Doctor Who S34E6: "The Caretaker" Spoilers

[Crazedwraith]

I forgot to watch again. I'll get around to iPlayering it at some point.

I do encourage other people to start threads if they like.

[Bedlam]

I generally liked it although the hated of soldiers and the PE teacher joke seemed quite over done to me.

Good season so far, I've given then consistent 4/5 apart from Deep Breath which I think has been the only weak episode so far.

More heaven appearances again, I don't think they'll do it but I am still getting a City of the Saved Vibe.

[NecronLord]

Havok is going to be insufferable after that 'Officers' remark, I suspect.

On the whole I liked this episode a lot though, good job, I think.

The Blitzer was cute, and it seemed a bit odd for the doctor to just destroy it, even if it wasn't sapient that still felt a little like vandalism. I'd imagined he'd disarm it and take it to some far-future museum or something.

[SpottedKitty]

Well, strictly speaking he didn't destroy it, he shut it down and tossed it out the TARDIS door into deep space. Hopefully a bit of deep space that no planets or ships will be passing through in the next few million years...

Is this the first time we've seen someone get TARDIS-sick?

[The Romulan Republic]

I must say, I liked Danny standing up to the Doctor. Someone has to stand up to him often, and Clara hasn't done it well (aside from in Day of the Doctor perhaps). Its reminiscent of Rory. But I don't care for Danny's relationship with Clara.

This episode may be my favourite episode of this season so far. It wasn't great, but it was entertaining without being really stupid or otherwise offensive a lot of the time.

Edit: I liked the officer comment about the Doctor. That has to sting for someone who hates soldiers, but there's truth to it. The Doctor is a hypocrite about war, and he deserves to be called on it.

[DaveJB]

Pretty solid all around. I like that Twelve's now completed his transition to being more of a parental figure toward Clara, which is something we haven't really seen since the start of the new series (Nine and Ten essentially being romantic figures, and Eleven at least initially being more an "older brother" type).

[DarkSilver]

With the Ponds Eleven was more like a eccentric Uncle, than a Older Brother type Figure, with Clara there was something else....even when she was just Souffle Girl, there was some twinge of romance between them (which I found odd....when Clara became the new full Companion post Ponds, he seemed to be trying to impress her and became a much more romantic figure - something she reciprocated I think.

Now with Twelve...he seems to be adjusting from kinda-romantic to a more Fatherly/Protective type relationship....

Overall a decent enough episode - I enjoyed Dan the Soldier Man saluting and speaking to the Doctor like a Officer....it grated on the Doctor more than enough.

[Eternal_Freedom]

I gave it a 3. It was entertaining enough, and it's good to see Capaldi playing off with Danny, especially the Officer bit.

However, it just wasn't that exciting for me.

[PREDATOR490]

2/5

I really did not like this episode and found the Doctor's behavior increasingly annoying. The Doctor's reaction to Danny was increasingly unjustified to the point I would have happily seen Danny knock his teeth out. That said, Danny's character has taken a gigantic stride into being awesome even though I don't think the Doctor OR Clara are good enough to be around him. Clara's relationship with the Doctor is being increasingly portrayed as creepy to a point that even surpasses the shitty slump of Amy Pond trying to bang the Doctor.

Outside the melodrama, the episode was a dud. Although, I have to give props to that scene where the portal opens and the chair slides towards the camera.

Curious Point: Clara can click her fingers to open the Tardis doors ?

Hilarious cameo: Another In the Thick of It actor makes an appearance. Chris Addison vs Peter Capaldi - Bring on the verbal abuse

[SpottedKitty]

I enjoyed Dan the Soldier Man saluting and speaking to the Doctor like a Officer....it grated on the Doctor more than enough.

That sort of super-formality is allegedly the closest an NCO can get to blowing a long, loud and fruity raspberry (with accompanying hand gestures) at an officer, in such a way that the officer is officially not really supposed to smack the little oik down as he so clearly deserves. He did it with malice aforethought, and knew exactly what effect it would have on poor unsuspecting Twelve.

I just watched the repeat. Did I blink and miss it, or was there a blink-and-you'll-miss-it reference to River in there tonight? Intriguing...

[Eternal_Freedom]

Also, I once again liked the subversion when the Doctor was talking about that Jane Austen book, and Clara goes off on a rant about how the Doctor woudl know because he's a time traveller, and he says "no I read the book." Like the rigged archery contest, it's a nice touch that stops the Doctor being too over-the-top awesome.

[Broomstick]

I just watched the repeat. Did I blink and miss it, or was there a blink-and-you'll-miss-it reference to River in there tonight? Intriguing...

"I lived with otters for a month once. Well, sulked, really, you see River and I had this big fight..."

Here's a clip with the scene:

[FaxModem1]

I gave it a 3/5. Clara's predictament seems a bit like a retread of Amy and Rory's life during season 7 where they're trying to juggle both the space life and regular life, with someone close to them being let in on the secret. That said, this episode was rather enjoyable for having Danny show up the Doctor and call out his hatred of soldiers and put him in his place.

If I had found those devices lying around, put by the new janitor, I would have thought it was some guy leaving a bunch of bombs at the school.

[InsaneTD]

It's odd, the doctor said, "one for good luck" when he placed it. Which to me says it wasn't needed, and yet it mucked up the time displacer up by 99%? If it being moved would be that bad, and it wasn't needed, why place it?

[Broomstick]

Pink moved several of the gizmos. It might have been that just one wouldn't have been a problem, but more than one was.

[Azazal]

Was anyone else waiting for Mr. Pink to drop a line about how he never understood why the Brigadier liked the Doctor, then walk off? After all, we know he served in the military, but what branch.

[PREDATOR490]

UNIT has been dumped on pretty heavily as far as Doctor Who is concerned and the Doctor's attitude to soldiers has become so pathetic I would rather not have them butcher them further.
Mr. Pink rightly wants to take reasonable actions like evacuate the school due to the lethal menace that is running around - The Doctor goes apeshit and keeps bitching about how he is a evil soldier bullshit routine.
It is bad enough the Doctor hand waves putting an entire school at risk because it was the convenient 'open space'.

Cant help finding it funny the Doctor is bitching about soldiers being evil because of his own personal drama in a time war which cost him his home world. Oh wait... Gallefray is just fine behind the curtain waiting for the Doctor to give them the signal to come back.
That said, I really hope this season is going somewhere good with the excessive anti-soldier routine to the point the Doctor will finally drop his unreasonable emotional baggage. From the Doctor's perspective his actions in the Time War happened several hundred years ago. Let it go already.

[Broomstick]

I think the Doctor's point about not evacuating the school is that this thing will destroy the ENTIRE planet, so there really isn't a safe place to evacuate to and it would be better to spend the time and energy on defeating the MotW rather than moving people about to no purpose.

It also would have been better to make that more explicit.

[Bedlam]

I've been thinking some more about The Doctors inability to grasp that Pink was a maths teacher to be interesting because the Brig left UNIT to become... a maths teacher.

I wonder if the Doctor has some sort of block this his more military friends are in some way 'not soldiers' and finding the similarity between Pink and the Brig would break down that block which he subconsciously cannot allow?

[InsaneTD]

UNIT has been dumped on pretty heavily as far as Doctor Who is concerned and the Doctor's attitude to soldiers has become so pathetic I would rather not have them butcher them further.
Mr. Pink rightly wants to take reasonable actions like evacuate the school due to the lethal menace that is running around - The Doctor goes apeshit and keeps bitching about how he is a evil soldier bullshit routine.
It is bad enough the Doctor hand waves putting an entire school at risk because it was the convenient 'open space'.

Cant help finding it funny the Doctor is bitching about soldiers being evil because of his own personal drama in a time war which cost him his home world. Oh wait... Gallefray is just fine behind the curtain waiting for the Doctor to give them the signal to come back.
That said, I really hope this season is going somewhere good with the excessive anti-soldier routine to the point the Doctor will finally drop his unreasonable emotional baggage. From the Doctor's perspective his actions in the Time War happened several hundred years ago. Let it go already.

This is more to do with Trenzalore then the time war. Eccelston, Tennat and Smith worked with soldiers and the military without this massive complex this doctor seems to have. But yes, I hope they tie this storyline off sooner rather then later. (And I'll be glad when Clara is gone, she's overstayed her welcome and become a super Mary Sue.)

[Eternal_Freedom]

I've been thinking some more about The Doctors inability to grasp that Pink was a maths teacher to be interesting because the Brig left UNIT to become... a maths teacher.

I wonder if the Doctor has some sort of block this his more military friends are in some way 'not soldiers' and finding the similarity between Pink and the Brig would break down that block which he subconsciously cannot allow?

Interesting. I wodner if it's a problem he has with soldiers as opposed to officers. Or possibly that the Brig, Benton, Yates and the others of Three's era are the only ones he worked with long enough to learn to respect, and that he sees all others as pale imitations of those he worked with long ago.

This may be especially prevalent after Eleven tried to go and visit the Brig only to learn he had passed away.

[Gandalf]

That was surprisingly fun, except for the end where everyone decided they liked each other. I hope they get into the whole thing between the Doctor and ill defined "soldiers." I'm inclined to think that it might be a remnant of his new memories from the Time War, and how the TL soldiers both broke the universe and failed to protect Gallifrey or something. At any rate, I'd just like to see it explored.

Hilarious cameo: Another In the Thick of It actor makes an appearance. Chris Addison vs Peter Capaldi - Bring on the verbal abuse

I'm just hoping that the Doctor just has a great Malcolm Tucker tirade against everyone as the season finale. Make it a part of a Children in Need special, that'd raise a ton.

"If we make one million pounds, The Doctor will tell some Daleks and a Cyberman to fuck the fuck off."

[PREDATOR490]

I think the Doctor's point about not evacuating the school is that this thing will destroy the ENTIRE planet, so there really isn't a safe place to evacuate to and it would be better to spend the time and energy on defeating the MotW rather than moving people about to no purpose.

It also would have been better to make that more explicit.

The purpose would be ensuring kids dont end up getting gunned down in the halls because Mr. Robot accidentally bumps into them chasing the Doctor.
Or if you really want to make the point: Evacuating the school would have removed the chance of someone accidentally screwing with his devices. The Doctor hardly made much effort to hide some of them and placing flashy, bomb-like devices around the school should ideally be done when noone is around to notice them.

As it is: The Doctor dismisses Clara for rightly being concerned about putting a school full of kids in danger and Mr. Pink for daring to suggest reasonable options. How dare someone suggest evacuating the school so that innocent children do not get splattered all over the walls because only an evil military soldier type would consider that. This is the same Doctor that happily hid behind a soldier sacrificing herself to give them a chance to fix Rusty.

As it is the only way the Doctor can be redeemed at this point is if it turns out Mr. Pink is more than what he seems. I kinda got that impression from the exchanges but a theme is developing about the Doctor being almost abusive to Clara.
Last episode had that comment about her always making "excuses" for the Doctor and Mr. Pink dropping foreshadowy dialogue about not letting the Doctor push Clara into doing something she does not want to do.

[Havok]

Geezuz you guys are being dense.
This Doctor doesn't have an issue with soldiers because of Trenzalore or the Time War, he has an issue with soldiers because he constantly turns his companions (Rose, Martha Jones, Mickey, Rory, hell even Sarah Jane Smith) into them, just like 5 different previous bad guys have stated and Pink hit you over the head with in the form or foreshadowing with his ultimatum to Clara.

It's like if he constantly berates them and yells "Soldiers! Am I right?!" out loud all the time it will somehow keep Clara from becoming one.

As for Pink's comments about the Doctor being an officer, I don't have to be insufferable about it, because anyone with a brain can see that is exactly what he, and the Time Lords, are and have been. "My special power is being in charge."

Overall the episode was pretty good.
I think part of the reason the Doctor is acting the way he is with Clara isn't just because he doesn't want to lose her, but he almost literaly can't. I mean, aside from being the Impossible Girl for Smith and essentially saving his life hundreds of times over, Calpaldi has been going on a mad dash of crazy adventures with Clara and I think that he really does need her to be his conscience, apologizer, excuse maker and his "Carer".

While we (you) find Calpaldi gratingly charming and "Oh man it's so cool he said that because of *previous television character*" in universe he is a fucking prick and would have been killed (repeatedly) already if it weren't for Clara. I know he realizes this, and while there is a father-like attachment and "you better be good enough for her" issue going on, he is worried that if he loses her, he is literally going to be losing part of himself that he just doesn't have.

I personally think this is the most interesting dynamic I have seen in the new series, where a companion doesn't just accompany, or save him or even help him immensely, but is actually an integral part of his personality that he needs to be the Doctor.

My favorite little part of the episode is the face Capaldi makes when Clara says the skinny, nerdy, bow-tie guy isn't her type. Classic.

[Batman]

I have to say for something that was allegedly a threat to the entire planet that thing displayed pretty pathetic firepower.