Doctor Who Rewatch: Five things you might not know about The Pilot
BBC, The Pilot
Before we begin rewatching The Pilot, there are some things about the episode that you might not know that we do now. So, thanks to BBC America, we have a list, and let’s see what we can make of these inside scoops from the professionals!
You can see the list on BBC America, but we’ll be walking through three of the things mentioned in the list and giving them some context so you might understand or find connections even we didn’t find! We’ll also, of course, be giving our thoughts, as that’s what we do at Doctor Who Watch!
The most interesting thing about our list is we picked things that might have been a foreshadow to what was coming. You’ll be interested to find out what we found!
BBC
What’s in a name?
Heather and Bill is actually a tribute to William Hartnell!
Well, this season truly is ended up being a little about the first Doctor, even before we know where it would be going! Before Twice Upon a Time, back when the Christmas Special was still a plethora of rumors, the first episode had a major callback to William Hartnell. According to BBC, the actor was often called “Bill” or “Billy” and guess what his wife of 46 years was named?
You guessed it, Heather! His wife of 46 years had the name of the girl with a star in her eye. To me, that just makes it all the better that Heather came back and saved Bill from being a Cyberman. Of course they were always going to make it — they had the best namesakes!
Small things like this could have been a key in Bill’s fate if you think about it. William Hartnell’s last episode was about the Mondasian Cybermen, and that’s exactly what killed Bill. I don’t think anything Moffat named or did was a coincidence, if there’s one thing he was, it was sneaky!
BBC
Keep Out!
The Twelfth Doctor is known for hanging special signs outside of his TARDIS, from keeping humans, carolers, and various other species from knocking on the door. This episode is no different, but he’s trying to keep himself out this time.
The TARDIS, stationed in the corner of his office has an “out of order” sign. Apparently, this is the same sign as used in The War Machine, one of the First Doctor’s stories! It was the final episode of season three, and you might be surprised at what makes this episode special. In The War Machine, guess who joins the Doctor?
None other than Ben and Polly, the companions that we’ll see later in the series in Twice Upon a Time! Who knows if this was intentional, but I like to think it was. Set designers could have made a new one. In fact, I’ve become partial the handwritten ones that have been shown. So it was definitely a conscious decision to use the same sign.
Clara’s Theme
Remember when the Doctor was going to erase Bill’s memory? It makes sense, now that we know why he was there, and planning to stay. If you listen closely to the background music as he goes to wipe her mind with the sonic. Bill tries to have the Doctor understand what would happen if someone wiped his mind of this amazing world.
As she says that, Clara’s theme begins to play in the background. Obviously, this is a reminder of Hell Bent, when the Doctor loses his own memory. This isn’t the only time the song is used in the episode. When Bill and Heather are in the club later in the episode, the Doctor is playing the song he wrote called Clara.
This scene was eventually deleted from the episode, but the BBC released it at the end of the series. If you haven’t seen it, you can watch it above!
BBC
Star in her Eye
Originally, the episode The Pilot was named The Girl with a Star in her Eye. You can find this one on Wikipedia, it’s not part of the BBC 10. Personally, I really like the title that got scrapped, and I wish they had used it! The Pilot part of the episode was barely used, it was mostly about Heather and Bill.
All we know is the reason that she left is that she had to pilot something. But the biggest issue was how she kept following them no matter where they went. To me, it was more about Heather than what they were going to use her for.
According to the BBC list, one of the places they went was part of the Fourth Doctor’s series:
"The skirmish into which the Doctor takes Bill and Nardole is part of the war between the Daleks and the Movellans. This centuries-long conflict features as part of the Fourth Doctor story “Destiny of the Daleks”."
Also, Heather was originally supposed to be a larger part of the series, but they had to change it at the last minute. Think of what we could have had!
BBC
Sonic Holder
Many people noticed the sonics on the desk of the Doctor. Even though we all saw it, let’s take a look at what blast from the past that gave us.
The third Doctor used a black and yellow striped screwdriver, seen all the way on the left. Then, the third Doctor moved on to the one with the reddish-silver hoop at the top, and used it with his fourth incarnation as well. After that, he used the red hooped screwdriver as Fourth and Fifth Doctor. Nardole was also seen using that screwdriver.
The Seventh and Eighth Doctor’s screwdriver can be seen here with the red gem at the top, right in the center. And then finally, we see the sonic that all New Whovians recognize, nine and ten’s blue screwdriver.
The screwdrivers missing are the Eleventh doctor’s screwdriver, the twelfth Doctor’s screwdriver, and the Second Doctor’s screwdriver. Actually, it could be in there, but it was very small and was probably too short to be seen.
If you want to know more information about the episode, feel free to read the rest of the comparisons in the episode here on BBC America!