Welcome again to another episode of the Space-Dad Companion Piece, where our expert team takes a look at the latest episode of Doctor Who. The Doctor goes deep undercover this week, as a dangerous force threatens both Clara’s school and, worse, her relationship with Danny Pink.
Spoilers from this point on. Do not read on unless you’ve seen The Caretaker.
The first thing I want to ask, before we get onto this week, is how we generally feel about episodes like this one, where the Doctor gets put into more mundane situations – things like The Lodger and The Power of Three?
Most of the time it comes off trite, but this episode was actually very well done. It worked mostly because the characters were bickering and had drama – as well as the eventual introduction of Danny to the Doctor.
I also liked the bit with the schoolgirl. Seemed like it was setting something up…

Sometimes they work. The Lodger was a great episode with some great set moments.
Others feel like they have run out of steam halfway through.
The Power of Three definitely collapsed half way through, I agree. But I do tend to enjoy seeing the Doctor struggle as a fish-out-of-water, and there was loads of that this week.
Was that the same girl in next-week’s preview, by the way, or was that someone else with similar hair?

I think they could’ve picked her up when she’s older (Amy Pond style).
What didn’t work so well for me was the alien thing. It was kind of okay – but not fantastic. We didn’t really get to the bottom of why it was there (or how it come to be there). It just seemed very “background-ish”.

It was properly tacky, wasn’t it. But, I suppose, if it had been any good we’d probably all be complaining because it was barely in the episode! I didn’t mind that it wasn’t well explained because it really wasn’t the focus of the story.
But I admit, for the universe’s greatest warrior it was a pretty crappy shot.










It was nice to see the Doctor tinkering with other gadgets, rather than just the sonic screwdriver.



No, I think it was a knitted jumper with white stitches here and there – reminiscent of a starry sky.
I also noticed that the clothes Clara was wearing was almost like the inverse of what the Doctor wore – black spots on white rather than white spots on black…
Oh, and I was right – Clara is an English teacher!




Yeah, I think he’s definitely growing on me. And the dynamic of the Doctor and Danny was bringing out the darker side of the Doctor…
I think they’re definitely trying to play the Doctor as a father figure.


He’s being played as more than just a soldier though – I think earlier in the season we did see Danny trying to get away from his past.






He also married a gun-happy lunatic, lets not forget!
Yay for the mention of River chucking him out, by the way. I’m glad to hear that they properly lived together at some point.

Plus don’t forget his daughter was a soldier!
I want River back now!
And blimey, The Doctor’s Daughter. I forgot about her. Wonder if she’ll ever make a return?





I think he’s going to stipulate a trip to make sure Clara is in safe hands. That’d make sense. Can’t imagine the Doctor being too willing to take him along, but I think he will almost force himself aboard.
I think maybe we’ll also get a time-travel story which explains why Danny isn’t keen on being “just a soldier”…

Would be a nice twist, it could indeed work to be fair.
It would definitely be nice to see more of his past.
I don’t quite know why they would go this route (especially peaking interest in him not wanting to remember his past) if it’s just going to be left as it is. Although it’s entirely possible I’m reading too much into it…








Yeah, this is the first time I’ve almost believed that it’s really the afterlife.
Almost.



I kinda love that name.
But the most interesting development this week is that it’s not a one-woman show. Missy has employees helping with whatever it is she’s doing.
It’s an organisation…
…but for what?




The whole chore for Clara shifting with between the Doctor and then to Danny was pretty funny – reminds of that one montage last season.
And the Doctor getting Clara mixed up with that other teacher was good.

Aye definitely on purpose, no way was it coincidence.
His vanity really spoke volumes there, with Adrian.
Oh, absolutely. That’s why the Doctor was so pleased she liked him.
“He did remind me of a dashing young time-traveller.”
Ah, didn’t catch that bit.
The humour is quite well done, but the reason it works so well is because of the tension between them all. If it weren’t for that I don’t think it would’ve worked so well.
I agree – this series is doing a really nice job of juggling serious stuff like Danny’s past and Clara’s relationship with all the humour and fun and nonsense.
They haven’t gone too overboard with this “darker Doctor” stuff, and I appreciate that.
Yeah, it does seem to have eased off at the moment – something very much for the best.
They’ve found a balance between characterisation and plot which works nicely.






I really enjoyed this episode too. The humour was spot-on, and all the character work was excellent – the animosity between Danny and the Doctor is really compelling and I’m really looking forward to wherever it leads. I agree that the monster was rubbish, but I disagree that it was a problem – I felt it was exactly what an episode like this needed.
All in all, this might be tied with Listen as my favourite episode – that one had a stronger script, but I feel like this one was a little better executed. This series really has its hooks in me now.
I do think the caretaker was a good choice for a role, and one that I can’t quite see Capaldi being comfortable in (not as the Doctor at least). It does make me wonder, with all the running around – how did the school actually keep running?
Generally I thought this episode was probably the strongest so far. It’s mix of drama and humour was fairly believable. It’s just a shame that the background was a bit weak – although I did like the Ghostbuster style backpack as well as all the other references.
The series as a whole is coming into its own. It’s set up enough mysteries to keep stuff going, but not so many that you feel like it doesn’t actually have an end-goal and makes stuff up as it goes along. I just hope that they tie some things into previous seasons – Doctor Who has always treated the regenerations as separate lives, but it doesn’t really have to, and it’d be nice not add to the mythology rather than having it as a separate chapter.
And that’s it from us at The Companion Piece this week. We’ll be back next Monday but, ’til then, why not let us know what you thought of The Caretaker? Get in touch in the comments, on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or by sticking your head through the window and singing like an otter.
We’ll see you all next week when the Doctor and Clara try to Kill the Moon. Apparently.