The thing is, I can see what was attempted here, and while there are moments I liked, it never clicked. Bill Potts is a fine character though a little heavy on the: “I’m gay, by the way, tell The Guardian about that so we get half-decent reviews.” vibe. What falls into place for me with “The Pilot” is Peter and his Doctor being a bit more manic, carefree, and generally more amicable to be around than he was with Clara. You have the university tutor, the young woman that has a thirst for everything, and the robot Nardolle. I’ve said enough about Matt Lucas’ questionable past to bore the two of us for several lifetimes though.

As a reset, “The Pilot” isn’t bad, but it isn’t “Rose” or the perfect reset/jumping on point of “Smith and Jones.” In fact, it is less of a new companion learning the ropes kind of story and more of a love story. Specifically it is about a love of someone, a love of learning, and a love of teaching. There is always an underlying bit of someone loving something, and how that love will ultimately be the downfall or heartbreak we never want to see. Whether it is a pretty woman with the twinkle of a star in her eye, or the love of a friend you want to see do well. Moffat’s slow-burn works, but it doesn’t grab me by the hand and pull me away from plastic mannequins.

The wonderful Stephanie Hyam plays Heather. A young woman with a distant thought pulling her away from the room and a shine to her eye is a fantastic lure. Jennifer Hennessy making her second appearance in Doctor Who (following “Gridlock“) as Bill’s questionable adoptive mother is good. Nevertheless, there is something about the episode that doesn’t engage me the same way I think it wants to. It has an air of mystery that lacks the hook to pull me in. The threat of an alien puddle (for some reason) doesn’t intimidate as much as the plastic men or the Space cops trained in America.

This is also the point where Moffat tried to skew his Doctor Who to the growing audience instead of attempting to engage a new one. I’ve spoken enough about Class, but this was the time of its sad attempt to do as Torchwood failed to do many years before: make Doctor Who adult and sexy. With Bill it is tamer, but we still got the line: “[you run] like a penguin with its arse on fire.” It is a quick and easy line, but still. As much as we know this is Moffat on his way out, it feels lazy to drop any pretense he was doing this run of Doctor Who for the family audience.

As much as I am taking pieces of this episode and saying disapprovingly: “No,” I remember it fondly because it does have its moments. I once again want to be around the crew of the TARDIS. They seem like people you could have a conversation with instead of a shouting match. That’s always Moffat’s problem with Doctor Who, he can write a single story; “The Girl in the Fireplace,” “Blink,” and so on. However, for the life of him, he’s not great with characters. That was always RTD’s specialty, defining characters beautifully and concisely.

With Moffat, it seems a little more heavy-handed. That matched with his want to make Peter’s Doctor one of introspection and self-pity dragged down this final series. If there is actually one thing I can glean from this series overall that is good, it has to be the mystery of what is in the vault under the university. It doesn’t end well. In fact, it is middling at best, but the point it makes is fantastic. As I’ve said before, the story focuses on the companion and their growth, but again Moffat does have an issue with character and following that through.

The puddle lesbian story is another example, though it could possibly be the best episode of this series? Other than the emoji one and the episode filmed at Wester Drumlins, it all blends together into “did I actually watch that one?” A bit higher on the horror and generally ok at its worst, all the pieces fall into place to make “The Pilot” a decent beginning for the companion. I do love the line delivery of “um, they’re made of wood!” when talking about the TARDIS doors being impenetrable (see, Chibnall!). I prefer Rose’s call-to-action moment, as she runs in, gets scared, runs out, and gets forced back in by the threat again. Bill gets the call-to-action, a suspenseful explanation full of pauses, and her response is something bleh.

It really is a plight of mid-2010s film and TV to puncture an extraordinarily nice moment (that lives on in people’s heads) with a rather dumb question or needlessly stupid statement. Peter is pouring his entire life’s love of Doctor Who into the explanation. Bill’s question of, “is it knock-through” almost deflates that moment entirely. Yes, it does lead to a drawn-out “it’s bigger on the inside,” but did it need to? It makes Bill look stupid rather than what she’s been so far, naive with a burning passion to learn. Oh, also, she’s a lesbian and the episodes are going to keep reminding us of that until the tragedy.

Ultimately, “The Pilot” is a good episode let down by some baggage surrounding this Doctor rather than anything else. The sillier Doctor is something I like. The lines on the distant planet in the future are solid: “Hardly anything is evil, but most things are hungry. Hunger looks very evil on the wrong end of the cutlery, or do you think your bacon sandwich loves you back?” Thematically it is a wonderful episode that is bogged down by a villain that doesn’t feel as threatening as the episode wants me to believe, mostly as a result of having to set up so much in so little time.

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Doctor Who "The Pilot"

7.5

Score

7.5/10

Pros

• I finally want to be with the TARDIS crew again.
• A nice story of love.
• I like what's in the vault.

Cons

• The "villain" is a little bland.
• Needless puncturing of a nice moment to draw-out something.