Though we’re only a couple months in, 2017 has already brought a great deal of uncertainty to daily life and nowhere is this more true than in our own fandom. The departure of Peter Capaldi during the next Christmas episode along with the approaching showrunner transition means that the show and its fans are in a state of flux. When Chris Chibnall was announced as the new showrunmer, there was much discussion about the direction that the show would take during his tenure. Would Peter Capaldi stay on as the Doctor and would the new companion also remain? Or would both leave a clean slate as was done when the transition between Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat took place?
Well, we have the answer from Peter, but what about from the newest addition to the TARDIS team who hasn’t yet had a proper outing? When asked in a recent interview about Peter’s departure, Pearl Mackie revealed that:

“I’m so sad but I’m just happy I got to work with him. He’s such a generous actor. I’m very new to camera acting and all the technical stuff and he will always check if I’m okay. We really get  into the scenes and he’s very open to my opinions.”

Now this is all very diplomatic and doesn’t tell us anything we don’t already know. The real question for me, and for the continuation of Doctor Who, revolves around new companion Bill Potts and how her time in the TARDIS will pan out. Without knowing a great deal about her character and her relationship with the Twelfth Doctor beyond what we have seen in the new trailer, there is bound to be a great deal of speculation.
Since 2005, showrunners have seemed to favour a clean slate with neither Davies or Moffat taking charge of major characters from their predecessor. But I would certainly be interested in seeing that happen so long as the situations works for Bill and the new Doctor.
However, in my old age, I do think that it will be more likely for Pearl Mackie to do this season and bow out with or even before Peter. If this is the case, I hope that we can get back to filling out the companion character and focus on her series rather than finishing her arch in one season only to find out she plans on staying, which I think was a major problem that they had with Clara. All in all, I just hope that this final season for the Twelfth Doctor, that I am still in denial about, gives Peter the send off he deserves. In my opinion, his run has been brought down by lacklustre episodes or distracted by trying to complete unfulfilling storylines for certain characters before sweeping them away and getting on with something more interesting. I could go on about this for some time, but I will leave my garblings for another time.
All I can say, is that I am both nervous but extremely excited for the new season to start and I still can’t believe we’re moving towards a brand new era once again. It only seems like five minutes since the last time.
Doctor Who Series 10 starts on 15th April 2017.