Doctor Who (36) 10.01: The Pilot

Dave

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I gave up watching Dr. Who some time ago, but given the BBC hype about this new episode and nothing much better to do, I watched this last night, and it wasn't that bad. In fact, fans seem to be raving about it online, which makes me surprised I need to start this thread here? Does anyone here still watch it?

It was a return to "old-fashioned" monster of the week, but the alien was surprisingly difficult to outwit (given that
it was merely a puddle of spacecraft coolant fluid)
If you haven't seen Dr. Who before then this would be a good place to start as you can follow the new assistant as she uncovers the mystery surrounding the strange university professor - apparently the Doctor has been hiding for 50+ (maybe 70 years) and not been travelling (he promised not too.) He has instead been teaching at a university on practically any subject he likes. So this episode became a kind of reboot (hence the double meaning of the title - the new assistant is also called "the pilot" by the alien entity.)

And did I mention there was a Dalek too?

Fans also are warming to this new assistant, called Bill. I've read comments that she "encapsulates young people today" (I wouldn't go quite that far) and she is fresh and natural. She asks the Doctor things like "do you know any sci-fi?" Not like any assistant before, except perhaps most like Ace. Obviously, this being today her sexuality is vitally important too (according to the BBC "One" show anyway) although I thought Captain Jack already held the record as the first gay assistant?

Anyhow, her curiosity, high energy and her fun-loving, wakes up the Doctor enough to get him to want to go travelling once more.

You can catch-up the episode here: Doctor Who - Available now - BBC One
 
I rather enjoyed this. I haven't been a fan of Peter Capaldi as the Doctor, and the programme has slipped from must-see down to I-can-always-watch-it-on-catch-up, but my impression was that this was, well, sparkier than I've seen the Doctor for a while. Loved the "bigger on the inside" moment...
 
I liked this episode. I also think the assistant Bill will be a good companion.
Would be rather ironic if this series is the one we start to warm to Capaldi as it will be his last.
 
Not reading above yet. Several times today, I saw my FB people in the UK saying they were watching Doctor Who, and every time I commented that it wasn't here in America yet. I just saw it here, went and looked it up to see when it was on here, and then realized today IS Saturday before Easter. Which I have had in my head as Doctor Who day for weeks. Even though I spent the day working on Easter eggs, I somehow hadn't realized what day it was. Gahhhh.
 
I haven't seen it yet as I was out last night, but I wanted to come in with some Capaldi love, as I've been a fan of his even before Doctor Who. I'm just sad for him that his first series was so bad but I feel like he has always been the strongest part of it even when the episodes lacked quality (and series two made it for it big time).

Back on the topic of this series, I'm super excited for the return of
Missy, and it seems we might be getting two Masters for the price of one as John Simm's Master is returning, too?!
 
I thought it was
John Simm's Master
I saw in the end of episode trailer! Excellent!
 
The family have been watching the reboot series, and we've just started Season 4 with Tennant. Everyone's been enjoying it so far, so we figured on trying out the brand new season.

And, we generally enjoyed it.

It was interesting to notice how differently it's filmed - much more cinematic with touches familiar from Sherlock.

Also, Bill was liked for the simple reason that she asked intelligent questions. My eldest liked the move away from hetero-normativity - but as in the comments above, we had that with Captain Jack anyway.

The one thing that didn't make sense was:

how intelligent engine oil was able to move through time and space without an actual ship

But even then, it served as a nice showcase and introduction to the Dr Who universe.

Some great lines - especially from Matt Lucas on banter. Good to see him underplaying his role, rather than hamming it up at every opportunity.

And, generally, a satisfying episode.

I do like Capaldi - but having got tired of Moffat's inability to hold continuity together, and companions who long over-stayed their welcome, I'm kind of hoping that lessons have been learned. If Moffat is leaving at Christmas, then hopefully he won't have too much time to cock things up this time.

(BTw, I added "Doctor Who" to the title simply so it's easier to know what TV program we're actually watching, when the thread comes up in New Posts. :) )
 
So...
Given the way the "water" (the "leak") behaves, I think that it is the spacecraft.

More than that, I think it may very well be a TARDIS, one without its owner. (To which version of the Master -- we get to see two of them this series -- it belongs is not clear.) After all, it can travel through time and space. It is intelligent (we know, from a previous series, that the Doctor's TARDIS has a personality) and it can camouflage itself.

Note that the camouflaging has always involved the outside changing its shape, not simply changing its appearance; otherwise people would be bumping into bits of the TARDIS that were hidden, or inadvertently stepping through bits of it that weren't actually there. And this new use of the camouflaging has the benefit that it has (apparently) hidden its nature from the Doctor, so that instead of simply materialising in front of him in its final form, it appears as that "puddle" and then gradually changes to the shape of the starry-eyed girl.

As there has been speculation that the tear on Bill's face was some of the fluid, I was wondering if the tear is the Master's TARDIS in yet a new form. (If so, I'm half-expecting the line, "It's smaller on the outside!" to appear later in the series.)
 
I enjoyed it. It seemed to be up there with the best episodes of the last few years, and there was one moment that made me jump (which rarely happens).

The assistant got on my nerves in that first trailer (from about a year ago?), but there were no such problems last night. I didn't find Bill's relationship with the other girl convincing though. As for her sexuality, I think she's the first "openly gay" assistant, whereas it was only 99% obvious with Captain Jack, or maybe it's because he was bisexual.
 
There is a lot of online chat about the Doctor's table in his study at the university. I did see the photo of River Song, but I missed the photo of Susan Foreman. Apparently, there was a collection of other items of memorabilia too.

@Ursa major - very interesting ideas about the puddle. I hadn't thought about it too deeply, and I never watch trailers on the end of TV series' episodes. I switch them off. I think it is the worst idea TV series ever invented. Completely spoils the following week's episode.
 
So...
Given the way the "water" (the "leak") behaves, I think that it is the spacecraft.

More than that, I think it may very well be a TARDIS, one without its owner. (To which version of the Master -- we get to see two of them this series -- it belongs is not clear.) After all, it can travel through time and space. It is intelligent (we know, from a previous series, that the Doctor's TARDIS has a personality) and it can camouflage itself.

Note that the camouflaging has always involved the outside changing its shape, not simply changing its appearance; otherwise people would be bumping into bits of the TARDIS that were hidden, or inadvertently stepping through bits of it that weren't actually there. And this new use of the camouflaging has the benefit that it has (apparently) hidden its nature from the Doctor, so that instead of simply materialising in front of him in its final form, it appears as that "puddle" and then gradually changes to the shape of the starry-eyed girl.

As there has been speculation that the tear on Bill's face was some of the fluid, I was wondering if the tear is the Master's TARDIS in yet a new form. (If so, I'm half-expecting the line, "It's smaller on the outside!" to appear later in the series.)

I and my 8-year-old grandson both gave this episode a "thumbs-up."
"It was creepy, but cool," he said.

The special effects reminded me of the unstoppable T-1000 liquid metal man.

My guess is that the liquid is an abandoned shape-shifting entity from the shuttle that left the scorch marks on the pavement. It could have been intentionally marooned or left behind by circumstances when the craft departed. Posing as a puddle would certainly draw less attention than an antiquated police call box sitting in odd places.
Perhaps the entity's fixation on Bill was born of loneliness. Rather than having all the space and time travel capabilities of the TARDIS, it might have simply had the ability to attach itself to the TARDIS and hitch a ride to wherever or whenever it went. It certainly was determined to keep its promise to Bill.
I'd be surprised if we've seen the last of it.
 
I never watch trailers on the end of TV series' episodes. I switch them off.
I didn't watch the trailer either -- as with you, I try to avoid them -- but snippets about their contents can still become known if one isn't careful (which I wasn't).
 
Have watched it now and enjoyed it thoroughly (but then I'm easy to please when it comes to Doctor Who, the only episode I've really ever disliked is "Kill the Moon" and I can't 100% hate it because I love Hermione Norris). Really liking Bill, all of her reactions and comments were great. Some favourite lines:

"I fatted her."
"Running like a penguin with its arse on fire."

And constantly questioning everything about the TARDIS.

The fact that Susan's photo kept being shown, and that Bill has a foster family, makes me wonder if she's going to be somehow a relation, but that might be me doing my usual 'try and guess the big secret for the series'.

That's also just led me down some dark avenues regarding
what seems like the Master and Missy both being around together and could they potentially have a kid and would that make it extra condensed Master? Missy squared?
:confused:

Also Calpaldi felt more fun and gleeful and Doctory in this which is always great. And a final bit of Clara's tune when chatting about the mind wipe.
 
Ok, now it's making me crazy trying to watch it on BBC America's website. I couldn't get it to play well on Firefox, so I went to Chrome, which usually works on my computer when a video playback is stuttering. No go. So I went to my iPad, and it doesn't stutter, but it keeps returning to the start after the commercial breaks, and then I have to refresh the page and work my way back through every freaking commercial in order to get back to where I need to be. It's taking me two hours to watch 49 minutes. Grrrrrr.
 
So I went to my iPad, and it doesn't stutter, but it keeps returning to the start after the commercial breaks
It seems that timey-wimeyness has not gone away....


Anyway, in my previous post, I omitted to mention what I thought of the episode. I really enjoyed it, particularly where the simple sight of water flowing under a door, or even down some steps, proved to be rather creepy. (I expect that if I had seen the episode back when the Daleks first appeared, I'd have been watching by peeking round the side of the sofa.)
 
Also Calpaldi felt more fun and gleeful and Doctory in this which is always great. And a final bit of Clara's tune when chatting about the mind wipe.

This for me too - a very welcome aspect :) And that link back to Clara (sob).

I had low expectations after last season - but I really enjoyed this. Bill was great. She had me at...

"Doctor What?"
 
Last edited by a moderator:
^^^^ Spoiler tag isn't showing so...

She had me at... those two words just before the titles :)
 
Spoiler tag isn't showing so...
Just giving a spoiler a title but not adding any content will not produce anything on the screen. By contrast, a spoiler will be visible if it has some content whether or not it has a title.


Would I be correct in suspecting that the (two word) title you gave to your spoiler was the intended content?
 

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