Doctor Who: Steven Moffat Comments On Bill's Surprising Fate

07/02/2017 05:35 pm EDT

Last night's season finale of Doctor Who was titled "The Doctor Falls," but the Doctor wasn't the only one whose story reached a climax in the episode.

Bill Potts, the Doctor's companion through the tenth season of Doctor Who, was transformed into a Cyberman in last week's episode, "World Enough and Time." Some fans expected that to be Bill's final fate and a certain, particularly bloodthirsty segment of that group is a bit disappointed that Bill managed to cheat death in the finale.

Moffat seems keenly aware of that group of fans, and he seems to think they may be watching the wrong show if that's what they were expecting Bill to comet o a grisly end.

"I'll just say this and I'll get into terrible trouble with certain people," Moffat says in the video interview above. "I don't think Doctor Who is that kind of show. Doctor Who is a big-hearted, optimistic show that believes in kindness and love and that wisdom will triumph in the end. I don't believe it's the kind of show that says there are bitter, twisted, nasty endings because it's not. It's not gritty; it's aspirational. It says, 'It can work. And wisdom and kindness will triumph. And love will always come through in the end.' I think there aren't enough people or enough shows saying that and I'm damned if Doctor Who is going to join in with the general chorus of despair."

While Moffat was determined to make sure that Bill survived, he's left her exact fate ambiguous.

"So, she doesn't die. She nearly dies. She nearly dies and she becomes something else," Moffat explains. "And we leave it in such a way that — again, I don't know [about] future plans, I've kept away from them — I put it such that, because Heather does say look I can put you back on Earth if you want to go back and make chips, she could. So any of those are [a possibility]. I kinda think in my head she flies around the universe with Heather. That's what she does."

It certainly seems like the new Doctor will have a new companion when the series returns, but the door has been left open for Bill to return in some capacity in the future.

Peter Capaldi took over as The Doctor in Season 8, after Matt Smith's departure. After three seasons, he will depart the show alongside showrunner Steven Moffat, who has steered the series since Season 5. Moffat was a breakout writer during the Russell T. Davies seasons of Doctor Who.

Moffat will be handing the reins over to Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall for Doctor Who Season 11. Chibnall is a longtime Doctor Who fans who also wrote for the series during the Russell T. Davies era and was head writer on the Doctor Who spinoff series Torchwood.

Doctor Who Season 10 also introduces Pearl Mackie as the new companion, Bill Potts, replacing the previous companion, Jenna Coleman's Clara Oswald, who left after Season 9. Whether she will join the new Doctor in Doctor Who Season 11 is still unknown

The Doctor Who Season 10 finale airs tonight at 9 p.m. ET on BBC America.

More Doctor Who: The Internet Reacts To The Doctor Who Finale / Doctor Who Finale Synopsis Hints At A Major Character Death / Promo Offers First Glimpse At Peter Capaldi's Regeneration / Peter Capaldi Hints That His Will be A Unique Regeneration For The Doctor

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