Friend from the Future (TV story)

 was a short promotional mini-episode broadcast during Match of the Day and later released online in 2016, which introduced the character of Bill Potts to the world. Originally, this scene was produced as a stand-alone episode to reveal the casting of Pearl Mackie, similar to 2017's Meet the Thirteenth Doctor.

However, when writing TV: The Pilot, Bill's introduction episode, Steven Moffat's intuition was to make Friend from the Future "fit" into the series. Because of this, The Pilot's plot carefully sets up the conditions of the mini-episode, although only copying part of the exchange from the scene due to the rest being cut for pacing. Moffat jokes that Doctor Who fans knew when the story took place, and that they "could all sleep at night now."

Synopsis
The Daleks are following the Twelfth Doctor and Bill through a corridor. Will they get out alive?

Plot
The Twelfth Doctor and Bill Potts are running from Daleks. They hide behind a wall, and Bill repeatedly questions the Doctor as to what a Dalek is. He hurriedly explains to her. Then he receives a notification via the psychic paper and insists that they need to go back to the TARDIS, convinced that the future, specifically 2017, needs them. As they leave their hideout, a Dalek shoots at them and states that it detected humanoids.

As they turn around a text hits the screen that says "Introducing Pearl Mackie as Bill".

Cast

 * The Doctor - Peter Capaldi
 * Bill - Pearl Mackie
 * Dalek - Nicholas Briggs

Crew

 * Director - Lawrence Gough
 * Designer - Michael Pickwoad
 * Costume designer - Hayley Nebauer
 * Producer - Peter Bennett
 * Executive producers - Steven Moffat, Brian Minchin