Writers: Gareth Roberts and Steven Moffat.
Director: Paul Murphy.
Starring: Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Samuel Anderson.
It’s always an amusing thing, watching the Doctor attempt to blend in with our normal, everyday society. Different incarnations are better at it than others, of course, but seeing how each Doctor stacks up in this situation is generally a fun time. The most recent and amusing examples of this style of episode are probably Series 5 episode ‘The Lodger’ and Series 6 episode ‘Closing Time’, both featuring Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor and, coincidentally enough, both written by Gareth Roberts, co-writer of the story we’ll be discussing today!
So, how does the Twelfth Doctor fare in his undercover role? Read on to find out in ‘The Caretaker’.
WARNING: AS EVER, POSSIBILITY OF MILD SPOILERS AHEAD!
If there’s one thing I’ve noticed this series, it’s that the pre-credit cold openings have generally been stunning, and ‘The Caretaker’ is no exception to this. The episode begins with a rather amusing montage depicting Clara’s increasingly-frantic attempts to balance her two lives; one travelling about with the Doctor, one living a normal life as a teacher alongside new-ish boyfriend Danny Pink. We see Danny growing increasingly suspicious of the rapidly-changing circumstances with Clara day-to-day, whether it’s her suddenly turning up with a new tan (acquired on a desert planet whilst dealing with sand piranhas) or bizarrely wet on a dry night (due to an unspecified incident with fish people). Deciding that she needs some time to get things under control, Clara elects to spend a few days not adventuring with the Doctor, just getting on with her everyday life at her school. Unfortunately for Clara, there’s an alien threat brimming in the shadows, and perhaps even more unfortunately, Coal Hill School’s just got a new caretaker…
It’s a fun, lighthearted opening to an episode, and that’s a good way to sum the whole thing up, I think. Much like last week’s ‘Time Heist’, ‘The Caretaker‘ is something of a pleasant interlude to Series 8’s otherwise quite dark-themed and impactful episodes. It’s a funny episode, very much so, although there are some surprisingly poignant and emotional moments that can catch the viewer unawares. The tale doesn’t particularly revolve around the alien menace that serves as the villain (which indeed doesn’t play an enormously threatening role in the story itself) but rather about the way travelling with the Doctor affects the lives of those who do so. It’s an episode that manages to feel rather relaxed and yet very fast-paced all at once, and the actual plot takes something of a back seat to the character development on show here, the real focus of things throughout. There’s a lot of little throwbacks and references to days gone by in Doctor Who, and that’s always something that I and many others relish.
On that note, I suppose we should address the character elements in play! More than anything else, this is an episode that entirely revolves around its characters, and we see notable development in each of them. Clara, a well-established control freak, is beginning to fray noticeably at the edges, her double-life taking a hefty toll on her. She’s beginning to struggle with explaining things, both to the Doctor and to Danny, and there’s a distinct vibe that even she isn’t entirely sure of herself any more. Danny, getting his largest on-screen outing yet, is an excellent linchpin in this situation. He’s inquisitive and rather stern when he has to be, taking none of the Doctor’s nonsense and dismissive nature, and the two are set up as a very interesting and well-played contrast to each other, with Danny as “the soldier” and the Doctor as some sort of commanding officer.
The Doctor himself is having something of a field day in this story, or so it seems. Despite his attempt to go “undercover”, it’s rather obvious that he isn’t particularly trying at all, seeing it as a way to tease and irritate those around him in his own tricky manner. He gets his first true introduction to Danny here, something which goes down about as well as one would expect. He’s fairly unwilling to put up with anything from him, and essentially treats him as, at best a child, at worst a walking danger to people around him. The Twelfth Doctor’s respect (or rather lack-of-it) towards soldiers shines clearly through in this tale, and sets up some rather dramatic conflict. We also get our first major introduction to Courtney Woods, as played by Ellis George, a self-admitted “disruptive influence” at Coal Hill School. She takes something of a liking to the strange and grumpy old Doctor, something which he returns, seemingly enjoying the in-your-face attitude she possesses. That’s a tale for another time, though, as we’ll see where that goes soon enough!
‘The Caretaker’ takes place in a very contemporary setting, particularly after the series we’ve had thus far. We’ve had Victorian London, the interior of a Dalek, medieval Nottingham, the literal end of the universe, and the Bank of Karabraxos. Now, we have our own time period, and the good old familiar setting of Coal Hill, a place with which the Doctor is most intimately familiar, of course, having been associated with it since his very first incarnation. Nonetheless, the episode manages to bring in a very nice touch of the alien with the villain of the piece, a deadly combat robot known as a Skovox Blitzer. The Blitzer is an extremely well-made design, rather different indeed to anything we’ve seen in Doctor Who for quite some time, like some sort of metallic heavily-armed spider, or even centaur. It looks marvellous, and shows quite an intimidating presence in the episode itself (its intro scene, in particular, actually comes as rather shocking, gruesome even).
Performance-wise, this is definitely an episode where absolutely everyone is on their top form. Peter Capaldi plays up the trickster side of the Doctor in this tale, always ready with an amusing quip or one-liner. He balances it marvellously against the more impatient and angrier aspects of this Doctor’s personality, particularly in his interactions with Danny (and a few rather tense exchanges with Clara, to boot). Jenna Coleman continues to play Clara’s somewhat-unsteady relationship with the Doctor’s new incarnation extremely well, in particular getting to show off her comedic talent in this story, something which hasn’t previously come up very often. It’s excellent to see, and hopefully we’ll see more of it. Samuel Anderson seems to be settling very well into his role as Danny Pink, and he interacts seamlessly with both Capaldi and Coleman. Scenes with the three of them together are the defining parts of the episode, and are great to watch.
All in all, ‘The Caretaker’ is a fairly simple episode on the surface, with a lot more lurking beneath. It’s a great exploration of the Doctor-companion interaction, and in particular the impact that travelling on a somewhat-infrequent basis can have on their lives. I suspect from here on out that the series is going to take something of a darker plunge, so perhaps having this last light-hearted story will be a relief in coming days? We’ll have to wait and see!
An easy-going and fun story with a lot of heart behind it. 8.5/10
Do join us next week, where we’ll see terrible choices and a funny title, in ‘Kill the Moon’…
