Doctor Who (TV Series) The Caretaker (2014) User Reviews

Old School (Not in a Good Way)...

[Xstal · 6/10 · 28 December 2021]

There was a Maths teacher called Pink. Would meet Clara at night for a drink. She was often quite late. From a previous date. The Doctor unable to link.

A psychotic robot came to town. Skovox Blitzer would shoot it all down. Mr. Pink saved the day. Acrobatically. Left the Doctor with grimace and frown (the only expressions this incarnation knows if we're honest).

A Splendid Episode

[NineTenElevenTwelve · 8/10 · 29 September 2014]

I had a lot of fun with this episode. I've been looking forward to seeing more of Coal Hill School and Clara's life as a teacher and this episode granted my wish.

We got to see a more humorous side of the Twelfth Doctor and he was a joy to watch throughout. However, this was definitely more Clara's episode than his. She has a lot of great scenes with the Doctor and Danny and the development of her relationship with Danny was wonderful. Danny got more time to shine in this episode and I'm really interested in seeing how his relationship with Clara develops further from here.

The supporting characters are decent and the Skovox Blitzer acts as a fitting monster for the episode.

Overall, "The Caretaker" is a fun episode with some good laughs and some excellent character development.

Improvement on last week

[jasonblack_123 · 8/10 · 1 October 2014]

I can breathe a sigh of relief and I remain un-disappointed in the show again. The Caretaker was in every way an improvement on the atrocity that was last week's Time Heist.

In short: The Doctor returns to Coal Hill School for the first time since Sylvester McCoy in 1989's Remembrance Of The Daleks, this time in the guise of the temporary replacement caretaker. This is in order to find and dispatch the Skovox Blitzer before it can do any real damage.

Things I liked: The setting, it was so cool to be re-introduced to Coal Hill, the location that literally started the show all those years ago. I also love the logic that whilst the 1st Doctor (William Hartnell) in appearance was an old man and (at 55) the first person to play the Doctor, Peter Capaldi has returned to Coal Hill as the 13th Doctor and the 1st in a new line of regenerations, he is still an old man (at 56). Brilliant haha! Peter Capaldi, need I say more? Things that made me say "Meh": The whole subplot between Clara and Danny. I was not a huge fan of the romance of Amy and Rory, and that has not changed with Clara and Danny. Quite frankly it bored me, and so did Samuel Anderson. Perhaps he will grow on me in future.

Also, I was glad to see the return of the "Nethersphere" characters, with the brilliant addition of Chris Addison as the sinister smiling desk jockey.

This week's Kill The Moon looks set to be a fan favourite. My review will come in due course.

Doctor Who : The Caretaker

[Scarecrow-88 · 7/10 · 27 September 2014]

A "skovox blitzer" is the latest problem for The Doctor and Clara Oswald, somewhere "in its hole and soon to get out so that some military soldier will fire at it" in England. Oswald, when not traveling with The Doctor and facing unparalleled peril through dimension and space, is a lit teacher at a prestigious private school and currently dating fellow math teacher, Mr. Pink (his ancestor will be a fellow time traveler they meet at "the end of time as we know it"). A "chronodyne vortex", set to send the killer robot off the planet so it can't endanger kids or citizens, will return because Pink interferes with one of the devices needed in place to keep the said vortex from returning. Pink will learn all about The Doctor (posing as "the new caretaker" so he could set the devices throughout the school) and Clara, but can he keep his lid shut about what he now knows? The robot is basically a substitute Dalek, but is your basic MacGuffen as its importance in the overall plot plays second fiddle to Clara's dilemma involving two men competing for her time…The Doctor and her boyfriend, Pink. While her adventures in the Tardis with The Doctor offer plenty of unpredictable thrills, Clara attempts exhaustingly to maintain her romance with Pink. When the show was rebooted in the 2000s, what started to happen, particularly as Karen Gillan made such a splash as Amy Poole during Matt Smith's too-short time as The Doctor, was a certain significant focus not only on the Time Lord but his female companion. Clara Oswald has certainly been given creative focus over the last few years, even this new series finding herself comforting troubled Doctor as he's a scared child in a barn bed. Now we get to see in this whimsical, comic episode how The Doctor and Danny Pink are at odds (some quite heated, particularly the way The Doctor constantly refers to him as a PE teacher and "the soldier", and how he blames Danny for muffing up the synchronicity which would have resulted in the killer robot's exit) over Clara, with the robot returning from the vortex on "Parents day" as a threat to human life on the school grounds. Set on earth after several adventures elsewhere, it is kind of refreshing to see The Doctor toiling in England until he can circumvent the efforts of the blitzer. Pink gets to save the earth with an athletic move while The Doctor tries to stop the blitzer, and his bond with Clara is cute and charming. Capaldi has been brilliant as an older, bit grumpier, snarkier, and snappy Doctor (a definite change after the likes of young guns, Smith and Tennant) with a scratchy voice and less flamboyant wardrobe. And Capaldi's energy and vitality is evident in every scene he appears. Just like the other Doctors in the past, Capaldi has a commanding presence and never fails in his role as that sharp-witted alien who knows exactly what to do when danger is at its most relevant. Jenna Coleman is so adorable and sharp as Clara; she can hold her own on screen and share quick barbs with Capaldi, so fluidly that the two of them could have easily been cast in those old Hawks screwball comedies. This episode is a different breed of Who episode compared to the epic-minded ones the show has been producing lately, which is kind of like a deep breath and chance to spin a smaller-scaled yarn for a change. The Doctor's dealings with a student ends funnily with her "Tardis sickness" after he shows her space while disposing of the blitzer!

Fun and enjoyable with some terrific character work.

[ryanjmorris · 9/10 · 4 October 2014]

The Caretaker is very likely to wind up the biggest surprise of Doctor Who's eighth season. What could have been a boring rehash of previous episode (on paper, this is The Lodger crossed with School Reunion) was elevated into one of the shows' funniest, most down right entertaining episodes in years. Whilst this year's Robot of Sherwood tried its hand at comedy for almost its entire runtime, The Caretaker was far more successful in just its opening act. But amongst all this comedy lay potentially the most character development I've ever seen in one episode of Doctor Who. The Doctor, Clara and Danny have all been developed nicely over the course of the series thus far, but The Caretaker alone advanced them brilliantly. And, on top of all of this, we were treated to a simple, time travel free story and a brilliantly effective monster. The Caretaker delivered on all forms.

Also to be praised is Jenna Coleman, who gave her best performance yet in terms of both comic timing and emotional depth. In the space of six episodes, Moffat and Coleman have transformed Clara from potentially the show's weakest companion into a character that has a real connection with the audience that's worth investing time in. It makes me really hope the rumours of her leaving at Christmas are untrue. Capaldi was, as ever, incredible. He is proving himself to be the most versatile Doctor that the show has seen since it's revival, and Doctor Who is all the better for it. And, finally, Anderson gave a terrific performance as Danny, who is probably already the best male sidekick Doctor Who has ever produced. It's been so refreshing to watch Clara and Danny's relationship grow throughout the series, rather than have them together at the beginning. Series 8's new found focus on character has really allowed Moffat to write these characters with more content; his scripting here, along with Gareth Roberts, was terrific,

Amid all the nice character work done here, the plot bounced along nicely, reaching a satisfying conclusion with the return of Missy and the Promised Land. It's obvious that this recurring setting will come into play come the series finale, and hopefully it will pay off. The Skovox Blitzer may not have been the greatest villain Doctor Who has ever produced, but it fit well with the episode and gave the characters enough to do to perfectly sustain the 45 minute runtime. While last week's Time Heist felt a bit cluttered, this plot was weighted faultlessly. Overall though, The Caretaker, while not as emotionally strong as other episodes this series, was probably the most enjoyable. It was a perfect example of pure television fun, executed well, and with some fantastic character work running at its core. Doctor Who will always have its naysayers and people who criticise the show for their respective reasons, but, for me, The Caretaker was another great episode in what is very likely to be an incredible series.

Secrets revealed

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 28 September 2014]

In the pre-title we see glimpses of various exciting adventures The Doctor and Clara go on followed by Clara's Boyfriend, Mr Danny Pink's, comments when he sees her when she gets back… why has she suddenly got a tan or why is she soaking wet with bits of seaweed in her hair! Then when the episode proper starts The Doctor tells her they won't be going anywhere for a few days as he has something he must do. It turns out that something is dealing with a deadly robot which is threatening Earth and just happens to be in the vicinity of Clara's school. She has quite a shock when she discovers that The Doctor has got a job as the school's temporary caretaker! While working out how to save the world The Doctor finds time to insult Danny at every opportunity even though he assumes it is another teacher Clara is seeing. When the truths come out both The Doctor and Danny are more than a little surprised.

It seems the creators of the series are more than a little obsessed with robots lately although in this story the robotic threat is more of a McGuffin to get The Doctor into Clara's other life so that He can learn about Danny and Danny can learn what Clara does on her time off. This does lead to some amusing moments although sometimes The Doctor comes across as a little bit too petty as he constantly belittles Danny. The nature of the episode meant there was a fair amount of character development; how it will change the dynamic remains to be seen; hopefully Danny has got over his problem with Clara's travelling with The Doctor by the next episode. Danny wasn't the only person to learn The Doctor's secret; in an amusing aside one of the school's naughtier pupils learns of the Tardis and even gets taken for a ride… with hilarious consequences. Overall this wasn't a bad episode but I couldn't help thinking I'd rather have seen a whole episode based on one of the pre-title escapades… I wanted to see the Sand Piranhas!

The Caretaker

[plutfy720 · 9/10 · 27 September 2014]

First enjoyed this episode mainly for the bantering and Capaldi's great comic timing. He seems to be a cross between the first (cantankerous) and the second (disdain for the military) Doctors. I like many feel that too much of the show is given to Clara (though Jenna is doing a great job). This was true during Matt Smith's reign too, especially with Amelia Pond. Moffatt has brought back happy ending (for the most part) and some very ingenious twist and turns. One can find flaws in Moffatt's stories (but this has been true for every Doctor Who story ever written). They continue to be entertaining and family friendly (though sometimes scary for young children)and that is a hard thing to do in this day and age.

Same lazy tone as Robot of Sherwood

[lukehere99 · 6/10 · 1 October 2014]

Okay, something isn't right here.

So far series eight has been pretty good and overall I'm enjoying it. However something has changed, Robot of Sherwood and The Caretaker are what have brought it to my attention. Most shows have episodes which are less important and a lot more light-hearted than others and that's fine. If every episode was like Listen or Blink then Doctor Who would only appeal to people who want something dark and brooding. There is a difference between something being light- hearted and something being lazy though. Episodes like The Unicorn and The Wasp, The Lodger and The Power of Three were all episodes which had an upbeat tone and felt quite relaxed but the plot was still the main focus and the plot wasn't altered to make way for jokes.

Robot of Sherwood and The Caretaker are different. They both have instantly forgettable characters (the Scovox Blitzer, The Sheriff of Nottingham and the incredibly annoying Robin Hood) and plots which seem like a back story to the main point of the episode, which is to make you laugh. The villain of The Caretaker wasn't introduced until about fifteen minutes into the episode and was then on screen very little. Why? Well because they had to make space for The Doctor making jokes and Clara's complicated love life. Just to prove my point think back to the opening episode of series eight Deep Breath, not overwhelmingly good I must admit, specifically the scene with Clara and The Doctor in the café. That scene was very funny, The Doctor and Clara were making fun of each other while also moving the plot along. The scene overall was in the episode for a purpose which related to the plot. The Caretaker has moments which feel totally disjointed from the rest of the story and could easily be gotten rid of.

Not all bad though. I laughed a few times, even if the jokes felt forced, mainly due to Peter Capaldi, who is doing a brilliant job so far may I add. I enjoy Danny Pinks scenes very much, much more than Clara's which is slightly worrying. The highlight of the episode was definitely the ending scene in Heaven though. We have slowly been given more and more information each week to build up tension and interest us in the series finale, something Moffat has been undeniably good at for a long time.

The Caretaker is a cringe worthy and weak piece of TV. Not on the same level of bad as Robot of Sherwood, but only just bearable in some scenes. This series had better get its sh*t together.

Interesting, Hilarious!

[masonbingley2000 · 9/10 · 28 September 2014]

A very imaginative and intriguing episode. A great monster even if it is barely seen. A superb cast and great script. A lovely write and good twists with a great amount of CGI for an Earth based episode. The Doctor is amazing once again and this episode resolves around Clara heavily. Some long scenes which get a little boring but are made up by the superb script and cast. This love story is getting too much though and seems to be the main story line for most episodes. Clara's character seems to be the most of Series 8 and we have really begun to understand her than more than just the impossible girl. Overall, this episode is jam packed full of hilarious phrases. Interesting characters and great CGI. Loved it.

Funny Caretaker, Annoying Soldier

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 6/10 · 15 March 2019]

This episode reminds me a little of the 10th Doctor story Partners in Crime because as a comedic episode it works well but the dramatic aspects and overall story are weaker. However, with Partners in Crime the humour was even funnier and the dramatic parts were not as weak as in this story with the wonderful Sarah Lancasire adding some class.

The idea here is that the Doctor goes undercover as a Caretaker at Coal Hill School - known to classic Who fans as the school featured in the very first Doctor Who episode in 1963 - in order that he can deal with an alien threat in the area which he reveals is a deadly robot called the Skovox Blitzer. That name given to the robot is pretty rubbish and the robot itself is not great either. It is not that convincing as the level of threat it is meant to be. The plot, both regarding the threat and the soap opera type relationship dramas of Clara and Danny are not very compelling, especially as Danny is such an obnoxious, holier than thou, passive aggressive bloke with a chip on his shoulder. (As a PTSD sufferer myself I don't find him a helpful representation of PTSD either). What is meant to so attract Clara is beyond me. Luckily Peter Capaldi is so wonderful that he somewhat overshadows the weaknesses of the baddie and of Danny.

The performance of Capaldi in every episode to this point had been wonderful and in this he carries the episode single handed, milking every drop of humour and quality possible from the funny script. Despite the story's filler nature, the comedic dialogue is excellent and Capaldi is just hilarious. All the banter with Clara about Danny being a P. E. teacher, about the other teacher looking like the 11th Doctor and his amusing encounters with a stroppy schoolgirl all would make this a great, fun episode if it were not for the weaker dramatic aspects. As it is, the humour is what keeps this from falling to a low level overall for me.

As well as Danny's unappealing nature, Moffatt's insistence on overplaying the Doctor's mistrust and dislike of soldiers this series is at its worst here. Why would the Doctor suddenly be so judgemental when he formerly was great friends with the Brigadier and UNIT? Yes, soldiering is not his way and he will clash with even the Brigadier on occasion over a military approach to problems but it is overstated here. The aggressive exchanges towards the end between Danny and 12 are very annoying. Danny's acrobatics are a bit over the top too.

My opinion is that this could have been a really poor episode if it were not for the witty aspects and Capaldi's brilliance but with a stronger baddie and without Danny Pink this could have been a really strong, fun story. It ends up somewhere in between, not reaching the level of enjoyment it could have at all but kept above a poor level purely by Capaldi and the humour.

It is nice to see Coal Hill School but I wish Chairman of Governors and 1st Doctor companion Ian Chesterton had been in this. Imagine this episode with Ian helping instead of Danny hindering, it could have been a classic like School Reunion.

My Rating: 6/10.

My Series 8 Episode Ranking: 9th out of 12.

Not perfect, but still very exciting episode

[rebook424 · 9/10 · 30 September 2014]

Wow, wow, wow, that was a wicked episode. Wow. It was freakish, suspenseful and action-packed with just enough personal detail input and wit. Also, easter egg galore!!

Danny finally won me over! Well, kind of.

It was a great improvement for me in this last episode. I hadn't been fond of him very much so far. He had seemed way too whiny and easy to offend and not treating Clara as she would have deserved. However, in The Caretaker, it was almost as if a different person were dating her. He was tough - he got over the fact that the Doctor was an alien quicker than I would have given him credit for, he even stood up to him not a bit - and was very protective of Clara. And let's admit it, he was pretty damn amazing flipping over that monster about to blow up half of Earth. I'm not saying he made me all swoony and doting on him, but I found him decent for a change.

Yet another new villain

I really appreciate all these new, quite dandy monsters we get this season. First the Teller, who became one of my favorite villains despite its short appearance. Then now, the Skovox Blitzer, a.k.a one of the deadliest killing machines created ever. (A little cybermen-nostalgia somebody?) I've got to say, it lived up to the title. In spite of its not-so-grandiose appearance even the Doctor seemed to be a tad bit scared in an up- close face off. Who could blame him? The thing had laser guns on the end of both of its arms. And when its eyes lit up for the first time and it said 'destroy', the scene that was showed in the trailer, too, that was creepy as hell.

The Promised Land

After a few episodes off, the Promised Land is back! In a whole different perspective. This time, we didn't see Missy welcoming the newcomer, it was a man who heard out the cop's last story. The landscape had changed as well. We weren't at a nice, lush garden, having tea, or sitting in a comfy chair, we were in the middle of a long white corridor. It didn't look like Heaven at all. The cop's face proves that when he looks out the window.

At a point, we did get a glimpse of Missy though. She didn't seem very happy. I wonder what made her upset. I'd guess it was related to something big, the arc of the season, and I'd also say, it wasn't something like a dog peed on her shoes. No. We're getting closer to the big revelations. And I'm so. Freaking. Excited.

Courtney

Courtney was another newbie to the show. She looked alright, however, I feel like we didn't get enough of her to indeed judge her. In the view we did get of her, she seemed a bit obnoxious, the kind who talks more bluntly than she is for real. But she's going to be in the next episode, too, and I am looking forward to learning more about her.

The Caretaker

[studioAT · 6/10 · 1 August 2023]

Who needs plot when you can turn Doctor Who into a school based sitcom!

Following on from the success of 'The Lodger' and the sort of sequel 'Closing Time' the Moffatt era again puts the Doctor (this time the 12th rather than the 11th) into a situation where they have to blend in with the human race.

Plot seems to go out of the window while trying to acheive this though, with the notion that Peter Capaldi's Doctor trying to 'act human' would be enough to carry the episode through.

Sadly it's not, and the less said about the consistently wooden writing of the Clara/Danny romance the better.

However, for me this was my favourite episode with the dour 12th incarnation of the Doctor yet.

He's brighter, he's funnier here, and there's a sense of pathos within him as the 11th Doctor somewhere inside his being sees Clara go off and be happy. For now.

So yes, very little plot, but some nice character stuff to make up for it.

More Care Should Have Been Taken In Thinking Up A Plot

[Theo Robertson · 5/10 · 27 September 2014]

One problem with getting used to NuWho is comparing it to the classic series . With NuWho the story lines are streamlined and compared to the 21st Century the old show is somewhat plodding and lacking in shape . The six part stories in the 1970s especially suffer badly from this . In their defence the episodes weren't meant to be watched consecutively one after another and quite often they disguised their short comings by being atmospheric and dramatic . A one part 45 episode from 2014 should have no padding . What's worse it can have no excuses for padding but that's what we got tonight from Gareth Roberts and Steven Moffat

Right chap lets have a monster . What type of monster ? I know a robotic monster . Didn't we have robotic enemies in the first three weeks of this series ? Yes we did but we've gone two weeks without a robotic monster so lets bring one back and give it an incredibly silly name . And no one loses their memory this week so the audience can't claim there's a lack of variety . Aren't we clever ?

I bet these DOCTOR WHO script meetings are very entertaining . And very short too . Shocking to think this episode was broadcast at 8.30 pm very close to the watershed where British television is allowed to be risqué and cutting edge . Any hope that this episode will push out the boundaries of the show's perimeters are soon dashed . what we sadly have is something similar to THE SARAH JANE SMITH ADVENTURES as interpreted by Steven Moffat . Lots of quips , one liners , quips , zaniness , quips , one liners and quips . Oh and there's a robot with a silly name that appears for about two minutes , then disappears . Then more quips , more one liners , more zany stuff more quips and more one liners . Oh here's the robot again for two minutes . The end

I'm really starting to get frustrated . Capaldi still remains to have the potential as the greatest Doctor in the history of the show but he's constantly hamstrung by Moffat's scripting . If you're wondering why Moffat has so many co-scripting credits this year that's because the scripts were written in a generic manner by the other writers without the 12th Doctors persona being established so Moffat has had to rewrite the stories to bring in a more rooted 12th Doctor . Again Moffat has made a bad job of it and Capaldi seems to be playing a different character every week in stories that have a sameness to them . In the classic series it was the Doctor who remained the same week in week out with the stories having variety . Mind you that was produced under a succession of different producers who all brought their own vision to the show then moved on when they had enough . Some of us have had more than enough of Moffat a long time ago

The Almighty Janitor

[boblipton · 9/10 · 27 September 2014]

It's a bad day at Coal Hill School. Clara discovers that the Doctor is acting as the temporary caretaker in an effort to protect the planet from an intergalactic killing machine who is stuck on earth. Not only must she deal with the Doctor's shenanigans, she has to introduce him to Danny Pink.

Gareth Roberts has had offered some fun in recent years by putting the Doctor on Earth in ordinary-seeming settings where things just keep getting funnier and funnier. He's played this a couple of times with the inimitable James Corden as his put-upon henchman. In this one he throws a spanner into Clara's budding romance with Danny.

The first half plays nicely with the Almighty Janitor trope. The Almighty Janitor is the guy without whom the place cannot operate, who has access to all things. It's a fairly well-known story-telling technique. The tvtropes web site has a long section on the Almighty Janitor, with examples ... many of them from the real world.

It's an episode that is well integrated with the season arc. The only cavil I have is that I can't follow the multiplicity of regional English accents. Is it possible that the series will eventually come with subtitles?

The Caretaker: Contains spoilers!

[aj_sucks_1989 · 9/10 · 28 September 2014]

This episode revolves primarily around the Doctor meeting Danny. Although this episode is funny as hell; its also a little scary at times.

Moffat and Capaldi did a good job at brining out the absolute worst in the Doctor. There are several scenes where I was left wandering whether the doctor was actually "The Doctor". He is portrayed as cold, uncaring and frankly, downright menacing.

The monster wasn't very interesting. In fact, it was more like a filler to alleviate the tension between the main characters.

The Caretaker, in my opinion, is an excellent episode.

Fun and funny caretaker

[dkiliane · 8/10 · 16 April 2019]

This episode basically highlights the dangers of having the Doctor around even in seemingly innocuous environments. Tracking a very deadly robot, he basically uses the school as a trap (to be fair it was supposed to be empty at the time) to capture it, and of course Clara and her fellow teacher and boyfriend Danny Pink become involved, much to the Doctor's chagrin. And of course everything goes wrong.

While the Doctor's antics as caretaker are fun and humorous to watch, the main premise and conflict with the robot is standard Doctor Who fare. But their is also a nice subplot of the Doctor misunderstanding who Clara's boyfriend is, which actually elevated the episode higher than it otherwise would have been. Starting out as a bit of comedy to add levity to the hunt for the robot, it leads into some wonderful and dramatic character development for the Doctor, Clara and Danny. As the Doctor disapproves unilaterally of all soldiers and Danny is a former soldier and proud to be so, (though he has some ambivalence over some of the things he'd done) it causes quite a bit of tension once the truth comes out. But the real treat is how Danny calls out the Doctor on his own past record, though a tenuous understanding is made. Because of this, an otherwise moderately entertaining story is raised to an intriguing and worthwhile character study. 8/10

The Caretaker

[MrFilmAndTelevisionShow · 9/10 · 16 April 2021]

I very nearly gave this episode a ten, which is not something I do often, I just thought it was so funny so frequently that it deserved it, genuine laughing out loud this episode provoked in me. I think however that the actual villain of the story was while good, was not particularly threatening and didn't quite warrent the episode being bestowed a nice big ten.

The Ozwald saga

[largeduck · 4/10 · 27 September 2014]

Well the ongoing story of Clara Oswald saviour of the universe and all round wonder woman continues. In this episode she tries to have a date with on/off/on boyfriend Mr Pink but keeps getting momentarily interrupted by a cyberman/dalek/spider cross machine. When I say momentary blink and you will miss it, never has a promising monster been so wantonly frittered away just so we can get back to the soup opera love life of Miss Clara flipping Oswald. Also the title Doctor (WHO?) is well deserved here as his part was so irrelevant to the plot you wonder why the writers bothered making a part for him.

If I wanted to watch Eastenders I would watch Eastenders however I do not like that type of show I like to settle down and watch a nice romp through time and space which is not what I am getting recently.

Of course I could be (and normally am) hopelessly wrong about all this and this long winded soup story could be building up to some heart retching finale, we are obviously building up to some kind of story arc finale .. just hope it involves the Doctor in some menial way.

Desperately needs someone over 5 who can write a script

[doorsscorpywag · 2/10 · 30 September 2014]

A 2 year old would disown this episode. Mr Pink and Clara are boring. But it seems we are stuck with them until Coleman leaves. This episode was rubbish. Not as bad as Robot of Sherwood which was abysmal but rubbish all the same. Peter Capaldi is doing a great job. The Doctor is an alien who is not sympathetic and cuddly. We are back to a Tom Baker and Patrick Troughton type character and that is great. But he needs some stories that are not like episodes of The Young Ones. Matt Smith did a good job but was let down by the scripts. Capaldi is doing a good job but again let down by scripts.

The terrifying Skovox Blitzer give me a break. It sounds like a bad punk group and looked like Metal Mickey on crack. Hopefully we never see another one.

Listen was by a mile the best episode so far for him. We need more like it. I do hope we don't see another heart wrenching finale with Pink as we have seen that so often already.

I have been there since the start of Doctor Who and enjoy the fun Who episodes which have been a tradition since day one. But this is beginning to become dull and boring.

Get some edge back to the show and give Capaldi some decent stories to show what he can do.

The sooner we get rid of Clara and Pink the better. Give the doctor a cat as a companion and lets see some episodes that have balls and lets have stories that make us feel a bit scared like the old days.

Is this bad soap opera really Doctor Who?

[WeeClaude · 4/10 · 4 October 2014]

So, when did Doctor Who become a silly soap opera about a love triangle between the Doctor, his companion, and his companion's drippy boyfriend?

Oh, that's right...in 2005. Russell T. Davies did the first triangle storyline with Rose, the Doctor and Mickey. And it happened again later, with Amy, the Doctor and Rory. And now it's happening a third time, with Clara, the Doctor and Danny. Except this time, instead of the love triangle being a subplot, it's the MAIN plot, and the sci-fi elements of the show are being completely pushed to the sidelines. Yikes!

Also, when did the Doctor turn into a complete freak who can't socialize with humans? The Doctor of the classic series was eccentric, sure, but he was also urbane and charming in many situations. But here, Peter Capaldi is playing a scatterbrained, ridiculous cartoon version of the Doctor - totally different, in fact, from the persona he established in earlier episodes. Ah, but this is a "funny" episode, so now the Doctor must behave like a poor copy of Doc Brown.

Another question: when did the Doctor develop such a deep prejudice against soldiers? In the 1970s, he was friends with characters like the Brigadier and Sgt. Benton. Sure, he sometimes challenged their militarism, but deep down he liked them and he often treated them with respect. But here, the 12th Doctor automatically hates all soldiers and therefore hates Danny Pink before he has any reason to. Why? When did the Doctor become such a jerk? Is he just jealous of Danny being with Clara? (And I thought Capaldi said there would be no romance between his older Doctor and a young companion - so much for that claim.)

And don't even get me started on the "villain" in this episode. It looks like a pile of spare parts, assembled from the 1985 inventory at Radio Shack. I guess they couldn't have just updated the Raston Warrior Robot, huh? Yeah, that might've been cool, so obviously a bad idea.

In short - I'm astonished that Doctor Who is like this now. To me, the show has no idea what it wants to be anymore. Is it a kid's action show, a proper sci-fi series for adults, or a shallow romance for tweens? It's trying to please all of its audiences at once, and in a really pandering, goofy way. And yet it seems to be popular...go figure. (Well, pretty popular. It still hasn't sold out quite enough to compete with The X-Factor.)

What would (classic Doctor Who writer) Robert Holmes have to say about all this? I bet he would just change the channel on this stupid stuff. And I'd support his decision. In fact, I'd hand him a beer and say, "Bob, how about we watch some real sci-fi now?" Like, maybe The Caves of Androzani...

I despise Danny Pink

[katherinelovasz-23499 · 3/10 · 3 January 2022]

The most obnoxious character ever. He completely destroyed Clara's character, destroyed the season. So sanctimonious, so full of himself, and what they made Clara into, a sniveling little "I must defend my idiotic boyfriend at all costs" type of character, really let me down.

Please something needs to change.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 5/10 · 18 September 2015]

Clara is struggling to balance life with the Doctor and her domestic life. The Doctor has become caretaker at Clara's School, where alien creature Skovox Blitzer is on the loose.

Capaldi once again is utterly captivating, he's too good for this episode, compare this to Listen, it all comes down to the writing, and with this one it's just not up to scratch. The Skovox Blitzer is possibly the worst monster ever created, it's just terrible, too CBBC.

The main problem here is the plot, or rather the absence of one.

Danny Pink is something of a mixed bag, he has some great exchanges with the Doctor.

Best bit has to be the surreal ending featuring the Skovox's early victim, with Missy and the awesome Chris Addison. I love the way that arc is going.

I have to talk about Moffat, over the last few years he has allowed too many duff episodes to go into production, they have an outstanding talent in Peter Capaldi, but he deserves better then this, this is just not good enough for him. He's a wonderful writer, but as a showrunner there are a few too many episodes that are not good enough.

Disappointing on so many levels. 5/10.

Sorry.... was there an episode?

[hoytyhoyty · 1/10 · 28 September 2014]

I was cooking while I was watching this, so I only had one eye on the screen, but I kept a careful look-out in case anything interesting appeared.

As a result, I had an almost completely uninterrupted kitchen session.

Seemed to be some kind of soap-opera, involving: Clara, and a school. Some desperate effort to shoe-horn in a new character, at all costs. A lot of jolly japes, that didn't matter. A Matt-Smith reference, that was mildly amusing but pointless. Oh yes, and a really silly, supermarket-toy robot.

Oh, IMDb wants more lines. Hmmm. Difficult, as there is really nothing to say. At. All. About. This. Episode.

I guess, simply: it sucked.

But it was so uninteresting that it was actually difficult to tell.

My meat and pasta came out beautifully though!

---

PS -

Ooh-ooh! Later that night, I watched 'Fiend Without A Face', an early telepathy film in B&W, made in 1958 in the frost of the cold-war.

Cheesy special effects, and just-good-enough acting.

But... it was real SF, with a story, and gripping, and it wasn't soap-opera. Even though was made in the late fifties, with almost no budget, it was still a great little SF story. With SF in it. Real SF.

You're getting the point here, right?

---

Doctor Who: The Soap Opera

[warlordartos · 1/10 · 19 April 2021]

That would have been a fitting subtitle to this episode. How it Robots of Sherwood rating lower than this dribble. While this isn't worth 1/10, I would however struggle to give it 3/10. The only half decent parts are The Doctor being like the Doctor from season 1, in this case not knowing about human relationships. The better part being The Doctor riling Dani Pink up, much like The 9th Doctor would rile Mickey up. The rest of the show was just hopeless.

Oh and because it's Doctor Who they chucked in some earth destroying robot for a minute or two here and there.

Moffats attempt at School Reunion

[elias-34013 · 5/10 · 24 October 2023]

Moffat has an obsession with doing multiple time scenes instead of just sticking to one time and place. It really hinders the story making it feel less important.

Although Capaldi is excellent, introducing himself as the Doctor is front of the whole staff room just feels unnatural. The scenes of the Doctor disguising himself and investigating is fun and refreshing. But it's just not quite like series 2's school reunion.

Instead of teachers that are secretly killer bats eating children we have a CBeebies type robot with the same corny dialogue as the Cybermen.

This would've been the perfect opportunity to bring back the Slitheen.