Doctor Who: Pearl Mackie Isn’t Ruling Out a Return as Bill Potts

Pearl Mackie, who played Doctor Who companion Bill Potts in the show’s 10th season, isn’t ruling out a return to the series. Mackie made Doctor Who history by playing the franchise’s first openly gay companion when she joined Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor in the TARDIS. That legacy remains meaningful to her years later. While Doctor Who is in the process of saying goodbye to two companions and welcoming a new one, and rumors swirl about Jodie Whittaker’s departure from playing the Thirteenth Doctor, Mackie talked about possibly returning as Bill. While one of her predecessors seemed against the idea of her own comeback, Mackie’s not ruling the idea out.

“Yeah it’s definitely not something I’ve ruled out,” Mackie told Radio Times. “It was a couple of years ago I was on Doctor Who but I do still feel really close to Bill and I do feel like she’s still very much part of me. And I feel like I’d sort of have to miss her before going back to her again, or if there was an amazing story that was written about her and her experiences and meeting another Doctor. But it’s such a great show and I would be crazy to say no.

“It is like a huge family that keeps growing, it keeps getting passed down,” she continued. “I had loads of tweets and Instagram messages following those watchalongs of people saying like, ‘Yeah I’m watching the whole thing again and I’m just remembering how much I love it.’ And I think it’s so nice that people can do that!”

Bill only appeared in one season of Doctor Who and went through two transformations. During the season’s final arc, Bill became an old-school Cyberman. She would have died during the Doctor’s final battle against the Cybermen if not for Heather’s intervention, the sentient oil alien from earlier in the series. Heather transformed Bill into the same kind of being. Together, Heather and Bill now travel the universe.

Will Bill make a comeback? It’s hard to say, but another former companion, John Barrowman’s Captain Jack Harkness, did return to the show for the most recent holiday special. Barrowman had worked with showrunner Chris Chibnall in the Doctor Who universe before, but that doesn’t mean the door isn’t open for Mackie as well.

Would you like to see Pearl Mackie to Doctor Who as Bill Potts? Let us know in the comments.

Doctor Who is currently filming its 13th season.