Bill Potts is the Best Thing to happen to “Dr Who”

Pearl Mackie is being hailed as the breath of fresh air that Dr Who needed. Twitter went nuts after the pilot episode, with people everywhere proclaiming their love for Bill Potts. 5 episodes in, and that love has yet to abate. Personally, it’s been years since I’ve laughed this much watching an episode of Dr Who, and I love it. After the serious days of Clara the Impossible Girl, I didn’t think that Dr Who could head back in this direction. I have never been more willing to be wrong. It feels reminiscent of the no-nonsense Donna era, but better.

Bill Potts is real. Even Pearl Mackie herself thinks so: “You want people to like her [Bill], but I did when I read the script. I was drawn to her and felt there was something quite fresh about her attitude and the way she spoke. She’s very real, very much someone you might just bump into on the street.”

This is just part of what is making Bill one of the most relatable characters to ever step onto the Dr Who set. She isn’t burdened by a complex backstory; she doesn’t have trauma or revenge to exact (yet) and she is full of happiness and wonder. Her sense of wonder is the most amazing aspect of this season. Just watching Bill watch the world around her with awe helps bring the viewers and the Doctor back to the fact that this is, first and foremost, a show about time travel to far off and wondrous places.

Bill Potts fatted

We also get to see a new aspect to Peter Capaldi’s Doctor in this season, as he plays off Bill. He is warmer, happier, a mentor in every right. He gets to bring Bill on journeys that are about time travel and heroics by choice, rather than because of some grand timey-wimey plan. All the monsters and aliens have simply been a backdrop to their relationship up to this point, and it has worked. In fact, everyone in this season seems to be having fun, even the TARDIS who is technically the one that chooses to save ‘Nessie’. Well, everyone except maybe Nardole, who is playing the part of the dutiful house husband reminding the Doctor to keep his promise and guard the vault.

Pearl Mackie has been in the media more than past companions before coming onto a show, in part due to Dr Who having been off the air for over a year and the other part because she has been hailed as the first openly gay “official companion” on Dr Who. But Moffatt and Co. have handled her representation of her various communities beautifully, leaving no one with any doubt that Pearl Mackie will soon be acheiving (if she hasn’t already) fan favourite status.

Bill Potts whitewash

Bill Potts, asking the real questions:

“What is that? A Police telephone box? Did you build it from a kit?”
“Yeah, but why?”
“Did you run out of money? Is that what happened to the doors?”
“Can I use the toilet?”
“Do people ever hit you?”
“Imagine how it would feel if someone did this to you.”
“So the TARDIS has dresses and likes a bit of trouble?”
“Hearts, though, why two?”
“How’s it sonic?”
“What is sky made of?”
“Where’s the steering wheel?”
“Why would you name your box in English?”
“It’s hidden itself as a box with pull to enter on the front?”
“What happens if I throw up in my helmet?”
“Time Lords. That’s hilarious. Do you wear robes and big hats?”
“Doctor, have you killed anyone.”

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