 "The Caretaker" is the sixth story of Season Thirty Four (New Series 8). It has been written by Gareth Roberts and Steven Moffat and has been directed by Paul Murphy. It has the Twelfth Doctor and Clara Oswald deal with an alien threat to Coal Hill School, leading to Danny Pink meeting The Doctor and subsequently discovering his true nature.
Regarding this story Steven Moffat has stated that ‘The Skovox Blitzer is ready to destroy all humanity - and worse, any second now, Danny Pink and The Doctor are going to meet…’.
The guest stars for this story include: Nigel Betts (Eddie Hope in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale), Edward Harrison, Andy Gillies, Ellis George and Jimmy Vee playing the part of the Skovox Blitzer.
This is not Jimmy Vee's first Doctor Who story. He previously appeared as the Moxx of Balhoon in the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "The End of World" and was the Space Pig in the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "Aliens of London/World War Three". He later starred as Bannakaffalatta in the 2007 Christmas Special "Voyage of the Damned".
Writer Gareth Roberts' most recent Doctor Who script was the 2011 Eleventh Doctor story "Closing Time". He also wrote the 2010 Eleventh Doctor story "The Lodger".
Building on the experience of writing "The Lodger" and "Closing Time", Gareth Roberts and Steven Moffat tried to match the former for threat, feeling there was an excessive amount in "Closing Time", which had included a back-story for the antagonists at the expense of other themes. For this reason, it was decided that for this story the first draft had the right amount of threat and that it would be unnecessary to add anymore.
This story has been directed by Paul Murphy who also directed this season's "Robot of Sherwood". Paul Murphy has previously directed a variety of different television series, including Trollied, Casualty, Waterloo Road, Trexx and Flipside, and Hollyoaks. He also worked on BBC Wales' Wizards vs Aliens.
The read through for this story took place on the 20th March 2014. Filming began soon afterwards, on the 24th March 2014, at Bute Street and Lloyd George Avenue in Cardiff. Filming then continued at The Maltings in Cardiff Bay and the former St Illtyd's Boys' College, Splott on the 4th April 2014. Scenes were also filmed at Holton Primary School in Barry on the 5th April 2014. Principal photography was concluded on the 11th April 2014. The final scene with Seb (portrayed by Chris Addison) however, was not recorded until the 11th June 2014.
In this story The Doctor pretends to be a Caretaker. This is not the first time he has taken on this role as The Eleventh Doctor previously pretended to be a Caretaker to make Madge Arwell and her children's Christmas special and in fact had Madge and her children call him 'The Caretaker' instead of The Doctor in the 2011 Christmas Special "The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe".
Ironically, when the Seventh Doctor visited the school in the "Remembrance of the Daleks" the headmaster assumed The Doctor had come to apply for the vacant position of school caretaker.
It has apparently been at least a year since The Doctor's regeneration as Courtney's mother mentioned that she talked to Danny Pink last year about her daughter and he started working at Coal Hill School shortly after The Doctor regenerated (see "Into the Dalek").
It is revealed that The Doctor spent a month living among otters after he and River Song had a fight that caused him to sulk.
Danny Pink is not the first soldier-turned-maths-teacher encountered by The Doctor. Also the Twelfth Doctor continues to be uncomfortable with the military and soldiers (see "Into the Dalek"), as he has in prior incarnations (see the 1970 Third Doctor story "Doctor Who and the Silurians" and the 2008 Tenth Doctor story "The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky"). The Doctor is also heard to say many times that a soldier can not be a maths teacher. This is probably a reference to The Brigadier who it was discovered, in the 1983 Fifth Doctor story "Mawdryn Undead", became a maths teacher, at Brendon Public School (much to The Doctor's surprise), when he left UNIT and retired from the military.
It is revealed that The Doctor likes maths, but doesn't respect PE.
The Doctor purposely calls Danny 'PE' in derogatory fashion due to an acquired dislike towards him. The Ninth Doctor previously called Rose Tyler's boyfriend Mickey Smith 'Mickey the Idiot' and 'Ricky' to annoy him.
Danny compares The Doctor to the officers who light the flames he carries out. The War Doctor considered himself a lesser man to those forged in the fire he was creating (see "The Day of The Doctor").
The Doctor appears unable to recognise Danny Pink's similarity to Orson Pink even when prompted by Clara. She chooses, however, not to reveal to The Doctor that Danny is the same individual as the child Rupert Pink that they meet at the children's home in the 1990s (see "Listen").
Fellow school teacher Adrian slightly resembles the Eleventh Doctor, which Clara uses as an example to explain to Danny about The Doctor's regenerations.
Clara is heard to question if The Doctor's previous companions allowed him to do whatever he wanted.
It is revealed that Clara’s apartment number is 63 and she’s a teacher at Coal Hill school. It may just be a coincident but Doctor Who began in 1963 and the first story introduced two Coal Hill School teachers - Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton.
The Doctor tells Clara that he had a teacher like her once, possibly referring to Barbara Wright, who we first saw in the 1963 story "An Unearthly Child", or possibly to one of his teachers at the Academy, such as Borusa (see the 1976 Fourth Doctor story "The Deadly Assassin").
Speaking with Clara on the new caretaker's appearance, Danny Pink is heard to remark 'Did you see those eyebrows?'. This continues the theme of The Doctor's conspicuous eyebrows, mentioned in "Deep Breath" and "Time Heist".
The Twelfth Doctor mentions River Song for the first time when he comments ‘River and me had this big fight…’. River Song was last seen in the 2013 Eleventh Doctor story "The Name of The Doctor". This also makes the second time the Twelfth Doctor refers to a former companion, having previously commented in "Deep Breath" that he missed Amy Pond.
The Doctor later asks Clara if she wants to see the Thames frozen over, so maybe the time-travelling archaeologist is on his mind. In the 2011 Eleventh Doctor story "A Good Man Goes to War", River Song revealed that The Doctor once took her ice skating on the River Thames in 1814, during the last of the great Frost Fairs.
The Doctor mentions about Clara having two meals. She recently had a Chinese meal with Psi and Saibra before a going on a dinner date with Danny in "Time Heist".
The Doctor and Clara are seen opening and closing the TARDIS doors by snapping their fingers. The Doctor's ability to do this with the TARDIS doors was first demonstrated by the Tenth Doctor in the 2008 story "Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead". Clara's ability to do the same was first shown in "The Day of The Doctor".
The Doctor believes that ‘Artron emissions’ may have brought the Skovox Blitzer near to Coal Hill School, The Doctor comments that there have been a lot of them over the years (see "An Unearthly Child" and "Remembrance of the Daleks").
Although its exact nature remains unclear, Artron energy seems to be a form of energy with a physical connection to the process and actuality of time travel. Kate Stewart used it to track down The Doctor in the 2012 Eleventh Doctor story "The Power of Three" and it has been mentioned as far back as "The Deadly Assassin", as well as The Sarah Jane Adventures stories "The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith" and "Death of The Doctor".
Coal Hill School, where Clara Oswald and Danny Pink are both teachers, was originally featured in the very first story - the 1963 story "An Unearthly Child". It later reappeared in the 1988 Seventh Doctor story "Remembrance of the Daleks" and was recently seen in "The Day of The Doctor", "Into the Dalek" and "Listen".
In the 2006 Tenth Doctor story "School Reunion" The Doctor previously went undercover in a school; this time, however, the school does not get blown up.
After observing Clara shout at unruly pupils, The Doctor is heard to whistle the refrain of Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall (Part II).
The 'Break the Silence' poster about school bullying that appeared outside the headmaster's office in Leadworth and the Coal Hill supply closet also appears in the teachers' room (see "Let's Kill Hitler" and "Into the Dalek").
When Clara is doing a lesson about Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice she and The Doctor argue over whether it was written in 1796 or 1797. In this scene Clara assumes The Doctor is going to 'name drop' about meeting Jane Austen. The Doctor however, catches her out when he reveals that he knows the year because he read her biography at the back of a copy of the book. In the real world, Jane Austen actually started writing this book in 1796 and finished it in 1797.
Clara’s notion of Jane Austen being in a band with The Doctor is not such a fanciful idea. In "Deep Breath" Madam Vastra revealed that Marcus Aurelius was a ‘superlative bass guitarist’, reflecting that The Doctor ‘really knows how to put a band together!’.
Adrian refers to William Shakespeare's The Tempest not being finished. William Shakespeare appeared in the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "The Shakespeare Code" which was also written by Gareth Roberts.
The pseudonym 'John Smith' has been used by The Doctor multiple times throughout the show, being introduced in the 1968 Second Doctor story "The Wheel in Space". This name was most prominent as the Third Doctor's alias during his time with UNIT and with the Tenth Doctor. It was, for example, his chosen alias when he went undercover at another school, teaching physics in "School Reunion" and again in "Human Nature/The Family of Blood".
Upon entering the junkyard The Doctor is heard to say 'Home, Sweet Home'. This is a reference to his first incarnation having parked the TARDIS there previously (see the 1963 story "An Unearthly Child").
The Doctor is heard to mention fish people to Clara ('Fish. And people. Come and see, if you’ve got the time!'). The Doctor encountered a race of fish people in the 1967 Second Doctor story "The Underwater Menace". It is not clear whether he is referring to the same species here, but in the "The Underwater Menace" the fish people helped The Doctor defeat the insane Professor Zaroff.
The Doctor (and later Danny) are seen (or rather not seen) using an invisibility watch. The Doctor is not the first television character to own an invisibility watch. Sam Casey, aka the Gemini Man, had a digital watch that allowed him to become invisible for fifteen minutes each day. Gemini Man debuted in the USA on NBC in 1976. Eleven episodes were produced but only five aired before cancellation. Yet, all eleven episodes were aired in the United Kingdom as the show was more successful with British audiences.
After receiving the invisibility watch from Clara, Danny is heard to complain that 'it's not even a ring', a reference to the One Ring from the Lord of the Rings book series.
At the end of this story The Doctor takes Courtney Woods, a student at Coal Hill School, for a brief trip in the TARDIS to dump the Skovox Blitzer in space. She is not able to handle the immensity of the universe and becomes ill. During this scene The Doctor asks her 'Have I impressed you yet, Courtney?'. The Eleventh Doctor previously asked the same thing to Amy Pond in the 2010 story "The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone".
The Doctor uses Chronodyne Generators to project the Skovox Blitzer into the future.
At the end of this story Michelle Gomez once again plays the part of Missy (albeit uncredited). This is after a three story absence - reprising her role from "Deep Breath" and "Into the Dalek". This follows the pattern of deceased characters going to 'heaven' or 'the promised land'. This scene also gives her location a new name - 'The Nethersphere'.
This story contains a number of errors. Namely: When The Doctor meets Courtney Woods in The Caretaker's shed, he hands her the package of paper towels, but they reappear in his hand, and she walks off empty-handed; When Courtney looks into the TARDIS, The Doctor's work bench, which he was sitting at just a few minutes ago, is no longer in the room. It returns later on; When Clara leads Danny down the stairs and away from the TARDIS she is standing behind him and to his right in the close-up shot, but in the wide shot she is behind him to his left.
This story was first broadcast on BBC One at 8.30pm on Saturday, 27th September 2014 - an hour later than previous stories of this season.
| |
|
|
(Position = 10 out of 12)
