“Warriorship is a basic sense of unshakeability.
It’s a sense of immovability and self-existing dignity rather than that you are trying to fight with something else.”
What Doctor Who companion Bill Potts teaches viewers about foster care
The new character has the potential to shine a light on a group of children that people might not otherwise consider
Leanne Mattu
Wed 12 Jul 2017 10.12 BST
Last modified on Tue 17 Jul 2018 11.38 BST
Fans of Doctor Who started to learn about the Time Lord’s new companion a year before her first appearance. In that time, we learned quite a bit about Bill Potts, played by Pearl Mackie, and much of the media focus rested on the fact that she is the first openly gay companion.
What no one knew until the first episode was broadcast is something that resonates with me on a professional level. I work at Celcis – the Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland – an organisation that works to make positive and lasting improvements in the wellbeing of children and young people who, for a variety of reasons, are looked after by the state, for example in foster care – children like Bill Potts.
Viewers first find out about her circumstances in a low-key way in the first episode, when she tells her foster mother, Moira, about The Doctor: “You know you’re my foster mum? He’s like my foster tutor.”
Fostering a child with complex needs means being their advocate
I was keen to see how this aspect of Bill’s character would be received by viewers, given that media portrayals of foster families are sometimes problematic.
The first thing I noticed is that Bill is a working adult in her 20s, but still lives with her foster mother, Moira.
Young people in care are often expected to become self-sufficient more quickly than their peers, but Bill’s situation is a nice example of the recent shift in policy that recommends young people have more gradual transitions to adulthood.
Although we see Bill move out in episode four, this doesn’t work out, and by the sixth episode she is back living with Moira.
I wonder how many viewers are aware that Bill’s experience isn’t the norm? How many would question the apparent ease with which Bill returned to live with her foster mother?
In Scotland, less than 3% of young people eligible for support after leaving care remain with their former foster carers.
The media response to Bill’s family background was interesting. One review read:
Moffat’s decision to write Bill as someone who has failed to get into the university that The Doctor has been lecturing at is troubling. Why is such a bright young woman shovelling chips onto the plates of students, rather than learning alongside them?
Such a storyline feels somewhat quaint and patronising today … it’s a shame that Moffat reinforces the notion that a person from a tough background ... will have a hard time pursuing higher education.
I can understand why the reviewer feels this was the wrong approach. Being looked after should be no barrier to accessing university, college or any other opportunity.
It’s a sad reflection of reality, however, that the pursuit of higher education for young people who have been in care is still challenging. Bill herself tells us that she “never even applied”, although she’s “always wanted to come here”.
We never find out why she didn’t, but lack of support or encouragement could have played a part. By reinforcing the notion that someone with Bill’s background might struggle to access higher education, I hope Steven Moffat has encouraged some viewers to wonder why that might be.
There were also some interesting comments about the relationship between Moira and Bill. One suggested Moira was “neither warm nor nurturing”.
Another described her as “emotionally absent”, and a third as a “neglectful foster mother”.
At first this was quite a leap to judgment, but episode six confirmed something hinted at in the first episode: Moira is oblivious to Bill’s sexuality.
Their relationship isn’t as close as it perhaps first seemed.
Although we find out that her mum died when Bill was a baby, we don’t know how long she has lived with Moira; perhaps, like many young people in care, Bill has moved several times and hasn’t lived with Moira long enough to develop a truly maternal level of closeness.
Children in foster care aren't waiting for a loving home – they are already in one
Andy Elvin
Bill does have a sense of connection with her biological mother, though. The Doctor, who learns that Bill has no photos of her, puts his time-travelling capabilities to good use by going back to get some. As social care professionals know, having photos may contribute to Bill’s understanding of her history and identity, which can be important for her wellbeing.
Bill’s mum is only alluded to briefly a few times, but in episode eight Bill’s ability to focus her thoughts on her mother is vitally important.
In a speech at this year’s Scottish Institute of Residential Childcare conference, Lemn Sissay spoke about the long tradition of fictional characters from “substitute care” backgrounds, and suggested that “the kid in care is used in popular culture because they feel so much”. Bill has amazing potential to shine a (fictional, wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey) light on a group of children that people might not otherwise consider.
Leanne Mattu is a research associate at the Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland
[Bill's house, Bristol]
BILL:
You know you're my foster mum?
He's like my foster tutor.
MOIRA:
Am I going to have to break every bone in his body?
BILL:
It's not like that.
MOIRA:
You need to keep your eye on Men.
BILL: (sotto)
Men aren't where I keep my eye, actually....
I was a hidden treasure,
and I wished to be known,
so I created a creation (mankind),
then made Myself known to them,
and they recognised Me.
[Farm]
BILL:
They'll attack on both sides. I'll take the back, yeah?
ATTACK-EYEBROWS:
Yeah. This is it, I'm afraid.
So, if there's anything we ought to be saying?
BILL:
I can't think of anything.
Can you?
ATTACK-EYEBROWS:
(thinks) No.
BILL:
But, hey er, you know how I'm usually all about women and,
and kind of people my own age.
ATTACK-EYEBROWS:
Yeah?
BILL:
Glad you knew that.
(She leaves.)
DOCTOR:
Without Hope.
Without Witness.
Without Reward.
[Barn]
(Alit enters.)
BILL:
Is that it?
(Alit puts down something covered in a rough cloth.)
BILL:
I really wouldn't harm you, you know.
ALIT:
I know.
(But she still backs away as Bill steps forward and picks it up, then uncovers it and turns it over. It is a mirror, and her reflection reveals that she is really still Cyber-Bill.)
CYBER-BILL:
That is not me.
ALIT:
I'm sorry.
CYBER-BILL:
I am Bill Potts.
ALIT:
I'm sorry! I'm sorry!
(She runs away and into the Doctor.)
CYBER-BILL:
I am Bill Potts!
DOCTOR: Hey, hey, hey, hey!
(Cyber-Bill puts down the mirror.)
DOCTOR: Hello, Bill Potts.
CYBER-BILL:
Doc-tor.
ALIT:
I'm sorry. I gave her a mirror.
DOCTOR:
Oh no, don't be sorry.
You were being kind.
Nothing wrong with kind. Jelly baby?
ALIT: Thank you.
DOCTOR:
You're welcome.
ALIT: Bye.
DOCTOR:
Toodle-oo.
(Alit leaves and closes the barn door behind her. We see Bill as her human self again. The Doctor has a bit of a limp.)
BILL:
What was that, in the mirror?
DOCTOR:
Er, a Cyberman.
BILL:
What's a Cyberman?
DOCTOR:
A technologically augmented human being, designed to survive in a hostile environment.
Perfectly sound idea.
Unfortunately all they want to do is to turn everyone else into Cybermen too.
They go viral.
BILL:
Why?
DOCTOR:
They consider themselves to be an improvement, an upgrade.
BILL:
No. Why do I see a Cyberman in the mirror?
(Long pause.)
DOCTOR:
What do you remember?
BILL:
There's quite a lot, you know? I was down there for ten years.
DOCTOR:
And then one day, they took you to the Conversion Theatre.
Do you remember that?
BILL:
No. Bits of it.
You turned up.
DOCTOR:
Do you remember what they did to you?
BILL:
Nothing.
Look at me, I'm fine.
I'm fine!
(But as she touches her forehead, she sees a Cyber-hand.)
DOCTOR:
You are so strong. You're amazing.
Your mind has rebelled against the programming.
It's built a wall around itself.
A castle made of you, and you are standing on the battlements, saying no. “No, not me”.
BILL:
What are you talking about?
DOCTOR:
All that time, living under the Monks, you learned to hang on to yourself.
BILL:
But I'm, I'm fine. Look at me!
DOCTOR:
Bill, what you see is not you.
Your mind is acting like a perception filter.
You still see yourself as you used to be.
BILL:
Used to be?
DOCTOR:
It won't last forever.
BILL:
What do you mean, used to be?
(She advances, he retreats. Then she sees her shadow cast on the wall.)
DOCTOR:
Bill, I'm sorry, but you can't be angry any more.
A temper is a luxury you can no longer
BILL:
Why can't I?
Why can't I be angry?
DOCTOR:
Bill, please!
CYBER-BILL:
You left me alone for ten -
BILL:
Years! Don't tell me I can't be angry!
(Her helmet weapon blasts the barn door to firewood. The children scream.)
REXHILL [OC]: Get back! You all right?
DOCTOR: Because of that. That's why. Because you're a Cyberman.
[Farm]
NARDOLE:
Right. Everyone, back to work.
Nothing to see here.
Somebody broke the barn, no biggie.
Come on, defences don't build themselves
(Bill comes outside.)
DOCTOR:
It's okay. They're just frightened.
BILL:
People are always going to be afraid of me, aren't they?
Aren't they?
(He wipes a tear from her Cyber-face.)
BILL:
What is that, engine oil?
DOCTOR:
No. It's an actual tear.
But it shouldn't be.
MASTER:
Doctor. Right, while you've been here chatting up Robo-Mop, me and me have been busy.
We've found it. (Razor)
Oh, hello, my dear.
My God, you were so boring for all those years.
But it was worth every day of it, for this.
DOCTOR:
Bill, don't let him upset you.
MASTER:
Though, didn't you used to be a woman?
I'm going to be a woman, fairly soon.
Any tips? Or, maybe, I dunno, old bras?
CYBER-BILL:
I am not upset.
MASTER:
Oh. Well, doesn't that take all the fun out of cruelty. Might as well rile a fridge. Come on, this way.
(But inside, Bill is crying.)
[Countryside]
BILL: Why are there so many children in that house?
DOCTOR:
Small community, several hundred at most.
So they keep the children together for their protection.
(He indicates the Cyber-scarecrows.)
DOCTOR:
Those things, they make it up here sometimes.
They try to take the children.
(He gasps and leans against a tree. Regeneration energy glows briefly in one hand.)
BILL:
You all right?
DOCTOR:
Yes, fine.
(He breaks off a dead branch to use as a walking aid.)
BILL:
What was that?
DOCTOR:
They target the children because conversion is easier with a younger donor.
The brains are fresher, and because the bodies are smaller, there's less to er -
BILL:
Less to what?
MASTER:
Less to throw away.
BILL:
You said.
I remember, you said you could fix this.
That you could get me back.
Did you say that?
DOCTOR:
I did say that, yes.
BILL:
Were you lying?
DOCTOR:
No.
BILL:
Were you right?
DOCTOR:
No.
Bill....
BILL:
We're not going to get out of this one, are we.
DOCTOR:
Well, I don't know. There are always possibilities.
(Thank you, Mister Spock.)
BILL:
No. I can feel it. In my head, the programming.
The Cybermen are taking me over, piece by piece.
It's like I'm hanging on in a hurricane, and I can't hang on forever.
DOCTOR:
Bill, look, whatever it takes
BILL:
No, I want you to know, as my friend, I don't want to live if I can't be me anymore.
Do you understand?
DOCTOR:
Yeah.
BILL:
And that's not possible, is it?
DOCTOR:
Well, I'll tell you what else isn't possible. A Cyberman crying.
Where there's tears, there's hope.
Come on.
