Doctor Who 10.1 "The Pilot" Review

So after a year off, the Doctor has returned, and grabbed a new companion in the form of Bill!

To be honest, I was pretty underwhelmed by the first episode. In fact, if it weren't for the interesting new dynamic brought by the new character, I would have said it was rather disappointing. After taking a year off from making the show you would think that they would prepare something big and exciting... But in the and the episode mostly revolves around a mysterious puddle. Surely they could have saved a bit of money last year and put it into some cool special effects? I just hope that the rest of the season picks up a bit.

I have to give it the benefit of the doubt in that we had a checklist of things to get through. We had to introduce a new character, teach them about the Doctor and the TARDIS and then get to the point where the new companion becomes a companion. One of the highlights of the episode was when Nardol and The Doctor acknowledged the almost compulsory "bigger on the inside" comment.

As I said, Bill saved the episode from being a complete disappointment. She's different from the usual companion. Although she is equally full of wonder, her portrayal of this is pretty different. She doesn't ask the typical questions. Which keeps both the viewer and the Doctor on their toes. It is an interesting fresh dynamic!

I should also mention the monster, which was basically a wet woman... It was classically scary in that Doctor Who way but it was nothing special. We've had a similar monster in a David Tennant episode "The Waters of Mars", however, that episode had more to the creature and a better plot.

We also have Nardole, who appeared previously but is now sticking around with the Doctor for some mysterious reason. We are bound to find out why sooner or later.

From the previews of the full series, it looks like we have a lot of exciting creatures and concepts to look forward to, however, for me, the premiere episode was not a good start.

I'm giving this episode a C, with hopes that the series can go up from here.