S8E6: The Caretaker (SPOILERS)

I like Courtney. I was sure I wouldn't. This Series sofar for me has had the longest run of unbroken great episodes.

First time I felt that way since probably series two.

That would be an interesting choice. A more irritating Ace.

Evil Monkey Pope wrote:

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

As long as there isn't too much spillage!

Great episode. Good stuff. While the Doctor being incredibly mean to Danny feels a little odd and dramatic, it is inline with the Doctor's basic ideas about the useful of the military or their reactions. As I said elsewhere, the Brigadier is the Doctor's best friend, but the Doctor's still leery of him making command decisions. However, his friendship is also kind of telling. As Danny says, the Doctor's an officer, an aristocrat who believes himself above the low-level trooper, and the Doctor chafes at that analogy. It's really quite good.

And yes, this probably has been the strongest run of episodes as a cohesive whole in a great long while.

They need to bring back Yates and Benton to tie the current UNIT into the classic version. A pair of older operatives that could act behind the scenes. They were too slow to get the Brig back and hopefully have learned their lesson.

But it really only makes sense to bring them back for a reason. And Series 8 isn't shaping up to have the Doctor on friendly terms with any military. Doubtful that we'll see any Kate Stewart or Malcom, or any of the Doctor's UNIT buddies until after the 12th Doctor comes to terms with Danny Pink in the Christmas episode and everyone lives happily ever after. I've got no spoiler knowledge, but can see that as being the resolution of the story arc when Clara leaves. Doubtful that even mean old Capaldi would kick Clara out on Christmas Day for dating an ex-soldier.

But then Clara and Danny did have a big talk about Clara promising to leave the TARDIS if the Doctor ever asked too much of her.

squishy wrote:

But then Clara and Danny did have a big talk about Clara promising to leave the TARDIS if the Doctor ever asked too much of her.

I definitely think this is a foreshadowing of Clara's departure. Just as I'm starting to like her, too! I don't want her to go now... Wish she'd been this good in Series 7. :/

You know, twice this season someone has said they could tell Clara when she'd die and she says "No don't tell me." My guess is Clara is going to wind up in the Promised Land and Danny and The Doctor are going to have to save her.

Tindogrory , some good points , remember the generals reaction to the Doctors in the day of the doctor. The general worst nightmare. his issues with the military seem to go back to the home world.  Maybe to be a timelord you have to go through the ranks of the military first? I want to add to the heaven idea tin i think missy is building an army to fight the doctor so maybe it makes more sense for pink to end up there. He seems to already have issues with the Dr.

This was a much better episode of Clara Who? Lol let's hope they keep it going and get it back to Doctor who in the lead role. Maybe bbc is using clara to get the female demographic in the ratings.

Next on Clara Who? Martha Stewart guest stars!!!!!

Sorry to say that in this day in age you're probably stuck with the companion taking on a bigger role. Many companions left the classic series because they didn't feel like the part was going anywhere. 50 years later all the good actresses will be aware of this and won't want to take a part if they think it will suck for them. I suppose Moffat could get some desperate actors or inexperienced actors to be a 2nd rate companion, but if they want a really good actress they probably need to promise some good scripts for them. They're going to be co-stars from now on.

Almost the way Mr. William Russell was the male lead from 1963-1964. Different reasons, but it all seems to have come around full circle.

Yeah, we need more 1-dimensional characters on this show. I just need characters to explain things, enough with their dramz.

I think I am not use to a Part time companion thats all and it seems the doctor has to act like a puppy waiting Clara to rub his belly on the tardis. I thought Rose Martha & Donna were amazing. The show had a great formula and should go back to what works... I did like this episode probably the best so far.

Keep it Going !!!!!!!!

squishy wrote:

Sorry to say that in this day in age you're probably stuck with the companion taking on a bigger role.  Many companions left the classic series because they didn't feel like the part was going anywhere.  50 years later all the good actresses will be aware of this and won't want to take a part if they think it will suck for them.  I suppose Moffat could get some desperate actors or inexperienced actors to be a 2nd rate companion, but if they want a really good actress they probably need to promise some good scripts for them.  They're going to be co-stars from now on.

Almost the way Mr. William Russell was the male lead from 1963-1964.  Different reasons, but it all seems to have come around full circle.

I don't think the Doctor/companion relationship is the same as, say, the Batman/Robin relationship - the companion isn't simply a helper or sidekick. Rather, the companion is our proxy on board the TARDIS. Let's face it, a practically immortal super-genius who can go anywhere, anywhen is a bit hard to relate to. His incessant need for (usually) human companionship is what allows us to relate to him. We can never really "know" The Doctor, but we can gain insights into him by how he interacts with his companions. That relationship is what the show, at its best, is really about, IMO. Otherwise it's just another sci-fi/monster-of-the-week show.

The one thing I can say for Clara is that this is the first time the show has chosen to present The Doctor and his adventures in the context of a real, honest-to-goodness life. Sure, Rose and the Ponds had hints of a life outside the TARDIS, but the focus was still squarely on the adventures. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it definitely feels new and fresh, at least to me.

M wrote:

Yeah, we need more 1-dimensional characters on this show. I just need characters to explain things, enough with their dramz.

Exactly what I wanted to say.

rmlextreme wrote:

I thought Rose Martha & Donna were amazing.

I liked Donna too, right up until Part 2 of The Return of Davros series finale. Once she became Doctor-Donna and saved the day it was just a bit too much. I don't know how RTD always managed to set up a great Part 1 of the series finale and then Part 2 would suck so badly. Either it was 20 minutes of saying goodbye to Rose, David Tennant the floating Messiah, or Donna character development in super-overdrive. RTD did the same thing as Moffat does now with the companions, except I didn't cringe so badly at Moffat's series finales.

Clara did much better during the 50th Anniversary where they just kept her away and let the 3 Doctors do their thing.

The bit where Clara gave Pink the invisi-watch just so he could observe her interact with the Doctor on the TARDIS was so sitcom-y and dumb....

Love how weird he is.

Well, reading the war doctor book, I can see where the dr gets his distrust of the military. From that portrayal, the doctor drew sides based on 'right' and 'wrong', rather than 'daleks' and 'time lords'. In other words, he would not hesitate to stand up to his own people. That included sabotaging their military if he felt that he was in the right. He saw his own people go from being non-interference obsessed isolationists to being willing to sacrifice anything in order to destroy the daleks. I think he blames the military mindset for his own people's downfall.

As for this episode, I really liked it. Yes, 12 is hard on Danny. But hopefully he has softened a little bit.

I always wondered what I looked like on the tube , what a great name for a show, where's my check, never mine, just give me K9 and we will call it even haha