Pearl Mackie: Stars In Her Eyes

[Chip]

I figure I'll go ahead and create this topic as the announcement is supposedly in a few minutes.

And it's Pearl Mackie as Bill!

[Llywela]

Pearl Mackie as Bill, eh.

 

Well, I like that they've gone with a WOC this time, but oh my god, the dialogue in that scene - awful. She might look different than Clara and Amy, but putting the same sort of generic 'house'-style comedy dialogue in her mouth just makes her sound like every other character in this era of the show, and she's clearly either from the present day or the not-too-distant past, so they aren't exactly mixing it up. I'm sure the actress is great, and wish her all the best - but the writing of this clip is not promising in terms of background and characterisation.

[darkestboy]

Bill as a name could be short for Billie, so a nod to Billie Piper I think.

She seems like a Donna/Ace mash up.

I love her already.

[benteen]

Congrats to Pearl Mackie...I can't make a judgment until I see her in action, which won't be until next year.

 

Bille (short for Billie?) is probably from the 80s based on that outfit.

 

Here's the clip...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaLficIRInM

Edited April 23, 2016 by benteen

[Mabinogia]

I like her from that clip. I got a total 80s vibe from her look. I hope it isn't some fake out and she was at a fancy dress party. I know it isn't as far back as I'd have wanted, I would love a pre-industrial companion, but at least the 80s isn't now so that's something.

[Llywela]

Her costume and hair suggest she may be from the 80s, perhaps, which makes her the first historical companion of the New Who era - but near past isn't exactly pushing the boat out in terms of creativity! I had hoped for more originality of background and personality, but I always knew it was a faint hope.

 

Well. Congratulations to Pearl Mackie, and we'll just have to wait for the actual series to air to find out more about the character and who she really is. I'm just really weary of the house style of generic sassy backchat and the general sitcom styling of this era - I knew it wasn't likely to change for Moffat's last year, but that clip really drove the point home all over again.

[benteen]

12 does say that they need to go back to the future so I would guess she’s from the 80s.  Bill traveling into her own future (where she or her family would likely still be alive) would be intriguing.

 

Since Bill won’t be debuting until next year, I wonder what we can expect from this year’s Christmas special.  A standalone story, a story that leads into Series 10 or will another old friend (or foe) of the Doctor’s turn up?

Edited April 23, 2016 by benteen

[HauntedBathroom]

Bill's t shirt was the inside cover of Purple Rain. Million to one chance, or shot that close to the wire?

[catrox14]

I like it. Good choice on the surface. I already like the dynamic between 12 and Bill. 

[clack]

Yet another quick-with-a-quip young, attractive working class woman from London.

I guess there are demographic reasons driving casting choices, but there was a time when the Doctor travelled with 2 or 3 companions, which allowed for greater diversity.

[Lokiberry]

Well, she's not Clara, so that's like a 1000% improvement right there. The dialogue was trying to hard for cutsey to get any kind of bead on what kind of companion she's going to be. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

[clack]

With the exception of Donna, all the NewWho female companions have been early to mid- twenties.

You might get a new and more complex Doctor/companion dynamic with, say, an accomplished professional woman in her 30's. Still young, but experienced enough to avoid all those tired wide-eyed babe-in-the-woods character moments that, judging from the clip, Billy, the new companion, is going to fall prey to.

[maraleia]

I wonder if having the name Bill means the companion is going to be gender non-conforming or non-binary? I guess time will tell.

[Kalliste]

I guess it is too much to hope for someone that isn't from London and isn't a woman. While I'm hoping she is from the past (even if it isn't the quite modern past), they also gave that impression with Clara's first episode and then she was just another modern day young 20's British female companion.

 

You might get a new and more complex Doctor/companion dynamic with, say, an accomplished professional woman in her 30's. 

I think this would have been great. Maybe one day.

[Fat Elvis 007]

I agree the dialogue wasn't great. But I actually found the comedy in this clip a bit different--she seems less naturally quippy, and more like she is reacting to danger by intentionally making bad jokes, which strikes me as a character trait I haven't seen in the other companions. She seems more nervous, like she's applying conscious effort to coming up with something to say, whereas Clara and Amy always had a sassy confidence with their quips. I realize that's a lot to read into a two minute clip, but if they keep this as a consistent character trait it could help her differentiate herself from previous companions.

[AimingforYoko]

With the exception of Donna, all the NewWho female companions have been early to mid- twenties.

You might get a new and more complex Doctor/companion dynamic with, say, an accomplished professional woman in her 30's. Still young, but experienced enough to avoid all those tired wide-eyed babe-in-the-woods character moments that, judging from the clip, Billy, the new companion, is going to fall prey to.

The problem is why would an accomplished professional woman drop everything to run off with the Doctor?

[ganesh]

There could be a traumatic life event in their life and going off with the Doctor seems like a good way to just walk away from their life for a time. Especially since the Doctor can return them a few minutes later (even though we know he'll screw that up)?

 

Wasn't the companion for the Eighth Doctor an accomplished professional woman? She was an actual doctor.

 

I feel bad for the new actor in a way. I'm going to not read up anything on her and go in totally unspoiled. With Amy and Eleven, they eventually had Rory as a companion, and I really liked that. So who knows. 

 

I think it's a fair criticism that the new companion is much of the same, seemingly. I think it's more precise to criticize TPTBs than the actor though. Are they afraid to challenge themselves?  

[Kalliste]

The problem is why would an accomplished professional woman drop everything to run off with the Doctor?

I'm a professional woman and if the doctor turned up on my door step and asked me to run away through time and space with him there is no way I would turn that down. I would bring my boyfriend along though because I'm sure he'd love that too. 

[benteen]

The problem is why would an accomplished professional woman drop everything to run off with the Doctor?

 

Because it's a chance to travel through time and space?  I think many accomplished women and men would take that chance to run off with the Doctor.

[Llywela]

The problem is why would an accomplished professional woman drop everything to run off with the Doctor?

Once upon a time, willingness to drop everything to run off with the Doctor wasn't a character requirement for his companions, because they joined him for other reasons. Tegan wanted nothing more than to get back to the career she'd dreamed of since she was a child, but she got caught up in a sequence of events that kept her aboard for a string of adventures before the Doctor could even think about taking her home, and then his dodgy piloting skills kept her aboard a little longer, and by then she'd grown attached and become invested. Steven Taylor was a space pilot who'd fought in an interstellar war and crash-landed on a deserted planet – for him, joining the TARDIS was salvation, even though the Doctor at the time couldn't steer and was unable to take him home. Harry Sullivan was a professional, a doctor and UNIT's MO, and would never have knowingly consented to an extended TARDIS tour, but the Doctor tricked him into going aboard as a joke, and then the sequence of events conspired to keep him travelling through time and space for the entire season, with going straight back home simply not an option. Nyssa was a highly skilled scientist, but her homeworld was destroyed, leaving her nowhere else to go. Having a companion who comes aboard without deliberately choosing to abandon their entire life to go travelling makes for a different dynamic – they can become just as emotionally attached to the Doctor, but that attachment itself then becomes a source of conflict: should they stay or should they go? It adds what for New Who would be a fresh dynamic - only Rory has been a reluctant traveller so far.

 

Pearl Mackie is in her late 20s, but only time will tell how old Bill is supposed to be and how she ends up joining the TARDIS. I desperately long for something fresh - but I also remember vividly that Steven Moffat has stated in interviews that when planning a new companion his first question is: what sort of person would want to travel with the Doctor? I really hope he's remembered this time that you can device circumstances in which a companion isn't actually the sort of person who would want to travel with the Doctor, but ends up there anyway.

Edited April 24, 2016 by Llywela

[Triskan]

Question I'm wondering : will she make her debut in the Christmas Special or only in season 10 ?

 

I guess she'll have her first appearance in the special though : season 10 hasnt started filming and I doubt they'd have shot that small scene just for introducing the companion, so it's likely a extract from the Christmas Special and she's already in ! 

[Kromm]

"Bill"?

 

Okay, they're just fucking with us with that name, right?  Diversity, yay, and all that, but hopefully she's backed up with an actual new kind of story/characterization and not another retread. Could she be Ace reimagined (not literally--I mean as a type of character)? At least that would be an OLDER retread vs. one of the recent companions being retread.

 

It's interesting that they clearly shot a special scene (one I bet we never see again) just to introduce her.

Edited April 24, 2016 by Kromm

[ganesh]

I desperately long for something fresh - but I also remember vividly that Steven Moffat has stated in interviews that when planning a new companion his first question is: what sort of person would want to travel with the Doctor? I really hope he's remembered this time that you can device circumstances in which a companion isn't actually the sort of person who would want to travel with the Doctor, but ends up there anyway.

 

Even in just taking the first question, maybe Moffat should read this thread. The sort of person who would actually want to travel with the Doctor isn't just 20 something London female. 

 

To the second part, I'd question whether a regular companion is needed at this point. Maybe he travels with someone for a couple of episodes, and then they leave. I know tv wise there's logistics, but I can't imagine it's that hard to cast 2 other people.

To be fair to Clara, she was actually a teacher, so I'd consider her a "professional" woman too, though she's young. I get that we were more talking about people in their 30s. 

[clack]

Clara was just out of uni and rather aimless, having fallen into a job as a nanny, when she 1st became a companion. If she had been an experienced teacher then, used to being a figure of authority in the classroom, the Doctor/Clara dynamic might have started off on a more interesting footing.

I guess what I'm complaining about is a lack of confident authority with all these very young aimless companions rescued from their crappy jobs by the Doctor, who then gives their lives direction and purpose. Martha, granted, had ambition and direction, but even Martha was only a med student and not yet a practicing doctor.

It would provide a richer dramatic variety in Doctor/companion relationships if, alongside the 21-year old store clerk, we could also occasionally get a 35-year old scientist, say, or journalist, or maybe even an MP, as companion.

[Mabinogia]

I would love to see a scientist companion. Maybe an astronomer who struggles with what she/he thought the universe was and what they see while travelling with the Doctor. Or a military person who's first thought is "kill the aliens" which the Doctor would have to temper. Just anything other than a pretty 20-something that doesn't have a purpose until the Doctor arrives and makes her the most special little snowflake in the universe.

 

Actually, I can accept 20-something female Bill if they finally fight the urge to make her the specialist special snowflake to ever flake. Please, let her just be a young woman who gets swept up into crazy time travels with a crazy man and trying to deal with it like a normal human being. Please, please, please, make Bill just an actual ordinary girl. No Bad Wolf, no Doctor Donna (though I LOVED Doctor Donna and wish we'd had her a little longer) no Girl Who Waited and please dear god no Impossible Girl. Just a person, a normal, everyday person. She can be 20-something, she can be cute, just make her an average person!!!!!

Edited April 24, 2016 by Mabinogia

[Llywela]

Question I'm wondering : will she make her debut in the Christmas Special or only in season 10 ?

 

I guess she'll have her first appearance in the special though : season 10 hasnt started filming and I doubt they'd have shot that small scene just for introducing the companion, so it's likely a extract from the Christmas Special and she's already in ! 

She makes her debut in season 10 - there's no companion in the Christmas special.

 

I think this will be the first time we've ever had back-to-back Christmas specials with no other episodes in between! Even 2009 had the other specials in between Christmas episodes.

[angora]

My biggest hope is that she's not a "mystery."  With both Amy and Clara (more overtly with Clara), the Doctor took them with him because he needed to figure out what the mystery behind the lost memories/"Impossible Girlness," and both spent most of their first season as cyphers, puzzles rather than people until the Doctor was able to "solve" them. 

 

I too would love a scientist, a military person, or someone else who's a change of pace.  Even someone with clear, concrete interests would be nice, music or a sport or something.  Anything distinguishing to make her a character and not a plot vessel to act however Moffat needs her to in order to facilitate the next twist or quip.

 

That's probably why I don't have a huge reaction to the casting yet, other than being happy about another companion of color.  I'm confident that whoever the show picks will have the chops to do a fine job, but the real question is whether the WRITING will give her that opportunity.

[AnnieBananie]

I am glad that they've chosen a relative unknown. Checking out her IMDB page, it seems as if she hasn't done much, which means I can come in to her companionship with a relatively clean slate.

[Kalliste]

My biggest hope is that she's not a "mystery."  With both Amy and Clara (more overtly with Clara), the Doctor took them with him because he needed to figure out what the mystery behind the lost memories/"Impossible Girlness," and both spent most of their first season as cyphers, puzzles rather than people until the Doctor was able to "solve" them. 

 

Given both Amy and Clara were mysteries for 11 perhaps we can write it off as 11 wanting to solve the mystery where maybe none existed. 

[Kromm]

I am glad that they've chosen a relative unknown. Checking out her IMDB page, it seems as if she hasn't done much, which means I can come in to her companionship with a relatively clean slate.

That's been their pattern. It may be hard to remember after so much was made of the last two companions, but both were relatives nobodies before being cast.

[alias1]

I will continue to watch this show no matter what.  But I am disappointed the companion is another 20 something female.  I was hoping the doctor would travel a while by himself, taking on temporary companions maybe.  But that would require more interesting story lines with better writing.  Moffat seems trapped in a loop with the trendy young female companion.  I wish they would have let the new show runner pick the new companion.  I'm willing to give her a chance, but from what I've read so far, it sounds like exactly what I didn't want. I hope I'm wrong because I do love this show.

[Kromm]

I will continue to watch this show no matter what.  But I am disappointed the companion is another 20 something female.  I was hoping the doctor would travel a while by himself, taking on temporary companions maybe.  But that would require more interesting story lines with better writing.  Moffat seems trapped in a loop with the trendy young female companion.  I wish they would have let the new show runner pick the new companion.  I'm willing to give her a chance, but from what I've read so far, it sounds like exactly what I didn't want. I hope I'm wrong because I do love this show.

The way to easily fix this is for it to be a two companion approach.  There. Fixed!

[clack]

I'd like to see a three companion approach. Would give the show an ensemble feel, with the Doctor as team leader.

More 'Firefly' or 'Angel' than Sherlock and Holmes. I'm tired of the trope of the eccentric genius and the bumbling assistant. Give the eccentric genius several different character types to relate to in order to provide the writers and the viewers more dramatic variety.

[ganesh]

Quote

 I'm confident that whoever the show picks will have the chops to do a fine job, but the real question is whether the WRITING will give her that opportunity.

I've never had a problem with the actual actors, but I agree they haven't been given much to work with. 

A problem with the older man/younger woman dynamic is that if they push against the Doctor it comes off as more petulant, rather than a scene with Donna understanding taking on the responsibility of Pompeii and getting through to the Doctor to just save one family. It's supposed to be funny when Clara got cross with the Doctor, but it got to the point, like, "Clara, you're not obligated to travel with him, get on with your life if it's such a chore." Even Amy, who I liked, snapped at him sometimes. 

You get a companion that's lived a little and has developed convictions and a worldview, then they can have that challenged by the Doctor *and* they can challenge the Doctor in a more dramatic way. Not that I want constant conflict between them.

[eXiled]

I look forward to getting to know Bill, though I'd hoped for a male or someone a bit older. Or maybe even more than one companion this time to shake things up.

Is the choice to stick with very young women a demographic/ratings issue?

I grew to love Donna (though in fairness, I'm 40) but perhaps TPTB don't believe an older companion is relatable? I'm an American viewer who just found the show in August 2014 so my opinions are based Netflix marathons. I don't follow ratings and much press.

Anyone with any insight about this? Am I way off base?

[Llywela]

20 minutes ago, eXiled said:

I look forward to getting to know Bill, though I'd hoped for a male or someone a bit older. Or maybe even more than one companion this time to shake things up.

Is the choice to stick with very young women a demographic/ratings issue?

I grew to love Donna (though in fairness, I'm 40) but perhaps TPTB don't believe an older companion is relatable? I'm an American viewer who just found the show in August 2014 so my opinions are based Netflix marathons. I don't follow ratings and much press.

Anyone with any insight about this? Am I way off base?

Yes, demographics are definitely involved. It is also about providing a female lead, given that the Doctor himself is male - a solo male companion would leave the show without a female lead. The obvious solution to that, of course, is to have more than one companion, but New Who has always tended toward the solo female companion model, only rarely diverging from that pattern (with the female companion always remaining the primary - just look at how many lists of New Who companions completely ignore the existence of Jack, Mickey and Rory). New Who is also pretty stuck in a rut of requiring the companion to be someone from the present (or near present), both because they are felt to be more 'relatable' for the audience, and also because they are easier to write! Clara, for instance, was originally going to come from the Victorian era, but was changed to become yet another modern woman simply because the production team weren't prepared to commit to the kind of character writing essential for a historical person plunged into a high tech world. The Classic era tended to be a bit more diverse with regard to background and numbers of companions; although there were periods where the Doctor travelled with a solo female companion, over the 26 years of the old show he was far more likely to travel with 2-3 companions, who came from all across space and time: people from people from the 18th and 19th centuries, people from the distant future, people from future Earth colonies, aliens from other worlds, and even robots! It made for great variety of group dynamics aboard the TARDIS, some of which are just crying out for a more modern development, if only the show would go there.

Yeah, I would love to see multiple companions again, preferably sooner rather than later. Overlapping companions - not a female companion and a guy she already knows, but individuals picked up at different times, from different places, who come from different eras, different cultures - maybe even different planets. Multiple companions who come aboard on an equal footing, who must get to know one another at the same time as getting to know the Doctor, who each have something to teach the other based on their different backgrounds and ideology so that they are learning and growing at the same time as forming a friendship. Plus, I always love it when companions overlap, so that someone we saw come aboard as a newbie is suddenly the old hand teaching the new newbie the ropes. They wouldn’t even need to be a girl and a guy - heck, have two girls with wildly different personalities and give us some awesome girl power female bonding adventures!

Yeah, multiple companions would be great to see again sometime soon.

Edited April 29, 2016 by Llywela

[benteen]

Having watched some classic Who, I've really gotten to like the idea of multiple companions and all the dynamics that it leads to.  I think that the Second Doctor, Jaime and Zoe was one of the very best TARDIS teams.  The Eleventh Doctor had two companions (who were a couple) for most of his run but I've really  been enjoying the recent 11th Doctor comic which has had him have as many as 3-4 companions in the TARDIS at the same time.  A lot of different personalities in place there.

I wish the show would get out of the one companion model and at least pick up one more.  Perhaps a really alien alien.

Going back to the Second Doctor, Jaime and Zoe for a moment...look at all the factors at work there.  You didn't have a character from modern Earth (aka the 60s) during the season they were in the TARDIS.  The Doctor of course is an alien from another world.  Jaime was a Highlander from the mid-18th century with little knowledge of technology.  Zoe was a genius from the future who was more head than heart.  But putting them together worked.  Jaime was the Doctor's first real buddy out of the companions and provided the muscle for the team.  While never a genius, he learned how to function and live in the future.  Zoe had a fun intellectual rivalry with the Doctor and was one of the few companions who could match him on this level.  She learned how to care about and interact with people.  THAT was a great TARDIS group and a clear example of how multiple companions could benefit the show.

One more...The Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane and Harry all worked really well off of each other.

Edited April 29, 2016 by benteen

[darkestboy]

In terms of knowns/unknowns, it's been an even keel so far.

Billie Piper, Catherine Tate and Jenna Coleman were all known fairly known whereas Freema Agyeman, Karen Gillan and now Pearl Mackie are/were unknowns as such.

I think Bill is going to be short of Billie/Sybil/Wilhelmina etc. I like the vibe with Twelve and Bill. It definitely feels like a contrast to the Twelve/Clara rapport we had in the previous two series.

[ganesh]

Oh, I have no doubt the choice of companion might not be lazy on TPTBs part, but I think they are hesitant to challenge themselves, and I just don't know why. Victorian Clara would have been fantastic. I still don't think that by the 10th season of this show in the new era that a regular companion is absolutely necessary. 

[eXiled]

I agree that this incarnation of Doctor Who has been hesitant to use a companion from another time period because it would require ACTUAL writing, research, and some historical components. One of the reasons I pretty much gave up on Moffat's Who is because of its laziness. The show is big on plot and effects, not so much on characterization.

[benteen]

Yes, I do think this current regime (aka Moffat) is unwilling to take a real chance and try something different.

Not attempting to use historical companions I do consider to be lazy.  I used to be a fan of Sleepy Hollow before it became a complete train wreck and I can tell you that one of the best parts of the show focused on the main character who came from the American Revolution in 1781 adjust to present day society.  They mined a lot of goodness out of it and it wasn't the only thing that defined the character.

[ganesh]

"Slide to unlock". Best sight gag in the history of television.

In terms of "historical" earth companions, how does the Doctor know what year "the present is?"

[catrox14]

59 minutes ago, ganesh said:

"Slide to unlock". Best sight gag in the history of television.

In terms of "historical" earth companions, how does the Doctor know what year "the present is?"

YES to the Slide to Unlock. It was perfect. Ichabod didn't quite...have a handle on the phones that he was trying and just got it wrong. Freaking hilarious.  Gods I miss THAT Sleepy Hollow. I'm a bitter bitter ex-SleepyHead

[Kalliste]

If we're just going to assume Moffat's team won't do a historic companion because "history is hard" wouldn't a companion of the future (or alien species) be something right up their alley? They can just make everything up to suit them! They already do that so it would be super easy. 

[clack]

A good thing about multiple unrelated companions -- having 2 or 3 at a time-- is that one of them can rotate off the cast  without it becoming a huge over-emotional multi-part epic.

I remember with Classic Who, even when there was just the one companion, that companion's leave-taking would be restrained and confined to the last, brief scene. With Sarah Jane, she and the Doctor had their adventure, and only when it was over did she say that's it for me, drop me off at home. (K9 also deciding to remain behind). The Doctor grinned, said ok, and off the Tardis went, leaving Sarah Jane on the side of the road as the final shot.

2 minutes screen time for the grand farewell, with all the necessary emotion provided by the viewer and not, as is the case with NuWho, by the characters, dialogue, and plot. Let we viewers do the mourning.

Edited April 30, 2016 by clack

[Kromm]

On 4/29/2016 at 9:58 AM, darkestboy said:

In terms of knowns/unknowns, it's been an even keel so far.

Billie Piper, Catherine Tate and Jenna Coleman were all known fairly known whereas Freema Agyeman, Karen Gillan and now Pearl Mackie are/were unknowns as such.

Overall a good observation, but I'd give Billie Piper her own category. You've got one group of novices, as you say, and another who were experienced and well known, and then you had Piper, was was "known" but I believe was thought of as washed up (and not particularly talented) before she joined Who. 

[ganesh]

I thought Martha's exit was fairly restrained. It's really the only one I liked because she spent time with the Doctor, left of her own choice, and went on to have a good career. 

[benteen]

Martha definitely had the most low-key of all companion exits.

Lis Sladen's low-key exit was actually by her own request.  The writers asked her what she wanted to do and she said the show was about Doctor Who, not the companion.  She only requested  that Sarah Jane wasn't married off or killed.  They pretty much let her and Tom Baker write their last scene together, which was quite nice. 

Edited May 1, 2016 by benteen

[darkestboy]

I really liked Martha's exit. When Bill leaves, I hope it's something similar in that respect.

Right now though, I can't wait to see the character in Series 10.

[eXiled]

Martha's exit is the only one of the first four seasons that didn't make me cry my eyes out. Yet strangely, that's why I like it so much. It was true to life. There was no Special Magical Fated Tragic Moment that would haunt The Doctor for the rest of his days. Nope. Martha was just ready to return to her life.

Her exit, much like the bulk of her travels with Ten, is considered by many fans to be indicative of her "place" among the companions. I've seen many downgrade her because her decision to leave was her own and not because of some epic storyline. Yet Martha remains my favorite til this day because she enjoyed her time with The Doctor and got out, still safe and sound.

In my fantasies, there's a BBC underground show called Doctor Jones where Freema has adventures with guest stars like John Barrowman and Catherine Tate. Doctor Jones saves the world every week, while wearing super sexy leather jackets. It's sooo cool.