We’re up to episode 6 now in this new season (the 8th) of “Doctor Who.” In ‘The Caretaker’ the Doctor goes undercover at Clara’s school in order to catch an alien killer robot known as the Skovox Blitzer. Along the way, he finally meets Clara’s boyfriend, Danny Pink and befriends one of the students, Courtney Woods.
I would say they pretty much found their footing with this episode in terms of character and pacing. Like it or hate it, this is what “Doctor Who” is going to be from this point forward. I still find it a very brave choice by the BBC to change the tone of the show so drastically from what was working so well previously. But more shows should probably take notice. In order to keep something fresh, you need to sometimes toss out the old before it begins to go stale. “Doctor Who” has always excelled at this which is why it has probably survived for so many years and will continue to do so for many years to come.
I liked “The Caretaker” very much. It gave us a chance to really feel out the dynamic between Clara and the Capaldi Doctor, along with the new character of Danny Pink. The Doctor doesn’t really like Danny because he used to be a soldier and the Doctor doesn’t like soldiers. And Danny isn’t too crazy about the Doctor as well, nor is he happy about Clara’s secret life. So Clara really has her hands full juggling these two.
The Skovox Blitzer storyline was really nothing more than just an excuse to ground Capaldi in Clara’s world for an episode and get us to know these characters better. But I really do wish they had come up with something a bit more creative and interesting to wrap that part of the story around. I think we are all tired of killer robots at this point. And that’s probably the main weakness of this season thus far. The characterization is there, but the storylines to back it up just really aren’t up to par. Or at least, not yet.
Killer robots aside, I did find the rest of the episode to be fun thanks to the actors involved. I very much enjoyed their dynamic. And I look forward to them further developing the character of Danny Pink. I think there is really something interesting there, but I’m still getting a bit of a Mickey Smith vibe. And I’m just not a fan of passive aggressiveness.
They’ve also brought on a new character by the name of Courtney Woods, a student at Clara’s school (first introduced in the episode “Into the Dalak”). The Doctor has taken a liking to her and allowed her to travel in the Tardis. I’m curious to see what they end up doing with this character. But as much as I liked “The Sarah Jane Adventures” we certainly don’t need this show turning into that. Though I suspect they won’t go that direction.
So the first video below is an introduction by Steven Moffat for this current episode, followed by a clip from the episode as well (with a nice shout out to River Song). Then we have Episode 6 of “Doctor Who Extra” followed by a preview from next week’s episode “Kill the Moon.”
And for a full episode guide for this current season (including future episodes) CLICK HERE.