't end up getting thrown away like Series Nine.
I'll give "The Pilot" a 7/10.
NEXT WEEK: Smile.
