Doctor Who - 'The Pilot'

And of course a new season of Who means new posters
courtesy of and (c) Stuart Manning.

“Hunger looks very much like evil from the other end of the cutlery. Do you think your bacon sandwich loves you back?”

This review will contain some spoilers.

At a venerable British University (I'm saying St Cedd's College, Cambridge, until proven otherwise,) a young dinner lady is picked up for auditing the classes taught by the mysterious Doctor, who is impressed by her enquiring mind, offers her personal tuition and to sort out her paperwork 'earlier'. As they become friends she realises that he and his assistant Nardole are up to something in some sort of crypt. At the same time she grows close to another student named Heather, who has seen something odd in a puddle, but even as romance seems to be blossoming, tragedy looms and propels Bill Potts into time and space.

The Good

I like Bill. She's… right. She's what I look for in a Doctor Who companion. She's bright and inquisitive (intellect and formal education are not essential, but nuWho has yet to produce a satisfactory physical companion – its Jamie or Leela – and in that absence, smart is good,) but more importantly human. So far she shows no marked sign of destiny, just a craving for adventure and a joy in the face of the inexplicable.

Nardole is also a strong character, despite limited screen time. They've stepped back from hardcore comic relief, making him more like the Doctor's interpreter to the universe.

I liked that the problem this episode was rooted in something simple and human, as well as something vast and alien.

Photo of Susan!

Daleks and Movellans! I didn't recognise the latter at first, but of course it makes sense that the Doctor would choose a conflict in which he doesn't mind the other side being killed so much, what with them being robot douchebags.

The Bad

'The Vault' hints at arc plot, and Moffat hasn't done one of those really well since Matt Smith's first series.

The Ugly

So far, so good.

Theorising

Okay, so the Doctor appears to be locked into some sort of obligation to tend to this 'vault', whatever it is, but he's not fixed to it. I wonder if this is somehow linked to Susan, since her picture is so obviously on display(1).

Top Quotes

Nardole: First, you have to imagine a very big box fitting inside a very small box.

Bill: Okay!

Nardole: Then, you have to *make* one! [beat] It’s the second part people normally get stuck on.

"Time. Time doesn’t pass. Time is an illusion. And Life is the magician. Because Life only lets you see one day at a time. You remember being alive yesterday, you hope you’re going to be alive tomorrow, so it feels like you are traveling one to the other, but nobody’s moving anywhere! Movies don’t really move. They’re just pictures, just lots and lots of pictures, all of them still. None of them moving, just frozen moments!" – The Doctor

The Verdict

I always like it when nuWho cleans house and gets back to basics, and this is no exception. 'The Pilot' is built to introduce the series to new audiences and in part, I suspect, to reassure older viewers that they aren't planning to replace the Doctor with The All New Clara and Me Show. It introduces a pleasantly down-to-Earth companion and an arc Macguffin, although the plot does kind of skate over the fact that its central antagonist appears to be one of the most terrifyingly unstoppable things in the galaxy.

Also, damn but they like giving Capaldi soliloquys.

Score - 7/10

(1) Although it could just be representing Classic Who, with the photo of River Song to stand for nuWho.