Story 266: The Pilot

In which the Doctor has been lecturing at St Luke's University in Bristol for so long no-one can recall when he arrived. The rumour is 70 years. He even lives in rooms on site, with a valet - Nardole.

His lectures are famous, as no-one is ever clear as toy what they are supposed to be about. They go off on all sorts of tangents, depending on what interests the Doctor at the time.

Intrigued by his work is Bill Potts, who is a canteen worker. She attends all his lectures, despite not being enrolled in any of his classes - and he notices her interest.

She is invited to his rooms, and is surprised to see a large blue box in the corner. Nardole claims they had to demolish a wall to get it in. The Doctor tells her that he has noted her interest in his lectures though not enrolled academically. He offers to mentor her personally - but he will be setting very high standards for her to meet.

At a student bar, Bill sees a girl who she finds attractive. The Doctor is there, playing his electric guitar.

Bill meets the girl the next morning. She is named Heather, and Bill notes she has an unusual golden star shaped colouration in one of her eyes. She is a loner, who longs to escape and go off by herself.

She tells Bill of a strange phenomenon she has come across, and takes her to a section of the campus which is closed off for building work. There are odd scorch marks on the ground, as well as a pool of liquid - despite there not having been any recent rain.

Unheard by them, a voice within the pool announces that the pilot has been identified.

Intrigued by the pair, she follows the Doctor and Nardole the next day to the university basement area. Within, in an obscure corner of the cellars, she finds them standing in front of a huge set of metal doors, with an electronic locking mechanism.

Christmas arrives, and Bill gives the Doctor an oriental rug as a gift. Bill tells the Doctor of how her mother died when she was small and she doesn't really remember her. On getting home, her foster mother Moira announces that she has just found a box of old photographs of her mum. On examining the pictures closely, she is surprised to see the photographer reflected in a mirror in one of them - and he is the Doctor.

On another visit, Bill notes that her rug is underneath the Police Box - despite Nardole having spoken of its great weight.

Heather goes missing, and Bill tells the Doctor of the strange pool and markings. He goes with her to see this, and realises why people find the pool so troubling. They are not seeing their reflection. Rather, they are seeing themselves as someone looking out from below would see them. As they leave, they fail to see Heather's face looking up from within the pool. A voice announces that the passenger has been selected.

Back at her flat, Bill thinks she hears someone in the shower - only to find no-one there. A sound from the plug hole causes her to peer in - and see Heather's star shaped eye looking up at her.

Running to the University to find the Doctor she is confronted by Heather, who is covered in water. It pours off of her. She goes to the Doctor's rooms where he is studying a sample of the pool, when liquid pours under the door and transforms into the shape of Heather.

They enter the Police Box - and Bill finds herself for the first time in the TARDIS. Nardole is present, and is angry with the Doctor - reminding him that he is not allowed to travel any more.

The Doctor ignores him and takes the TARDIS to Sydney, Australia. In the restroom of a bar, Bill sees Heather emerge once again via water. The Doctor decides they must travel further afield, and the TARDIS moves to a distant alien planet, 23 million years in the future.

However, Heather manifests herself once again through water as a huge geyser takes on her shape.

The Doctor decides on a more dangerous location, where the water creature might not dare come. They arrive in a corridor in which Movellan soldiers are battling Daleks. When a Dalek shoots Heather, it has no effect. Later, the water creature takes on the shape of a Dalek.

The Doctor realises that the creature does not want to harm Bill. Rather, it claims it wants her to come away with it. She had promised to do so.

When Bill touches Heather's hand, she sees visions of stars and planets. She tells Heather that she cannot go with her. Heather accepts this at last, and disappears.

Back at the University, the Doctor and Bill find that the mysterious pool has vanished. He has realised that it was a form of sentient fuel from a spaceship which had landed on the campus. The craft needed a pilot - someone who willingly agreed to take on the role - and it had seen this in Heather. Bill had said she would love to go travelling with Heather, and the craft had taken this literally - pursuing her through time and space to fulfil its mission. 

The Doctor is going to wipe Bill's memories of these events, but she talks him out of it. Instead, she accepts an offer to travel with the in the TARDIS...

The Pilot was written by Steven Moffat, and was first broadcast on Saturday 15th April 2017. It marks the beginning of Series 10 of the revived show - the first conventional episode for nearly 17 months. It's the first episode without Clara (or one of her iterations) since The Angels Take Manhattan in September 2012.

It introduces Pearl Mackie as Bill Potts. She had first been seen in a specially shot sequence involving a Dalek, entitled Friend from the Future - made during the production of this episode. This had been broadcast during the BBC's FA Cup coverage in April 2016.

Moffat pointed out that the title had two meanings. As well as the story being about someone becoming the pilot of an alien craft, the episode could also be treated as a jumping-on point for anyone who hadn't seen the series before - a new pilot episode.

However, the episode is full of references to previous stories - including the wholesale importation of plot.

We see the photographs on the Doctor's desk in the opening moments - one of River Song (last seen in the recent Christmas episode The Husbands of River Song) and one of his granddaughter Susan (last seen in The Five Doctors in 1983). There's a pot full of sonic screwdrivers of varying vintage next to them. Those of the Third and Fourth are the most recognisable.

We have the presence of Nardole (from the last two Christmas Specials) - his recreation still not properly explained. It appears he has a robotic body, as a bolt falls off his arm when he first shows Bill into the Doctor's rooms.

The biggest reference to the past is the Dalek sequence. We had already seen this set in The Friend from the Future, along with a Dalek, but now we get to see that it is the middle of the Dalek-Movellan war. These white-clad humanoid robots first appeared in Destiny of the Daleks (1979). This would be their only on-screen appearance, though they were referenced in 1984's Resurrection of the Daleks.

The Dalek does not recognise the Doctor, having an image of a man with curly brown hair and a long scarf in its memory banks - referencing the Fourth Doctor.

There is also a reference to Clara, as Bill asks the Doctor if he would like to have his mind wiped - referencing Hell Bent. A piece of Clara's Theme plays in this scene.

In terms of the storyline, we are strongly reminded of 2010's The Lodger. This also featured an unmanned spacecraft which needed someone who wanted to travel to pilot it. In both cases you have an AI system taking things literally. This was beginning to become a trope of Moffat's, having delivered several stories in which "the enemy" is really a misunderstanding machine trying to fulfil its programming - e.g. the Siren in Curse of the Black Spot, the titular Mummy on the Orient Express, and the Handbots in The Girl Who Waited.

Joining new regulars Pearl Mackie and Matt Lucas we have only a very small guest cast. 

Playing Moira, Bill's foster mother, is Jennifer Hennessey. She had featured prominently in the series before, when she had played Valerie Brannigan in Gridlock in 2007.

Heather is played by Stephanie Hyam. She has also featured in Peaky Blinders and the Christmas Special of Sherlock, as well as the 2018 Laurel & Hardy biopic Stan & Ollie. 

As far as the story arc for this series goes, this appears to be the mysterious vault beneath the university, and the fact that the Doctor is not supposed to leave Earth.

The Doctor has a new base as well - St Luke's University, which is said to be in Bristol. As well as having its own studios, BBC Wales frequently filmed in the Bristol area as it is relatively close to Cardiff.

Overall, the story might be unoriginal but Bill's arrival is a breath of fresh air, after the interminable, toxic companionship of Clara.

Things you might like to know:

• A working title was "A Star In Her Eye".
• One of the strongest fan rumours regarding the contents of the Vault was that it contained Susan. Her photograph was supposed to be a clue, and the reason she was in there was that she had been placed there to protect her from the Time War.
• It was rumoured that the naming of Bill and Heather was a reference to William Hartnell and his wife, but Moffat claimed that this was purely a coincidence.
• Bill is the second companion we have seen serving chips in the canteen of an academic institution - Rose Tyler having posed as a dinner lady in School Reunion.
• The audience attending the Doctor's lectures was mainly made up of staff from the Doctor Who Experience.
• The Sydney bar was actually one which was situated right next to the Experience. It provided the venue for a number of crew parties.
• Some of the sonic screwdrivers were actually the commercially available toy ones from Character Options, rather than BBC or fan-made props.