8.6. The Caretaker

Series 8 - 2014

Writers: Gareth Roberts and Steven Moffat
Produced by: Nikki Wilson
Director: Paul Murphy
Music: Murray Gold

Synopsis

After having a number of adventures and facing many perilous situations Clara asks the Doctor where the next trip is going, and the Doctor tells here that he is going deep undercover without her. When Clara has gone the Doctor re-checks the TARDIS. It is showing another alien presence in East London.

The next day Clara attends a staff meeting at Coal Hill school where the head teacher tells them that Atif is off sick and that they have a new Caretaker, John Smith, who likes to be called the Doctor. After the meeting Danny asks Clara is she knows the Doctor and tells him she has never met him before.

Close to the school CSO Matthew finds two Coal Hill pupils outside an abandoned building. They say they have a free period but Matthew tells them to get back to school. After they leave he hears a noise inside the building. Thinking there are more kids inside he goes inside. He hears a metallic voice and comes across a Skovox Blitzer. The Skovox Blitzer assess Matthew and comes to the conclusion he is a problem, and the solution is to destroy.

As Clara is teaching an English class the Doctor appears at the window, stood on a ladder as the room is several stories up, and starts to correct Clara's facts about Jane Austen (Clara had written that Pride and Prejudice has been written in 1797 when it should have been 1796) that she had written on a white board. As soon as the bell goes she immediately goes to look for the Doctor (leaving Kelvin to ask about homework).

She sees the Doctor talking to Adrian but keeps getting interrupted trying to reach him. By the time she does get to him Danny has joined Adrian. The Doctor seems to have a problem understanding that Danny, an ex-soldier, teaches maths and not P.E. As Danny goes back to his class Adrian talks to Clara and the Doctor gets the impression that Clara is going out with Adrian. Adrian does have a passing resemblance to the Eleventh Doctor, even wearing a bow-time.

For the rest of the day the Doctor starts setting up devices around the school as well as cleaning. He returns to his caretaker's shed where the TARDIS is kept to check on the Skovox Blitzer. He doesn't spot Courtney coming in to ask for paper towels to clean up a spillage. She sees the TARDIS and a green glow coming from inside. The Doctor evades her questions and hands her some paper towels, which she forgets when Clarta enters the room.

Clara asks the Doctor what he is up to and using his sonic screwdriver shows Clara a scanner he is using to track the Skovox Blitzer that had probably homed in on the area's increased levels of artron radiation. Inside the TARDIS the Doctor shows Clara a watch that makes the wearer invisible. He explains to Clara that he has set up a series of chronodyne generators in the school to lure the Skovox Blitzer. He plans to use the watch so it cannot detect him, and that the school most suitably empty place in the local area.

That evening the Doctor goes hunting for, and to provoke, the Skovox Blitzer, unaware that in the school Danny Pink has discovered, and inadvertently deactivated, some of the chronodyne generators. The Skovox Blitzer follows tracks the invisible Doctor back to the school. In the assembly room the Doctor had arranged chairs containing chronodyne generators, and he soon spots they are flashing red not green. The Skovox Blitzer sees the now visible Doctor and is about to attack when Danny enters the room. He manages to dive out of the way as the Skovox Blitzer fires at him. When Danny drops the chronodyne generator it re-activates and the Doctor opens a temporal portal that drags the Skovox Blitzer into the future.

Clara arrives in time to see the Skovox Blitzer disappear. The chronodyne generators had been set to send the Skovox Blitzer billions of years into the future but Danny's interference means it has only been 74 hours into the future. Danny is a bit shocked at the way Clara is casually talking about the Skovox Blitzer and thinks she is from space. Danny doesn't accept Clara's excuse that they are rehearsing a play. The Doctor plans to erase Danny's memory when Clara says that Danny is her boyfriend.

Danny asks Clara to explain, and she says the Doctor is an alien that they travel through time and space. The Doctor then reveals the TARDIS from behind curtains on the stage. Clara takes a stunned Danny back home where she tries to explain that an alien that used to look like Adrian is now a Scottish caretaker.

Danny wants to see the real Clara and the next day Clara gives Danny the watch. Inside the TARDIS she talks to the Doctor about the Skovox Blitzer. When the Doctor starts behaving more oddly that usual Danny reveals himself. As a soldier Danny identifies the Doctor as an officer, something the Doctor tries hard to deny as Danny is dismissed from the TARDIS.

That evening is parents' evening. As this takes place the Skovox Blitzer returns early. The Doctor appears at the gym door and gets the attention of Clara and Danny. The Doctor gives Clara his sonic screwdriver to attract the Skovox Blitzer and she leads it back to the Doctor. The Doctor has a device that can make the Skovox Blitzer think he is its general and he gives it an order to deactivate. The order is not correct and the Skovox Blitzer starts a self-destruct.

The Doctor needs a distraction to get the order right, and Danny provides the distraction the Doctor needs. The Doctor is able to give the Skovox Blitzer the correct order to shut down.

As Clara and Danny return home the Doctor offers Courtney a trip inside the TARDIS and sends the Skovox Blitzer into space. As the Doctor shows Courtney space through the TARDIS doors Courtney feels sick and causes a spillage in the TARDIS.

CSO Matthew finds himself in a strange white office. An official, Seb, tells the officer that he is dead and that he is in a place that has many names such as the Afterlife, the Promised Land or the Nethersphere where he will meet Missy, when she is not busy.

Regular Cast

  • Clara Oswald: Jenna Coleman

Guest Cast

  • Danny Pink: Samuel Anderson
  • Courtney Woods: Ellis George
  • Adrian: Edward Harrison
  • Mr Armitage: Nigel Betts
  • CSO Matthew: Andy Gillies
  • Noah: Nanya Campbell
  • Yashe: Joshua Warner-Campbell
  • Kelvin: Oliver Barry-Brook
  • Tobias: Ramone Morgan
  • Mr Woods: Winston Ellis
  • Mrs Woods: Gracy Goldman
  • Mrs Christopholou: Diana Katis
  • Skovox Blitzer: Jimmy Vee
  • Seb: Chris Addison

Original broadcast on the BBC

Channel Title Date Viewers Rating
BBC 1 (HD) 6. The Caretaker Saturday, 27 September 2014 20:30 - 21:15 6.81M 83

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