Bill Potts's birth mother died not long after having her daughter. Despite losing her mother too young to truly remember her, Bill deeply loved her, forming an imagined recollection of her as "Mum". This fabricated memory was critical in reclaiming Earth from subjugation by the Monks.
Biography[]
At some point, Bill's mother met the Twelfth Doctor. Though she hated having her picture taken, she agreed that he could do so. Unbeknownst to her, he had time traveled from 2017 to give Bill a proper image of her mother. (TV: The Pilot)
Legacy[]
Upon the death of Bill's mother, the Doctor's pictures were passed on to Moira. Not caring much about them, Moira put them in a cupboard in her flat with Bill's "old stuff", leaving them to be forgotten. She eventually found them and gifted them to Bill for Christmas. Looking at them drove Bill to tears, (TV: The Pilot) and she hung one up in her room in what she assumed would be her new house. (TV: Knock Knock)
Desperate to maintain some recollection of her mother, Bill would often think of her. She imagined being told aphorisms such as, "With some people, you can smell the wind in their clothes," (TV: The Pilot) and would often hold one-sided conversations with her about recent events (TV: Knock Knock, The Lie of the Land) or sought her mother's guidance. (AUDIO: War Stories, TV: Oxygen) These conversations with her Mum were intensely personal for Bill; she became embarrassed when Nardole revealed he had overheard one. (TV: The Lie of the Land)
As a result of her efforts, Bill's mental perception of her mother was strong. Her mother appeared in her dreams from an early age, (AUDIO: Emancipation of the Daleks) and by mining Bill's mind, Cymbelline Sharp could produce a play based on their conversations. (AUDIO: War Stories) Crucially, it was only when Bill began thinking of her mother that she was able to break the Monks' psychic link with humanity. Her memories of her mother were pure, irresistible, and uncorrupted by the Monks, serving as a window to a world without their conditional love. (TV: The Lie of the Land)
Appearance[]
Bill's Mum bore a significant resemblance to her daughter, also having dark skin, highly arched eyebrows, and a sizeable afro. (TV: The Pilot, The Lie of the Land) People had commented on this to Bill, for she told the Doctor she was supposed to look like her mother. (TV: The Pilot)
