Gareth Robert's previous Who stories 'The Lodger' and 'Closing Time' don't really have a plot. His episodes are perfectly content to plop the Doctor into everyday human life and watch the sparks fly with a poorly developed monster sneaking around on the outskirts. 'The Caretaker' is no different, this time around he's undercover in Coal Hill school, the same school from Doctor Who's very first episode way back in 1963. Why? He's looking for the Skovox Blitzer, a supposedly deadly killing machine that's attracted to the numerous deposits of artron energy scattered around the area. Hijinks ensue but the main crux of the episode is Clara dealing with two parts of her life that have collided with one another, aka Danny and the Doctor.
I'm going to start off with listing my the only negative of this episode: the Skovox Blitzler. The bad guys are always the weakest link in any Gareth Roberts story, they barely register as a threat. The Blitzer isn't a sin to humanity unlike the way he treated the Cyberman in 'Closing Time' but the machine's design is incredibly weak and is dispatched with little to no effort from the Doctor, who's plan boils down to imitating the Blitzers superior so he can shut him down. And that cringe-inducing Olympic grade somersault from Danny? *SHUDDERS* He jumped higher than his body height! The Blitzer is barely a threat and despite dispersing flashy pyrotechnics he comes across as a giant remote controlled toy, another robot amongst a sea of robots in this series with barely any personality other than the standard 'SEEK. LOCATE. DESTROY!'. I recognise that the monster isn't the focal point of the story (it's simply an excuse for the Doctor to go undercover) but come on man, you can do better than this! You're clearly not interested in crafting a decent threat so why not have one at all? Isn't the Doctor checking up on Clara's everyday life reason enough?
Thanfully the Skovox Blitzer is barely in the episode so it's horribleness is immediately side lined by everything else, particularly the excellent character work on display. It's impossible to deny how entertaining the rest of the episode is, Roberts has a fantastic grasp on the relationship between the trio of leads. I've been saying this for weeks now but the Capaldi/Coleman dynamic is getting better every episode. Capaldi continues to be an amazing screen-presence giving us what we've all wanted from his Doctor: Malcolm Tucker-lite, seething with grumpiness and general disdain for the people around him but somehow keeping intact the core values of his character. He does want to save the school from the Blitzer and clearly cares for Clara, 12 is a Doctor that pretends to hate everything but doesn't really. A perfect example of this is with a sup-plot involving disruptive influence number 1 in Coal Hill school: Courtney Woods. The Doctor pretends to brush off this smart alec but (surprisingly) ends up spilling the beans and takes her on a quick trip into space, despite never showing any affection towards her over than 'GET LOST!' I love this Doctor so much.
 |
| 'GET OUT. Just....there's the door. Leave.' |
Meanwhile this is Jenna Coleman's best episode yet, Clara once again proving to be the perfect foil to Capaldi's simmering grumpiness, bursting with enthusiasm and wit that used to be given to Matt Smith's Doctor. Together they're the perfect odd couple which is why the episode is so smart at pairing them off one another without a pesky plot to get in the way. That amazing restaurant scene in 'Deep Breath'? This episode fulfils the potential of that scene with the intro alone. They're so good together I'm hoping the rumours of Series 8 being Clara's last are fake, we've struck gold here.
And then we have Danny Pink, an ex-soldier who for the most part seems like a nice bloke. Unfortunately this new Doctor HATES soldiers with a passion so when the two of them meet sparks inevitably fly. 12 is incredibly nasty to Danny, refusing to believe a soldier could ever become a maths teacher and brandishing him as an idiot. Danny throws one back at him though, he's smart to compare the Doctor to a general barking out orders, essentially branding him as a hypocrite. Previous boyfriends (Mickey and Rory) started off as wimps who over time grew into bigger shoes, Danny comes pre-packed with baggage and his alpha male qualities makes him another great match for Capaldi's Doctor. I especially loved the scene where Clara tries to convince him that her and the Doctor are just putting on 'a play' and he completely sees through it. Mr. Pink is clearly no fool. Samuel Anderson is also given a lot more to work with this time around and delivers a solid performance. He's very good at portraying an average joe, a very naturalistic performance.
'The Caretakers' ace in the hole are the scenes with Danny and Clara discussing their relationship now that Clara's second life has unearthed itself. They're short but both scenes are extremely well written because in a short amount of time you buy their relationship: Danny is hurt about the lies Clara has told him and wants to know what Clara is really like around the Doctor because if you found out your girlfriend was going on space adventures with an older man inside a police box wouldn't you be concerned? He's also troubled by the danger the Doctor puts her in. If Clara lies again, their relationship is over. It might come off as controlling but Danny is concerned for her well-being like pretty much any person would be in that situation.
 |
| Missterious goings on... |
'The Caretaker' also advances the series arc, introducing a new gatekeeper to heaven called Seb played by Chis Addison. The arc is extremely confusing at this point, I mean what the F*CK is going on in this weird depiction of heaven and how can the Doctor possibly be aware of it? Right now my theory is that none of these people have actually died and were instead teleported away a split second before their death, thus making them think they did die or something convoluted like that. I don't think Doctor Who would go so far as to represent the true afterlife at any rate, this 'Nethersphere' has to fake somehow. Something is going on but no clues have been given, guess we'll just have to wait for the finale then...
'The Caretaker' is probably my second favourite of the season so far, it's hilariously constructed, brilliantly acted and all around a fun episode. It edges out on being a classic simply because once again we have a poorly conceived monster that adds nothing of value to the story but writer Gareth Roberts is clearly a master at these fish out of water stories.
Positives:
+ Fantastic comedy
+ Great dialogue
+ Back to Coal Hill school!
+ The Clara/Danny/Doctor relationship dynamics
+ Courtney Woods
+ The Doctor's fish out of water escapades
+ Danny's bullsh*t detector
+ Heavenly goings on
Negatives:
- The Skovox Blitzer
- The cring inducing somersault at the end
Overall Score: 9/10
No comments:
Post a Comment