2nd Opinion: The Caretaker
David Selby and John Hussey both give their own verdict on the 6th episode.
David’s Verdict
One of Roberts’ finest abilities has always been to craft each individual aspect into a whole episode with a sense of connection and suitability. Take The Shakespeare Code: the Doctor takes Martha to see William Shakespeare, where they face witches; the characteristic Shakespearean antagonist, and where words are used for the purpose of both a threat and resolution, recognising Shakespeare’s inimitable talent of ‘words, words, words’. In Closing Time, the Doctor prepared for his death, in the company of an old friend facing an old menace. The Cybermen were dilapidated and timeworn, much like the protagonist himself, and were eventually defeated by love, foreshadowing what would happen next: that love ultimately prevails, in situations good or bad.
Regrettably, this was where The Caretaker failed to live up to Roberts’ most recent previous instalment. The Skovox Blitzer was a pointless and unthreatening creation that served only to fill a dissatisfying ‘monster-of-the-week’ setup. It was neither necessary for the narrative nor beneficial in any way to the end result. It didn’t bear any significance to any other themes or ideas, reinforcing its triviality, and whilst the concept behind the creature as a ruthless, inflexible killing machine could have potentially worked, it ended up as a farce and a cliché. In a school environment, a threat should be more prevalent, as the stakes for the show are raised for all generations: not only are the usual characters in danger, but children are too. As it was, the Skovox Blitzer was too generic to take seriously.
Similar problems arise in the episode’s depiction of a school and teenagers as a whole. As a family show, it’s important that Doctor Who takes the time to visit all age groups, yet whilst young children receive a host of well-developed and believable characters, the show’s teenagers are flat, one-dimensional and almost offensively stereotypical. Courtney was amusing as a ‘disruptive influence’; likable, interesting, and boding well for the future. Unfortunately, any other youths existed for the mere sake of presence, and very rarely did we see any kind of academic or pastoral contribution from Clara that would give us any reason to invest in her career-wise.
I’m currently ambivalent to the controversial directions taken with the new Doctor. He is a whited sepulchre: a deceiving, obnoxious, arrogant hypocrite. Whilst the character has redeeming features, he is an incarnation who is harder to get along with for both the companion and the viewer. This isn’t, however, necessarily a bad thing: flaws are what define a character, and come out in a relevant situation eventually. Where the Doctor is taken from here, and how these biases are addressed, will secure my opinion either way.
The Caretaker manages some strong character moments, really seizing the opportunity to flesh out the characters of Clara and Danny and picking apart their relationship. Danny’s perception of the Doctor as ‘an officer’ fascinated me, suggesting that one of the couple’s shared traits is that they’ve both been, to an extent, defined by the people they’ve ‘served’ under. The humour is also hilarious, especially Capaldi’s methodical delivery. It wasn’t a perfect episode, and didn’t quite live up to the standards of Closing Time, but managed to be entertaining nonetheless.
John’s Verdict
‘The Caretaker’ was a brilliant opportunity to not only bring Danny Pink up to scratch with the ongoings of his girlfriend’s double-life but to also mess with Clara’s controlling ways. Clara has come across as a bit of a control freak in a charming way which really reflects her character and the way she cares for and interacts with the Doctor. However since the new Doctor turned up this controlling factor within her persona upped itself to help maintain a sense of order that she was once used to with the previous tenant of the TARDIS. Ever since Mr. Pink joined the scene in the background it has added in an extra layer of controlling nature in order for her to control how her two lives work and stay clear from one another. This episode saw a massive opportunity to throw Clara in the deep end.
It was both a comical thing to see but eventually turned into an emotional journey of acceptance. The Doctor’s new persona makes him seem extremely alien, rude and completely non-understanding towards humans. To have Gareth Roberts come along for a third time running with the whole idea of the Doctor being forced to interact with humans worked incredibly well with Peter Capaldi’s portrayal of the character and added in a comedy factor different to Matt Smith’s awkward and silly portrayal, which gave the scenario a refreshing twist.
John Smith once again became the name of the Doctor’s disguise as he went on a deep undercover operation behind Clara’s back in order to stop a rampaging robot from potentially destroying the world. Of course like with Roberts’ previous two scripts with the same scenario the enemy of the piece was once again pushed to the sidelines in favour of telling a story of drama through the interactions of the characters caused through the Doctor’s meddling within everyday human life. This time was even more different by the fact that the companion was there to be a part of the action, with the companion themselves being the centre of the attention so-to-speak. The story showcased what would happen if Clara’s controlling nature was disrupted and thus allow for her two lives to collide.
This started with comedy through the Doctor teasing Clara through her job and interfering within her usual day-to-day life, something that she doesn’t take kindly to because that is her separate life away from the Doctor. In her mind the two cannot cross under any circumstances. Then it becomes stressful and emotional when Danny becomes involved and Clara’s relationship is placed in jeopardy through him potentially discovering the truth behind her second lifestyle. What made the Doctor’s new persona all the more incapable of understanding was when he mistaken who Clara’s boyfriend actually was. It was interesting to see that he assumed she went out with a character who resembled his previous self, echoing back to the idea that Clara had a hidden fancy towards Smith’s Doctor.
Danny’s incorporation within the plot was done extremely well I find and I loved the whole idea of him and the Doctor being at each other’s heads. The Doctor’s anger towards him and his past profession really opened up a sinister side to his character that actually made me briefly hate him. It was unnecessary hatred and anger towards a person he didn’t know, nor gave a chance to and instead threw pre-judgemental comments at him and sent him packing without a fair trial of acceptance. Even when Danny offered his help towards the end of the story the Doctor angrily told him to stay out of his and Clara’s way. This entire scenario is almost like the Doctor becoming threatened by the new man on the bloke and wanted himself to remain the top dog within the TARDIS. But strangely enough the reasoning behind his
bitterness towards Danny is much more meaningful. The Doctor is in fact looking out for Clara and making sure that Danny was right for Clara and that he would support her in every way she needed. It was quite poetic really, in a timey-wimey sort of a way when you get past the fact the Doctor went about it all the wrong way but hey-ho.
The bottom-line is that Danny finally proved himself to the Doctor and was granted his approval. What came next was the interesting twist within the on-going plot through the promise Danny made Clara swear to. The idea that he doesn’t want the Doctor to push her too far is a neat idea, which not only shows Danny’s love to Clara through him looking out for her but also at a later stage proving whether Clara can prove her love back. This will no doubt create conflict between the three main characters and with the Doctor supposedly committing a terrible act next week that chills Clara to the core; it’s fair to say that her and the Doctor’s friendship could be heading for some shaky grounds.
On an end note I can’t go without mentioning the brilliant final scene which gave us more speculation over this year’s story-arc. I’m still convinced that Heaven/the Promised Land isn’t what it’s made out to be and is in fact corrupt in some way or form. Missy isn’t as nice as she makes herself out to be and seems to contain some sort of hidden agenda that will no doubt threaten the Doctor on perhaps a personal level. Also the look on the cop’s face isn’t quite clear either as it’s hard to say whether he’s shocked with surprise or fear. What exactly lay outside those windows? Was it Paradise or something far worst? Plus the introduction of Chris Addison’s character didn’t exactly make the place seem any more peaceful as his character seemed a little off. Either way it’s all build-up for what is to come and as each week goes by I’m getting more and more excited to see just what is really going on in Heaven.