The Pilot (TV story)

 was the first episode of the tenth series of Doctor Who produced by BBC Wales. It introduced the Twelfth Doctor's new companion, Bill Potts.

According to Steven Moffat in a video introduction, "series 10 sort of begins the show again. [The Pilot] introduces everything you need to know about Doctor Who, and tips you into the universe". Indeed, through Bill's eyes now, viewers are introduced again to the character of the Doctor, his TARDIS, his enemies the Daleks, and his versatile tool, the sonic screwdriver.

Synopsis
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Plot
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Cast

 * The Doctor - Peter Capaldi
 * Bill - Pearl Mackie
 * Nardole - Matt Lucas
 * Moira - Jennifer Hennessy
 * Heather - Stephanie Hyam
 * Voice of the Daleks - Nicholas Briggs

Crew
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Story notes

 * A working title for this episode was A Star In Her Eye.
 * Before filming started, a two-minute scene featuring the Doctor and Bill known as Friend From the Future was broadcast in April 2016, set during the encounter in the Dalek warzone. Parts of this scene were adapted into the episode. (DWM 511)
 * The setting of this story bears some resemblance to the unfinished TV story Shada. Both stories feature Time Lords (in Shada, Chronotis; in The Pilot, the Doctor) who settle in colleges as eccentric professors for an extended period of time. Both feature opening shots of a student (in Shada, Chris Parsons; in The Pilot, Bill Potts) entering their studies and noticing the TARDIS, parked in the corner.
 * The plot element of having the Doctor travel to various obscure locations in the universe as he continuously encounters the same entity has been used in the Doctor Who universe various times before.
 * The Chase, back in 1965, famously had the TARDIS team travel to various locations, often to comical effect, while under pursuit by the Daleks.
 * This element was also used in the season-long-arc of Titan's Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor Year 2; where the Eleventh Doctor's team was stalked by a being known as the Then and the Now.
 * A creature which mimicked living people to steal their form previously appeared in TV: Midnight.
 * Another spaceship part seeking a compatible pilot — specifically, one who wants to leave, to travel — previously appeared in TV: The Lodger.
 * The Doctor battled off against sentient water before in TV: The Waters of Mars. A similar effect is used here in The Pilot to indicate that the water is controlling them: the liquid is dripping from their hands, their mouths, their clothes.
 * During the scene when the Doctor is about to wipe Bill's memory and she upset tells him to imagine if someone did it to him, Clara's Theme plays. This is a reference to the events of TV: Hell Bent.

Ratings
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Filming locations
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Production errors
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Continuity

 * The Doctor has framed photographs on his desk of both his lost wife River Song (TV: The Wedding of River Song, The Husbands of River Song, Forest of the Dead) and his granddaughter Susan. (TV: An Unearthly Child - The Dalek Invasion of Earth)
 * The Doctor pilots the TARDIS to the Dalek-Movellan War. (TV: Destiny of the Daleks)
 * The Doctor has previously met sentient liquid beings, the Kar-Charratans on Kar-Charrat. (AUDIO: The Genocide Machine)
 * The Doctor relents on wiping Bill's memory when she poses the question of how he would feel if it happened to him, clearly bringing back his memories (or lack-there-of) of Clara Oswald. (TV: Hell Bent)
 * In his office, the Doctor has his bust of Beethoven, previously seen in Before the Flood. Similar to that episode, he also plays Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.
 * The Doctor clicks his fingers to open the TARDIS doors. (TV: Forest of the Dead, The Eleventh Hour, Hell Bent, et al.)
 * Near the vault the Doctor had a sign belonging to the Mary Celeste. (TV: The Chase)
 * The Doctor attempts a memory wipe. (TV: Journey's End, Hell Bent) In Hell Bent, he revealed that he's done this several times, usually telepathically. In this case, the method he's about to use was the same one employed on Donna Noble in Journey's End.
 * The Doctor mentions the TARDIS' broken chameleon circuit. (TV: An Unearthly Child, Logopolis, Boom Town, COMIC: Hunters of the Burning Stone, et al.)
 * The Doctor had encountered scorch marks left in concrete once before. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks)

DVD releases
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Blu-ray releases
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Digital releases
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