21st Century Doctor Who doesn’t have the greatest reputation when it comes to season openers. The better than average ones are rare. And for me, the last great series opener is The Pilot, the first episode of Series 10 and the last to feature Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor. Depressingly, that was 2017. In fact, I’d say the last excellent series opener was all the way back in 2013, i.e. The Bells of St. John, but that’s ages ago, so far too depressing to mull over right now. An argument for another day perhaps. Nonetheless, The Pilot remains a very strong season opener, one which drew me back in after some time away from rewatching Doctor Who.

Of course, this all depends on what you see as a great season opener. It needs to be enticing. It needs to tempt you into watching the rest of the series. It needs to set some semblance of tone or at least narrative thrust to carry you through the following episodes. In many cases, it needs to establish a new dynamic. The promo for Series 19 was criticised for including the Doctor’s dialogue from The Witch’s Familiar in which he says, “Oh, same old, same old. Just the Doctor and Clara Oswald in the TARDIS.” Audiences, it was argued, don’t want “same old”; it’s a position I disagree with — audiences often like tuning in to something they can rely on, hence Doctor Who largely being a monster of the week series, but there are caveats to this — but I can still see where those notions come from. So yes, a series debut should give you something new as well as something “old” and reliable.

That’s what The Pilot does, in a way no other opening episode since has.

I know some people like The Woman Who Fell to Earth, but in truth, I’ve no idea why. Perhaps simply as it’s the introduction of the very first female Doctor? It has its moments, sure: I liked the twist that Ryan’s first scene, enthusing about the greatest woman he’s ever known, turns out to, in fact, be about his nan, Grace, not about the Doctor as we might imagine. I like Yaz in it. Graham’s okay too. But the writing is sloppy, the villain forgettable, and too many things go unexplained. The Doctor crashes through the roof of a train and is fine! She spends ages in the previous Doctor’s clothes as she goes to Grace’s memorial in them, which must’ve surely happened at least days, probably weeks, after her death, and yet doesn’t seem to get closer to her companions either! It’s all just nonsense!

Then there’s Spyfall. I admit that part of my feelings towards this two-parter come from the fact I can’t stand Stephen Fry and Lenny Henry, but aside from the pair, the story isn’t up to much either. It’s a mess, frankly. Sacha Dhawan’s superb at least. And Flux? Another ill-conceived notion with a laughable not-actually-the-villain villain in the Lupari.

Most recently, we’ve had Space Babies, which I liked slightly more than most people, although any initial enthusiasm I had for Series 14 was quashed by The Devil’s Chord, which I utterly despised (fortunately, Boom, 73 Yards, and Dot and Bubble came along shortly after and made Ncuti Gatwa’s first season much better than hoped). Nonetheless, Space Babies was about average. Frothy yet manic. Ruby made a good impression, but the Doctor ran away and wasn’t very Doctory.

So for a great season opener, we have to go back to The Pilot, which is charming, funny, smart, unusual, and magnetic. Yes, magnetic: it establishes so many cool things and beds in exactly who the Doctor is, and his chemistry with the wonderful Bill Potts. Gosh, I was excited after The Pilot aired. I loved Smile even more. There were a couple of dodgier episodes — Knock Knock had its moments, but that’s about it; I didn’t like Thin Ice half as much as others seemed to — but then there were cracking stories like Oxygen, Extremis, and World Enough and Time/ The Doctor Falls (I’d argue that the latter is the last excellent series finale too, but again, an argument for another day).

Part of The Pilot‘s brilliance comes from establishing the Doctor and Bill Potts, with a little added Nardole for good measure. Their relationship is fantastic. There’s some tension early on, and that settles into a mutual respect, appreciation, and love. The esteem they hold each other in is clear, the Doctor immediately recognising how clever and inquisitive Bill is; and Bill breaking the rules just so she can go to the Time Lord’s classes. That, too, is a genius set-up: even writer, Steven Moffat, says he regrets not making the Doctor a university professor before Series 10 as that, as a concept, could’ve run and run. Instead, he’s there to keep an eye on the mysterious vault… except he’s not really, is he? He’s there to instill a love and appreciation of the universe into his students.

That works, but his lessons are similarly aimed at the audience. One highlight is his lecture about time — “Imagine if time all happened at once. Every moment of your life laid out around you like a city. Streets full of buildings made of days: the day you were born, the day you die; the day you fall in love, the day that love ends. A whole city built from triumph and heartbreak and boredom and laughter and cutting your toenails. It’s the best place you will ever be!” — a speech which gives us a new understanding of the TARDIS and of why the Doctor travels.

The enthusiasm echoes throughout the episode, culminating in Bill first turning down Heather’s offer to travel with her, and then in Bill accepting the Doctor’s to journey throughout time and space with him. As she steps into the TARDIS, you can’t help but be excited for their future.

Another highlight, however, shows us why The Pilot works so well. It has heart. This is no better demonstrated than when Bill buys the Doctor a rug for Christmas and he, in return, gifts her photos of her deceased mother. The scene is exemplified by Murray Gold’s poignant yet vibrant soundtrack. It’s tender and touching. It’s simply beautiful.

Oh, and the episode has Daleks and Movellans too! What more could you wish for?

Okay, there’s something slightly uneven about it, but I think that’s what makes it great, not amazing. Still, it pains me to say that, as I do think it’s Doctor Who as it should be — it just doesn’t reach the same heights as, say, The Eleventh Hour.

So which season openers have been great or wonderful? There’s Rose, Smith and Jones (which I love, even though it’s often overlooked), The Eleventh Hour, The Impossible Astronaut, Asylum of the Daleks, and The Bells of St. John. To me, the rest are either just about average or decidedly less so. But I guess that’s alright: it means true gems like The Pilot can really shine and get me excited for Doctor Who again.