S8E6: The Caretaker (SPOILERS)

The Doctor gets a job at Coal Hill School. This should be interesting!

Anyone else sick of Clara's love life? I might skip watching this one.

D84 wrote:

Anyone else sick of Clara's love life?

Yes.

I'm sick of everybody's love life.

I just wanna have adventures in space and time...is that too much to ask..?????

I agree. Let's get back to it being about the Doctor's adventures in time and space. No more of the companions being the center of the show.

D84 wrote:

I agree.  Let's get back to it being about the Doctor's adventures in time and space.  No more of the companions being the center of the show.

Ditto. I am so not looking for Clara overload in the next eppie (we are paying for the fewer scenes from the Time Heist show). They should just rename the show the Companion Chronicles (but then again, that would give Big Finish a bad rap since their companion chronicles are still about the Doctor) as it isn't about the Doctor anymore but the companion and their love life which I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in.

Wish Moffat would listen to the viewers (I hope most viewers feel the same) and go back to the show's true real roots not this space opera he turned it into during Smith's era (excuse, the Amy Pond era, the Doctor was ALWAYS secondary to the character) and he is continuing with Capaldi. But once again he'll do what he wants and f*** everything else.

I was sick of companions pining over the Doctor, but I have to confess, I have enjoyed all the Clara/Danny stuff.

pixletwin wrote:

I was sick of companions pining over the Doctor, but I have to confess, I have enjoyed all the Clara/Danny stuff.

I've been enjoying it, too, apart from in 'Listen'. I don't think those scenes worked very well personally and it felt overdone. However, I'm interested to see how things continue to pan out.

Well, I'm certainly tired of hearing about complaints about Clara's love life.

I like Danny. I like Clara. I like that we're going to see more of Coal Hill! I hope it's not too similar to "School Reunion" or "The Lodger" though.

I'd love to see Ian Chesterton make a cameo!

Rogue wrote:

I'd love to see Ian Chesterton make a cameo!

The only reason for the Doctor to get a job at a school should be to run into a former companion. Or to star in an adaptation of a Paul Cornell novel.

I thought this episode was all around fantastic! I really like Danny a lot, so I think what he brings to the table is interesting. Especially in clashing with the Doctor, here. There's a ton of fun moments for Clara, too. All around, very pleased.

I liked this story a lot! Very fun and some pretty funny scenes. I'm continuing to absolutely love the 12th. The scene towards the beginning where he thinks the English teacher is Clara's love interest because he reminds him of the 11th is hilarious, and 12's facial expressions make it all the funnier. Loving the whole fatherly concern thing. Also I got a real giggle out of the Doctor whistling Pink Floyd when Clara was having a go at the kids.

But the Doc is also really mean in this episode, especially to Danny. Not to say that I didn't enjoy it - I especially loved the argument between them both in the TARDIS - but I just don't get his dislike for soldiers. He's not been this hateful towards soldiers before. Is he now kicking himself harder over the Time War because the regret of killing his own people is no longer on his mind any more and instead he's hating himself for the smaller acts of moral ambiguity he committed during the war itself? Danny said he's a soldier but the Doctor's an officer. I think the implication probably is that the Doctor has probably given orders in the past in his war days that he hates himself for, as well as followed orders of a similar nature, too.

Good to see Clara getting more development! Definitely a fan now. I realised for the first time tonight that we can finally attribute actual traits to her character now, the one most prominent in this episode is her being an absolute control freak. I enjoyed seeing her nicely ordered life invaded and messed up by the Doctor.

The villain was pretty meh IMO. Not really a 'villain' at all, just a plot device for the whole Doctor/Clara/Danny stuff, which I didn't mind. It seemed like a shame to waste though because it looked quite cool and could have had potential to be a cool villain. Actually, I still have absolutely no idea why it was there and what its motivations were. If there was an explanation then it went completely over my head.

Overall, I wasn't expecting this story to be very good. However, I enjoyed it. It was fun, made me laugh and there were also some pretty nice tense and dramatic scenes, too. I know a lot of people are not enjoying the whole Danny/Clara stuff but personally I'm liking it. It's how the Doctor interacts with Danny and Clara that makes it so interesting; it evokes a lot of character from the 12th that we're all craving to see more of. I think this episode certainly delivered some great character development for everyone. 7/10 and voted 'Good'.

I liked this episode, probably my favorite of the series so far. My major grip is that it's covering familiar grounds, like how to balance your normal life with life with the Doctor and can the Doctor pass himself off as human.

It does seem like the Doctor's dislike of the military has been turned up to 11, just so he and Danny don't get along.

Next episode looks interesting, but why do they still play the 11th Doctor's theme during the trailer?

I liked this one a lot. Easily my 2nd fav to date.

Loved the comedy in the first half. Capaldi was so ON. The plot itself was so so but I give it a pass for the comedy and the Doc Clara PE teacher dynamic

I especially loved his view of the Doc from his perspective as a soldier. It's dead on.

Am I the only one who's thinking Capaldi's era is a bit like the 7th Doctor era?

I need to watch it again, thought it was a bit flat. That school girl getting sick in the Tardis was a bit silly. As for Danny and Clara, don't mind that at all.

jaredofmo wrote:

Am I the only one who's thinking Capaldi's era is a bit like the 7th Doctor era?

He reminds me the most of the 7th so far (that is, his 2nd series on - I'd rather forget his 1st series).

Well, that was better than expected (a rare good rather than the usual okay or under). Was not impressed with Danny in this episode (and that last flip over the alien was overkill and Clara is oh he saved us - snort). It was cute how the Doctor thought Clara's bf was his 11th lookalike instead of Mr. PE (Maths doesn't compute for him). Looks like Courtney is in the next episode from the brief glimpse in the Next promo (like meets like); heck, actually would prefer her to the lovebirds at this point. Saw comments around that the story (what there was of it) ran out of steam soon enough. Well, if they can't handle a 44 minute show when classic was 90 minutes then it's time for a new batch of writers. Still don't really have much interest in this Missy stuff either.

jaredofmo wrote:

Am I the only one who's thinking Capaldi's era is a bit like the 7th Doctor era?

Capaldi's Doctor reminds me a lot of Hartnell or Colin Baker, where they both start off as very stern and soften as the stories go on. Which is what I hope for Capaldi. I still have the feeling that they're trying to make his Doctor Malcolm Tucker-lite.

In my opinion, Matt Smith's Doctor was the closest to Troughton and McCoy.

My only disappointment for this story was the absence of a Chesterton cameo. Otherwise a great episode! I'm loving the Clara/12 dynamic. The bit at the beginning with Clara off with the Doctor and then having to go on a date with Danny immediately afterward was hilarious. We haven't seen as much of that before because the companions always stayed with the Doctor on adventures, instead of going back & forth between a home life and a "Doctor life."

I've been re-watching Series 4 (one of my favorites) and the anti-soldier thing with the Doctor was pretty heavy during some of those stories (Sontarans, Doctor's Daughter). Also don't forget that scene from "Listen" with the young Doctor not wanting to be a soldier.

The cop's death was somewhat graphic, with the severed, burned hand hitting the ground. Is that why the episode was broadcast later in the UK?

Yep, Rogue, I kept hoping for that cameo as well. Maybe next time! It seams the series will be based around Coal Hill for a while.

I really like this episode, now my second favorite after Sherwood. Capaldi just never stops with his energy, and I love it. You can go back a long way with the Doctor's anti-military thing. Even when he worked with UNIT, 3 was always criticized the military and they way they handled things....just before he asked welcomed their help. And even though he didn't really welcome Danny's help, he did say it was a good start.

A story all about the Series story arc. And a setup to explain why Clara will leave (as opposed to Dodo who just walks out a door and never returns again).

Courtney Woods is keen.

Evil Monkey Pope wrote:

Courtney Woods is keen.

And annoying.

The Doctor needs a disruptive influence in the TARDIS to give the show some oomph.