8X06 "The Caretaker" Grading/Discussion)(SPOILERS!

[Cutter John]

I guess its something we can put down to "England is different from the US".

DoctorPicard: If you feel the doctor has been "Exiled to Earth" now, you should probably avoid Eccleston's season.

And now I'm headed over the GB to see what the comments are like. May God have mercy on my soul.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

With this episode and the ones prior, why do I feel as though the Doctor has been exiled to stay on Earth again? Admittedly, the bank from Time Heist was on another planet, you wouldn't know it. This season feels like Coupling Feat. Doctor Who.

Ummm, Into the Dalek was on an asteroid. Time Heist was clearly on a planet destroyed by a solar storm. In addition, the Doctor has traveled through time to different points, which is very different from when the Third Doctor was exiled on Earth with a non-operable TARDIS. If this were series one with Christopher Eccleston, I could see your point, but I see nothing unusual here.

Obviously, the utter lack of Ian Chesterfield is mind-boggling. And inexcusible - not even a cameo?

Why would you waste him on a cameo? And why are we assuming William Russell wants to do a cameo as Chesterton?

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Most enjoyable episode of the season for me so far. This episode contained a lot of the fun that's been missing. The Doctor was solidly Doctor-ish here, and him trying to blend in was great. Loved the misunderstanding about the teacher Adrian, the Doctor giving the "disruptive influence" girl a trip in the TARDIS, and the reference to him living with otters for a while after an argument with River. And for the first time the Clara/Danny stuff didn't bore me to tears, though Danny did rub me the wrong way in spots, particularly towards the end.

Was it "otters" or "Autons"?

 

[Lakenheath 72]

The close captioning has the spelling "otters".

As for President Obama, he is called the first black president because of his skin color. If he was lighter in color, he might be called the first mulatto president. Yes, it's silly.

Someone wrote that we should return the discussion to Doctor Who. I wrote what I perceived in the episode based on what I am hearing and reading in the news and knowing American history. So, I was writing about Doctor Who in the context of what I am experiencing and feeling.

45 minutes isn't a lot of time for an episode to develop. This episode had three stories crammed into it: the A story (the Doctor is hunting down a robot that could destroy humanity); the B story (the ongoing Oswald-Pink romance); and the C story (Missy). A 45 episode works when there is one story, and some of the best, according to the latest survey by Doctor Who Magazine, in the current generation were those that focused on a single A story or were able to balance the A and B stories. This has been a problem with television series since the 1980s. (Ex. TNG)

It is never explained how a single robot poses a threat to humanity, when the humans have the technology to defeat it and there is a Time Lord who is on its trail.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I don't think the C story counts as part of the story at all. There was no intent to develop it, only tease it.

I'd argue the A story and B stories are the opposite of what you think they are. The robot is secondary. That being said, they did explain why it was a threat (if it felt sufficiently threatened, it could blow up the entire planet). The self-destruct sequence was it about to fulfill that threat.

 

[Cutter John]

One robot blowing up the whole planet strikes me as a terrible case of overkill. Blowing up "Most of London" would have more than sufficed.

 

[The Wormhole]

An entertaining and kind of fun episode. A bit disappointed they didn't go in for some sort of big continuity reference what with it being in Coal Hill and all, but whatever, I guess it could have been too fanboy if they did. It's nice Danny is finally in the picture so to speak, that is he knows all about the Doctor and the TARDIS and so we can get on with him actually helping out as opposed to getting in the way.

The whole thing with the alien robot did feel kind of tacked on, as though someone was saying "guys there has to be an alien threat, or else it isn't Doctor Who." While I think the story of the Doctor learning to cope with Clara and Danny would have made a stronger episode it if were the sole focus, I guess without the alien there wouldn't really be a need for the Doctor to spend a week hanging out at Coal Hill. So while that part of the plot might feel tacked on, it's also a necessary evil to serve the plot of the episode.

I have to admit, I'm kind of surprised I like Courtney. Based on how she was set up I got the impression they were going to make her an annoying kid, but I liked her scenes with the Doctor and her reaction upon learning what the TARDIS actually is. Should be interesting next week when she goes on a trip in the TARDIS.

Overall, it wasn't a bad episode. It had its moments and was fun and enjoyable, but there seemed a lot of room for improvement too.

 

[JoeZhang]

Most enjoyable episode of the season for me so far. This episode contained a lot of the fun that's been missing. The Doctor was solidly Doctor-ish here, and him trying to blend in was great. Loved the misunderstanding about the teacher Adrian, the Doctor giving the "disruptive influence" girl a trip in the TARDIS, and the reference to him living with otters for a while after an argument with River. And for the first time the Clara/Danny stuff didn't bore me to tears, though Danny did rub me the wrong way in spots, particularly towards the end.

Was it "otters" or "Autons"?

Auton otters.

 

[diankra]

I wrote what I perceived in the episode based on what I am hearing and reading in the news and knowing American history.

And this is an episode set in contemporary Britain, where two main characters are African-descended Britons in a plot where their ancestry has no apparent relevance except that it reflects London 2014 as pretty racially mixed, as it has been for several decades.
American history is irrelevant here. British history might be relevant (Enoch Powell encouraging Caribbean immigration in the 1950s thinking it would be temporary, and so on, which is touched upon in Remembrance of the Daleks), but equally might not be. The days when an Afro-Caribbean actor was only cast because the series was about to Do The Racism Plot (see EastEnders for most of the 1990s) are, thankfully, gone.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

As a US viewer I too did perk up at the black students being moved along by the policeman. It's a fair point because things like that are sometimes rightfully and sometimes perhaps overly noticed by the media and public finding things that aren't really there (as is hopefully the case here).

As for President Obama, he is called the first black president because of his skin color. If he was lighter in color, he might be called the first mulatto president.

No, no he wouldn't. And if he were a quarter black we wouldn't call him a quadroon either.

 

[Captaindemotion]

I personally liked that they didn't beat us over the head with continuity references to the other episodes set in this school. I think the fact that it's the same school is enough of a nod to the show's past. Gratuitous mentions of previous stories would've been superfluous, to my mind. Sometimes, less is more.

 

[The Wormhole]

I personally liked that they didn't beat us over the head with continuity references to the other episodes set in this school. I think the fact that it's the same school is enough of a nod to the show's past. Gratuitous mentions of previous stories would've been superfluous, to my mind. Sometimes, less is more.

Oh, I agree. But I still would have enjoyed a direct reference to Ian or Barbara. Or even Susan. I'm not heartbroken they didn't do it, but it would have been nice.

 

[JoeZhang]

As a US viewer I too did perk up at the black students being moved along by the policeman.

That's perfectly normal in the UK - the racist MPS are far more likely to illegally stop black youth on a weak pretense than any actual legal grounds.

 

[Mr Awe]

Honestly, why would William Russel be in a story like this? He's an 80 year old member of the schools board of directors. I still hope he turns up, but this didn't seem like the right story for it.

This would be exactly the right type of story for a cameo. In a fun moment, he could be at the parent conferences, making intros, or what not, and have a few fun lines with the Doctor.

The last thing I'd expect is for him to have a larger role in a more serious, action oriented story.

Missed opportunity.

Mr Awe

 

[davejames]

An entertaining and kind of fun episode. A bit disappointed they didn't go in for some sort of big continuity reference what with it being in Coal Hill and all, but whatever, I guess it could have been too fanboy if they did. It's nice Danny is finally in the picture so to speak, that is he knows all about the Doctor and the TARDIS and so we can get on with him actually helping out as opposed to getting in the way.

The shame of it is, I would have loved to have seen the slightly more bumbling Danny of the first few episodes going on adventures with Clara and the Doctor, because it would have been a lot of fun seeing how he reacted to everything. But now that there's all this tension and distrust going on between him and the Doctor, I'm not sure I really like the idea of him tagging along anymore.

Especially since we already had that dynamic between Rory and Eleven, with Rory not fully trusting the Doctor and thinking he was putting Amy in too much danger all the time. I just don't really see the point in rehashing all of that again.

 

[Vic Sixx]

I thought it was average, but that opening bit of them chained up in the desert seemed tacked on from an entirely different episode, didn't get it at all.

 

[Count Zero]

The question of race in Doctor Who is a complex one and we've discussed it here in this forum a couple of times. I've been thinking about it again more recently while watching the Davison era which is incredibly white, yet deals with colonialism a lot. It certainly deserves its own thread.

While I can see how the role of POCs in this episode can come across as upsetting now that it's been pointed out I believe that it wasn't intended that way. On the contrary, it seems to me that Doctor Who (its modern incarnation, mind you) strives to show diversity in its cast. Due to the current Doctor and companion being white this leads to many of the supporting roles being played by non-white actors and actresses. Not all of those roles are complimentary. However, generally the show shows blacks in a variety of roles, jobs and levels of society. This episode also featured a black maths teacher saving the Doctor and Clara from being killed and the world.

The Doctor (in the new show) tends to dislike people he suspects to be his companion's boyfriends (e.g. Adam, Mickey) at first. In this case, the Doctor couldn't imagine a soldier being anything else than a PE teacher. His race didn't play any role. The dialogue made that very clear. I admit that the connection is very unfortunate, though.

At the end of the episode, the Doctor admits that he was wrong about Danny. The Doctor isn't always right and he isn't always entirely good. That's also true of the old show.

The interpretation of the Timelords as aristocracy is that of Danny and thus not necessarily accurate. However, I always thought that in the old show there was an aristocratic element to them, at least to the High Council with its titles of Lord Chancellor and such. Even on the old show there was a Guard on Gallifrey so I don't see the discrepancy between that and the dialogue in "Listen".
By the way, I feel that Danny was actually spot-on calling the Doctor an officer which is why the Doctor was so upset about it. And certainly there is a certain aristocratic arrogance inherent in being a Timelord. Ten said he was a Lord of Time in response to the King of France.

The interpretation of the Doctor running away to help the oppressed is that of Robin Hood who mixed his own story with that of the Doctor to make a point. However, I don't think that's really wrong. Surely, the Doctor's motivations to leave Gallifrey were complex. The Second Doctor argued for intervention during his trial, after all.

 

[Captaindemotion]

I personally liked that they didn't beat us over the head with continuity references to the other episodes set in this school. I think the fact that it's the same school is enough of a nod to the show's past. Gratuitous mentions of previous stories would've been superfluous, to my mind. Sometimes, less is more.

Oh, I agree. But I still would have enjoyed a direct reference to Ian or Barbara. Or even Susan. I'm not heartbroken they didn't do it, but it would have been nice.

Yeah, I know what you mean. It might have been more appropriate than the River reference, with hindsight.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Honestly, why would William Russel be in a story like this? He's an 80 year old member of the schools board of directors. I still hope he turns up, but this didn't seem like the right story for it.

This would be exactly the right type of story for a cameo. In a fun moment, he could be at the parent conferences, making intros, or what not, and have a few fun lines with the Doctor.

The last thing I'd expect is for him to have a larger role in a more serious, action oriented story.

Missed opportunity.

Mr Awe

I can't see them having a former Companion without that person playing a meaningful role in the solution to the episode. Certainly, I couldn't see him being oblivious to the action going on behind his back like the Headmaster was. When two people go running off to get to the Doctor, he's just going to ignore that?

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Honestly, why would William Russel be in a story like this? He's an 80 year old member of the schools board of directors. I still hope he turns up, but this didn't seem like the right story for it.

This would be exactly the right type of story for a cameo. In a fun moment, he could be at the parent conferences, making intros, or what not, and have a few fun lines with the Doctor.

The last thing I'd expect is for him to have a larger role in a more serious, action oriented story.

Missed opportunity.

Mr Awe

I can't see them having a former Companion without that person playing a meaningful role in the solution to the episode. Certainly, I couldn't see him being oblivious to the action going on behind his back like the Headmaster was. When two people go running off to get to the Doctor, he's just going to ignore that?

It was closer to their time as companions, but Amy & Rory having the cameo in Closing Time was nice.

Even if 12 just saw Ian talking to Clara about school business from a distance, with a slight grin on his face, it would've been just as nice.