34.06: The Caretaker

[Lenny]

Trailer:

Synopsis:

The terrifying Skovox Blitzer is ready to destroy all humanity -- but worse, and any second now, Danny Pink and the Doctor are going to meet.

When terrifying events threaten Coal Hill school, the Doctor decides to go undercover.

---

Due to the event that is celebs dressing up in sequins and wobbling around a dance floor, the Doctor has been bumped back an entire hour! So for those of you tuning in on BBC1, I'm afraid you'll have to find something to amuse yourself with until 20:30.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Really enjoyed this.

From the trailer, thought it would be something of a duff episode.

However, I'm loving the sharp humour from Capaldi and the character interplay with Clara. And then, tonight, with Danny Pink. Great character tension and conflict. Loved it.

 

[Dave]

I also thought it was the best episode with PC. He seems to have developed as a character now, and while it may not be one everyone likes, it is actually closer to the first Doctor than the others, with a bit of the second Doctor thrown in.

The alien was rather unimaginative though.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

"Why have you got two jackets? Is one of them faulty?"

"So, you recognized me, then." "You're wearing a different coat!" "You saw straight through that."

Otters. And a fight with River, who apparently made him live with otters. I do wish we could see this Doctor with River.

"The door. It says 'keep out.'" "No, it says 'go away, humans.'"

"I did notice a resemblance to a certain dashing, young time-traveller."

"How can you think I'm her dad when we both look the same age?" "We do not look the same age." "I was being nice."

"It's a mistake. You've made a boyfriend error."

"Why go out with a soldier? Why not get a dog or a big plant?"

"What about the handsome one, the one with the bow tie?"

Just weird with the "promised land" thing again. I still don't get it. It's taking a really long time to get any obvious connections started in this arc.

And while I like the new Doctor, it's just a bit strange how much he's changed. The others (that I've seen, the modern ones) seemed a more normal progression from one to the other.

 

[markpud]

Enjoyed this one too, Capaldi is getting settled into the role very well now and had some great moments, Zebra's highlighted some good moments as always!

He does have a strange mix of highly acerbic and yet increasingly paternal I thought this week. His expression when he thought Clara was dating the Matt Smith-a-like was lovely. Under it all he really cares for her - we knew that I think, but it's good to see it!

Nice to see Danny getting to see the TARDIS at last, and the traditional "bigger on the inside" moment which has been subverted so many times recently (thinking of the space pilot the other week and "smaller on the outside). Are we to assume he becomes part of the adventure crew now?

Taking the school girl into space, and her getting space-sick was fun, more so the earlier scene she has before she gets to go in the TARDIS.

Spoiler: minor spoiler for next week's episode

the same girl featured in the "next week" trailer, but looking more grown up

And before TEIN gets here, lets get it out there.... That there was some clear potential for the Doctor to use the TARDIS when he was tight on time to build his device for the final act - "I need 2 days but I revised it down to 2 minutes". Maybe he was just confident it'd work before Clara / Danny got blasted. Maybe he didn't care if Danny got blasted after he interfered in the Doctor's first plan? Fortunately they teach gymnastics in the army (or perhaps in P.E. teacher training?) Anyway he could have gone elsewhere, fixed up a super-polished device then landed back in the same moment at the school. He even said as much earlier on when he wanted to take Clara off somewhere in the middle of the crisis "we'll land back at the same time we left, like we always do". Guess they've not hired that space-time-logic script supervisor yet?!

 

[JunkMonkey]

I don't know about the adult part of the audience out there but all three of my kids were bored by this episode. Doctor Who is one of the few things on TV we watch and we have it projected up on the big screen (usually reserved for the weekly movie night and the Eurovision Song Contest - I know). This week Number One Daughter (aged 12) actually turned to me about halfway through the show and said "Do I have to stay and watch this. I'm bored." and she's the biggest Who fan in the house. Number Two Daughter (10) stuck with it and declared afterwards that it was "boring, just talking" and Number One Son (Odd obsessed 5 year old) went and played with his Lego.

I thought it was pants. As comedy it was limp, as adventure it was dull, as soap opera it was, I suppose, mildly successful.

A soap opera with a time traveller... Doctor Who is turning into Goodnight Sweetheart and I am going to be turning off.

 

[Kylara]

To this I say bleh.

I paused half way through the iplayer to watch the classic car rally drive past the house (slightly annoyed as not enough space in the jowett for me so had to settle for watching) and I wasn't even too fussed about the pause, in fact I didn't really fancy clicking resume either :/

 

[RightersBlock]

Are the companions black boyfriends always going to be insulted and talked down to? First Mickey and now Pink. I haven't been watching Who long so I don't know if he talks to his companions boyfriends like this in general.

 

[alchemist]

There's a point in every series where I realise I'm not really a Dr Who fan, but rather I got caught up in the hype and gave it a go for me and family. This episode was that point, and a large part of it was the woeful killer robot; some sort of kitten-dalek.

 

[Idoru]

Awful. Another episode devoted to Clara's boyfriend issues. The comparison to Goodnight Sweetheart is entirely too apt.

 

[markpud]

Are the companions black boyfriends always going to be insulted and talked down to? First Mickey and now Pink. I haven't been watching Who long so I don't know if he talks to his companions boyfriends like this in general.

Rory got the same treatment although he did earn the Doctor's respect later on. I'm guessing Pink will too. I don't see the Doctor as being in any way racist (easy opinion for one white man to have about another, I guess) but he - in this incarnation particularly - looks down on most humans, especially those he considers to be soldiers, mindlessly following orders.

I think it was spelled out quite well by the end of this episode - the Doctor's angry because he doesn't think Danny is good enough for Clara. If he proves to be, then the Doctor will cease hostilities..

the woeful killer robot; some sort of kitten-dalek.

This was pretty much Dalek-lite, or Cyberman-lite. They wanted a robotic killing machine that followed orders but didn't have the baggage of a Dalek.. I guess!

 

[RightersBlock]

Rory got the same treatment although he did earn the Doctor's respect later on. I'm guessing Pink will too. I don't see the Doctor as being in any way racist (easy opinion for one white man to have about another, I guess) but he - in this incarnation particularly - looks down on most humans, especially those he considers to be soldiers, mindlessly following orders.

I think it was spelled out quite well by the end of this episode - the Doctor's angry because he doesn't think Danny is good enough for Clara. If he proves to be, then the Doctor will cease hostilities..


This was pretty much Dalek-lite, or Cyberman-lite. They wanted a robotic killing machine that followed orders but didn't have the baggage of a Dalek.. I guess!

I don't see the Doctor character as racist, but the writing is troublesome to me. He is rude to everyone so it's no surprise. However, his treatment of the Pink character is strangely similar to Nines treatment of Mickey. Such as insulting his intelligence and telling him that he is a P.E teacher when he is a Math teacher in actuality, which reminded me of when Nine told Mickey his name was Ricky. I feel Pink was written as a soldier just so this kind of situation ("I don't approve!") could unfold. I didn't finish the episode because of my frustration, plus it just wasn't engaging from the get-go. I have only seen 2 or 3 episodes with Rory, but he was treated respectfully, but it's because I watched the episodes out of order so he might have won the Doctors respect already. Also to be clear, I didn't feel that the treatment of Mickeys character was racist, it's just that when a second black boyfriend character gets the same treatment it looks odd in retrospect.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

The Doctor's only racist streak takes the form of "Humans!" -- I think the particular issue at hand is "companions' boyfriends".

And there is always that point in every episode where the Doctor could just pop into the TARDIS and go off somewhere to prepare, or go around the trouble somehow. You pretty much have to ignore those in the interest of having a show.

 

[Ursa major]

I didn't finish the episode because of my frustration, plus it just wasn't engaging from the get-go.

The end of the programme (well, not the very end, where we visited "heaven" again) was quite interesting.

The idea arose** that Danny Pink has to show (to the Doctor's satisfaction) that he's good enough for Clara. But when Clara and Danny were alone, he made Clara promise that if she thinks the Doctor is pushing her too far -- and he'd just used her as decoy, so how much further she can be pushed is debatable -- she must tell Danny. What I took from this is that it's the Doctor who needs to show that he's good enough for her (albeit in a very different context). He's obviously not showing her that -- saving the world twice a week with her help is not the same thing at all -- and perhaps he knows this (which might go part way to explain his odd behaviour). This hypothesis does require believing that just when the Doctor appears to be at his least pleasant, he's actually coming to terms with the kind of person he's always been and so, inwardly, may be improving***.

As for the episode overall: a bit meh, really, but the banter was amusing.


** - I can't recall the scene in any detail, but my impression (and I may very well be wrong) is that the Doctor only latched onto this as a plausible excuse for his behaviour, and was not the real reason.

*** - If it's easier, think of it as analogous to the four stages of competence. He's moving from being unconsciously needy and demanding to being consciously needy and demanding. He doesn't like what he's beginning to notice about himself, but not yet enough to change his behaviour; this internal conflict reveals itself in the ways we've seen in this series: anger, underhandedness, possessiveness, confusion....

 

[Jo Zebedee]

There's a point in every series where I realise I'm not really a Dr Who fan, but rather I got caught up in the hype and gave it a go for me and family. This episode was that point, and a large part of it was the woeful killer robot; some sort of kitten-dalek.

This. Exactly this. I got about five episodes in with Matt Smith and the same thing happened. I quite liked Ecclestone and watched a lot of Tennant but even then the concept didn't grab me.

My kids love it but the sofa nights are probably history - the adults emptied the living room last night (I was having a party, they all loved Strictly, but Dr Who bored them. Maybe he needs some spangles. )

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

RightersBlock: Are the companions black boyfriends always going to be insulted and talked down to? First Mickey and now Pink. I haven't been watching Who long so I don't know if he talks to his companions boyfriends like this in general

Oddly from what I can remember (Alzheimer's etc.) It also seems that only the female companions get to have a - well companion.

I definitely saw the episode as racist as highlighted by the attitude to Danny, but more so with the "haven't you got shoplifting to go to" comment.​

Idoru: Awful. Another episode devoted to Clara's boyfriend issues. The comparison to Goodnight Sweetheart is entirely too apt.

Something that had passed me by. Thanks. I don't get why this aspect of Clara's life is required. It does c=give ten minutes of dross where the sets and story can be mundane 2014 which must make a big difference with the budgets, but it's getting tired now. Pretty soon Who will be 'Earth bound' driving round in his 'Who 1' car and everything will be recorded in a quarry.​

TheDustyZebra: The Doctor's only racist streak takes the form of "Humans!" -- I think the particular issue at hand is "companions' boyfriends".

And there is always that point in every episode where the Doctor could just pop into the TARDIS and go off somewhere to prepare, or go around the trouble somehow. You pretty much have to ignore those in the interest of having a show.

See above with regards to the racism.

In the past when the plot could be torn to shreds with that idea the script carefully arranged for the TARDIS to be unavailable - the other side of a door or in hell, or in the radioactive cargo hold. The idiots wrinint the script nowadays have forgotten even the most basic rules of TARDIS life - Never leave the doors open - you can only get in with a key etc. I mean even here on Earth in normal life we lock our doors and only allow invited guests.

OK. Missed it Saturday - just watched it.​

What a feature packed edge of the seat white knuckle ride that wasn't.

First off, as mentioned before we waste valuable story time by having some mundane flashbacks of Clara's love life attempts. Pathetic.

Oh and what's with the first sequence that had no possible connection to anything other than again to waste time and show pretty backdrops.

Then we get to the meat of the instalment. there's a nasty killing machine that could destroy the Earth and Who has to fix it again. No mention of how why or who put it there: nor why we've never seen them before. We'll let that pass shall we.

Who's answer to the problem is simple. lure the thing into a trap which will dump it in the future. Fantastic stuff - Time mines that's what we need in this situation - Brilliant - pity he'd never thought of those before - Just think of all the episodes we could have been spared if he had. The new doctor is obviously smarter than the average bear eh boo boo.​

Oh and wait there's more. He's going to use the magical elven made Sauron's watch to complete his plan. And you know, that alien wont stand a chance because although it can detect the heat signature of someone's footprint almost to the millimetre, when it comes to seeing the thing that made it - Nothing.

One watch to rule them all
and in the darkness time them.

Come on please. Do these script writers ever put two thoughts together and realise what absolute twaddle it makes of the plots that have gone before. The one the week before even. Give me strength and they actually pay them cash money for this - I hope not.

As for the 'I love him' shocker. When has she had time to work that out? I thought the Matt Smith-a-like was facile and if he's supposed to be a PE teacher it explains a lot about our sporting achievements if that's the kind of teachers of the subject we have.

Then we have the Keystone Cops malarkey at the end: Wonderful to see Clara can run - I think they should get Bonnie Langford in to give her some screaming lessons though because that's all the show is missing.

As for abducting the 'schoolgirl' to take her to kick the robot thing into space and throw up - Patronising bunkum. Although it may be we see more of her in the future from the trailer treat we had at the end.

But lets not skip over the crowning glory of the episode. The Heaven Can Wait Scene.
Oh look and there's God and she's an amophrodite businesswoman. Well it could be true by accounts.

OVERALL. unimaginative.



​

 

[Idoru]

I am somewhat troubled by the idea of racism too. When the Doctor thought Clara's boyfriend was the white Matt Smith lookalike he was perfectly happy, despite knowing nothing about him. But Danny has to prove himself. Refusing to even use his name, denying he could even be a maths teacher. I don't recall that happening to Rory ever. Rory was quite often the comic relief, but that was part of the story rather than the Dr being patronising and dismissive. Plus it was the Dr's idea that Rory become part of the gang. I know it can be explained as the Dr not liking soldiers (which Danny no longer is), and I'm probably being oversensitive, but I find it very uncomfortable to watch.

 

[Dave]

I'd reserve judgement until it could be established whether the script was written before the actor was cast (which would be more likely) or if it was written after the actor was cast. If it was the latter, then given what has already been pointed out regarding Micky and Rory there is certainly a strong case to answer.

 

[JunkMonkey]

Another thought: These days, with everything contracted out and services brought in as and when they are needed, I wonder just how many schools have permanent caretakers. None of my kids knew what one was. As far as I can work out, talking to my eldest, there is no one person at her high school, who fits the role.

And can I just say I hadn't noticed that the actor playing Danny Pink was 'black' until this thread bought it up.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

I am somewhat troubled by the idea of racism too. When the Doctor thought Clara's boyfriend was the white Matt Smith lookalike he was perfectly happy, despite knowing nothing about him. But Danny has to prove himself.

I saw that more as "aww, he looks like me", rather than "aww, he's white and looks like me". Admittedly, my "companion's boyfriend" argument doesn't wash, I realize, because he had already taken a dislike to Danny before he knew he was the boyfriend -- but it was on the "soldier" basis, and not, I perceive, anything to do with his being black. And then when he finds out the soldier is the boyfriend, and not the "looks like me" guy, he's angry and confused.

I assumed a "caretaker" was what we call a "janitor" here -- our schools have them, though not generally just one.