Doctor Who: Let’s talk about Bill in the Christmas Special
BBC
Bill, the companion that we were all worried wouldn’t get the screen time of the other companions, is coming back for the Christmas special ‘Twice Upon a Time’. There are many questions that we have about the return, from technicality questions to what we might want to see in the episode.
No matter what happens, it’s great to have her back. But we can’t deny the questions that might arise in having Bill back. Namely: how did she find the Doctor?
In The Doctor Falls, it seemed as though she left her body and everything behind to travel with Heather. Even though we saw the empty Cyberman suit, I still always felt that it was more her spirit that left, not her actual body.
"You’re like me now, it’s just a different kind of living."
BBC
Question 1: Isn’t Bill made of Water?
Even if both girls had their flesh and bones with them, aren’t they made of water? Wasn’t that kind of the point of The Pilot? That we had lost Heather to the puddle, and therefore when she helped Bill, she became the same?
How is Bill able to walk around and talk if she was saved by Heather, and made into a different kind of life form? She’s not dead, and she’s not a Cyberman, but she most definitely not human. So how did she become human enough to find the Doctor and stay away from the puddle?
"How did you find me?I left you my tears, don’t you remember?"
BBC
Question 2 (and possible answer): How did Bill Find the Doctor?
The tears that Bill let fall onto the Doctor’s forehead at the end of the Doctor Falls have had an enormous amount of controversy following them. Especially for tears.
Some people believe the tears caused the regeneration. That somehow, because Bill cried tears, it triggered a regeneration into a girl. That’s why there’s a close up on Jodie Whittaker’s eye during the announcement.
Some people believe that the tears triggered the ability for the Doctor to wake up after he almost certainly died. (So the tears are responsible for our tears in that montage? Thanks, Moffat.)
If the second one is the case, did Bill leave the Doctor her tears? She cried onto him, but he hasn’t been crying her tears like Heather and Bill.
Next: Women who paved the way for the new regeneration
Don’t get me wrong, I’m incredibly excited to see Pearl Mackie back for one more adventure with the Doctor. And I hope she goes on an adventure as well, not just a goodbye after everything’s done. The First Doctor will have Polly (and hopfully Ben), the Twelfth Doctor should have someone as well.
But you can admit it raises questions.