Live from Master Closet Studios, you’re listening to the only podcast on the internet that got possessed by sentient oil. It’s the Noobs and the Whovian!
This is the podcast that introduces a whole new generation to Doctor Who by watching an episode each week and discussing it from the perspective of a dad who’s seen it before, and two sons who haven’t.
Welcome to Episode 145, covering the series 10 opener, The Pilot
Super-short Recap
This is the one where the Doctor meets Bill and gets attacked by mutated water. Again.
Production notes
- Story #264
- Originally aired April 15, 2017 to 6.68 million viewers
- Written by: Steven Mofatt
- Directed by: Lawrence Gough – this and the next episode, and he’s done!
Cast
- Bill Potts – Pearl Mackie
- This was Pearl’s breakout role.
- While she was auditioning, they used the code word “Meantown” instead of “Doctor Who.” Meantown is an anagram for Woman Ten.
Checklist
- Name of the episode spoken in dialogue?
- A couple times
- This was also a bit of an intentional pun by Mofatt. He says this episode was designed as a fresh start for the show, introducing new viewers to all the tropes.
- This is basically true of all regeneration episodes and new companion episodes
- Creature of the week
- Sentient oil
- Super intelligent space oil!
- Or part of a ship??
- Sentient oil
- Jiggery Pokery
- TARDIS
- Is it a knock-through? Sort of, yes…
- It’s like a kitchen!
- It’s not just a room, it’s a lift! It can go anywhere it likes, in the whole university?
- Is it me or is this taking a little longer than usual?
- First, imagine a big box fitting inside a little box. Then, make one. It’s the second one that people usually get stuck on.
- Why would you name the TARDIS in English? The letters wouldn’t work in any other language!
- Sonic
- He has a pen cup full of his old sonics!
- TARDIS
- The Question/Doctor Who?
- I can’t just call you “doctor.” Doctor what?
Other stuff we noticed
- He had a pic of River and a pic of Susan Foreman on his desk
- Time doesn’t pass. The passage of time is an illusion and life is a magician
- Time is the space made by our lives, where we stand together forever.
- Everything is dangerous. Nothing is evil, but most things are hungry. Hunger looks like evil on the other end of the cutlery. Or do you think your bacon sandwich loves you back?
Who’s Who?
- Who is Bill?
- Apparently she reminds him of Susan
- Most people frown when they don’t understand, she smiles
- How’d you set the security? Friends only.
- Awww, she’s a friend
- Her face is always doing things when she’s trying to be enigmatic
- Apparently she reminds him of Susan
- Who is Nardole?
- He’s a cyborg or something?
- Human alert, do you want me to repel her?
- He got to use a Classic sonic!
- Who is the Doctor?
- He’s been teaching for 50-70 years. And you think “well he doesn’t look old enough…” no!
- You were gonna teach about quantum physics, but you taught about poetry. Poetry, quantum physics, it’s all the same. How’s it the same? Because of the rhymes!
- He’s very particular about time
- That’s my face then? You seem a bit flexible on the subject. You have no idea!
- I know this is hard for you, I know you aren’t exactly a sci-fi person…
- Are you from space? No, nobody’s from space, I’m from a planet.
- I act like I know everything because I don’t
Classic Who Connections
- The Doctor hung an Out of Order sign on the outside of the TARDIS in The War Machines
- The first time we saw the bust of William Shakespeare in the Doctor’s office was in the serial The Chase. We also saw a picture of Susan Foreman on his desk.
- We saw a collections of classic sonic screwdrivers on his desk, and he gave one to Nardole.
- Bill wrote an essay about atomic clocks. The Eighth Doctor saw an atomic clock (one that uses atomic vibrations to measure time) in the TV movie Doctor Who
- The TARDIS went though the Dalek-Movellan war. This was a war between the Daleks and Movellans which you could call a war between cyborgs and androids. Both were fighting to control the galaxy. The Fourth Doctor encountered the time traveling Movellans in the serial Desteny of the Daleks. This is where they Daleks go back to Sarko to revive Davros in order to break the centuries long stalemate between the two.
- The Mary Celeste was an American merchant ship that was found abandoned in the Atlantic. She was found in adrift but in seaworthy shape, with ample supplies and the cargo intact. The last entry of the ship’s log was 10 days earlier and the lifeboat was missing. None of the crew were ever found. In The Chase, the TARDIS lands on the Mary Celeste. This freaks out the crew who thinks that there are stowaways on board. Then the TARDIS leaves and the Daleks materialize on the ship. Seeing the Daleks, the crew jumps overboard abandoning ship. In this episode, we see a sign from the Mary Celeste near the vault
- In Remembrance of the Daleks, the Dalek ships left scorch marks on the ground of a different school campus.
Overall impressions
- Overall rating out of 10
- Jared – 8.5 sentient oil stains
- Austin – 8 fat chips
- Corbin – 6 central heterochromia
- Tripp – 8 good floods
- Creep Level – out of 500
- Jared – 75
- Austin – 225
- Corbin – 100
- Tripp – 100
The Game Plan
- Next week, we’re doing episode 2, Smile
- Also, we need some suggestions for upcoming timey wimeys. We only have a few ideas left, like possibly one.
- So, here’s the requirements:
- Family-friendly – that’s why we’re not covering the Terminator franchise… yet.
- If written, it need to be short – no novels, only short stories
- Accessible – we don’t want to have to buy a $50 Collector’s Edition Blu-ray or subscribe to some random service we’ve never heard of
- So, here’s the requirements:
Closing
Noobs and the Whovian is a production of Master Closet Studios, where it’s always smaller on the inside. Your Senior Producer is Austin Reason. Our Audio Engineer is Tripp Reason. Corbin Reason is our Production Editor. Special thanks to tardis.wikia.com for the trivia, and to Jared for the Classic Who Connections. Shout outs to Victor, Jared, and James for their Patreon support.
You can find us at facebook.com/noobsandthewhovian or twitter.com/noobswhovian and email us at [email protected]. Consider supporting us at https://www.patreon.com/noobsandthewhovian. Please subscribe and leave a rating wherever you found us, and share us with a friend not because we’re a great show but because we watch one.
Until next time, be safe if you can. But always. Be. Amazing.
