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Why Pearl Mackie's 'Doctor Who' Scene Is Not Canon 

Though Doctor Who fans can’t wait to see the show’s latest companion — Pearl Mackie’s character Bill — in action, there’s now word that her charming debut scene won’t actually be part of Season 10 proper.

Back in the spring of this year, the BBC aired this Doctor Who Bill teaser. In it, Bill (Mackie) and the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) are running from the infamous cyborg mutant villains — the Daleks. Complete with charming cracks from Bill and knowing looks from the Doctor, fans were instantly hooked. It now seems probable that the scene in question won’t actually make it into a real episode.

“Knowing how pedantic I am, I’ll probably work [the intro scene] in somewhere,” current showrunner told Doctor Who Magazine, “But there is also an absolute possibility that I just won’t bother.”

In the scene, Bill is depicted as never having actually seen a Dalek before, which means if there were a Dalek episode in the next season, continuity might suffer. But in his characteristically whimsical approach, Steven Moffat added “ I mean, so what? In a show that embraces alternate universes and changed timelines, how can you go wrong? I don’t know we might do it.”

Infamously, Steven Moffat has occasionally leaked misinformation about Doctor Who plots to throw off fans in the past. Is this the same tactic? Or is that intro scene with Bill really just a rough draft?

Season 10 of Doctor Who starts in 2017, but Bill is set to make her first appearance during this year’s annual Doctor Who Christmas episode.

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