Bill Potts will live out her science fiction dreams and nightmares when she hops aboard the TARDIS with the titular Time Lord of Doctor Who. She’ll have absolutely no clue what’s going on, and according to 12th Doctor actor Peter Capaldi, that’s what makes her such a good companion. Bill will be an excellent stand-in for any newcomers to the show. So, if you’ve never seen Doctor Who, this season will be easy to watch.
“Series 10, sort of, begins the show again,” Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat told BBC. “The first episode is called, quite mischievously, “The Pilot” — it introduces everything you need to know about Doctor Who and tips you into the universe. It takes our characters, the Doctor and Nardole (who we already know) and Bill (who we’re about to meet) and throws them into the Universe.”
Season 10 of Doctor Who will be Moffat’s final season as showrunner after seven years, and it also marks Capaldi’s final run as the 12th Doctor. While a replacement has yet to be announced for Capaldi, Moffat’s role as showrunner will be taken over by Chris Chibnall. There’s no official word yet as to whether or not Pearl Mackie’s Bill will continue on after Season 10 after acting as a conduit for new fans of the show.
When talking about working with Mackie, Capaldi said: “[Bill’s] not that different to older companions in the sense that she’s a character that doesn’t know anything about the Doctor’s life or about the TARDIS or about Daleks or anything like that so she has to be introduced completely to what goes on in his existence and that’s been a good way of rebooting the show. It allows people who aren’t experienced in Doctor Who to experience it for the first time.”
Doctor Who Season 10 premieres April 15, 2017.