BBC
Today, our superlative is not episode based, it’s character based! And we give our “Most Improved Throughout the Season” Award to the android to deserves it the most…Nardole!
Throughout the season we’ve seen Nardole continually grow. That’s something that you don’t see often in Doctor Who, especially not over just one season. All of the companions grow, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one character grow from a background character to full on companion by himself. Most shows have the ability to know what the fans like and write to the fan’s desires.
It’s not like they saw how much the fans liked Nardole (or didn’t) and catered to that. It was Matt Lucas whose talent singularly made it so that he got bigger parts in episodes as the season went on. We went from running away from him in the TARDIS to him flying the TARDIS and joining us.
Also, of course, we have to talk about his badass-ness. He was always direct about what he was there to do (keep the Doctor with the vault). But in Extremis, we saw that he actually cared about Bill and was going to kick her arse if she didn’t listen to him. Definitely some improvement from just being a little bit annoying!
Finally, his biggest improvement, and subsequently his saddest moment, is at the end of The Doctor Falls. That’s when Nardole truly reaches the pinnacle of his change. He was always serving someone. The Doctor’s wishes, River’s wishes, even Bill a little. But this was the first time that he would be on his own, doing good. (After his appearance in The Husbands of River Song, I got the impression he wasn’t always a good guy)
Next: Doctor Who Superlative: Most Overrated Episode
He was saving a town. Potentially sacrificing his life (because we still don’t know what the Doctor’s plan is), to keep these human children and adults safe. He improved to the point of being his own hero. Not a sidekick, not a companion, the hero.
Who could have any more improvement than that?