Saturday, 27 September 2014

Doctor Who Series 8 Reviews - The Caretaker (E6)

Gareth Roberts has written some of the most comedic episodes of the last few years, with notable hits The Shakespeare Code, The Lodger and The Unicorn and the Wasp all under his belt. His last TARDIS trip, 2011’s Closing Time, was enjoyable enough on first viewing but relied solely on the jokes, with the Cybermen being very underused despite their big-name status. Now with the assistance of Steven Moffat (his fifth episode this series) and some time away, he’s back to give us another much needed funny story for a mostly-dark series.

And the jokes given to us were good. Granted, only a few earned a good laugh, but those which do earn the right to be laughed at. The Caretaker does try immensely hard in making every joke succeed, which shows with every gag, but it does at times play it safe with simple comedy clichés such as vomiting, which in turn brings down such opportunities. As for the story, there isn’t much to it. Aside from the occasional alien visitation, it’s all really about the Doctor meeting Danny, and how Clara gets through it. It’s simple enough, but works as a breather following Time Heist and ahead of next week’s Kill the Moon.

As such, Jenna Coleman is the one who has to carry the episode, and she does so with ease. Within the school environment, her ever-growing bossy personality fits more in comparison to Deep Breath while she succeedingly plays off her fears about Danny towards the Doctor, and vice versa. Here, it’s an episode where having her as the focus works against previous flukes like Listen which forced her into the mix. Peter Capaldi is still a joy to watch, as we finally reach the point where we see him as the Doctor. He’s a good mix of Colin Baker and David Tennant here, and his mannerisms also fit in with the environment of the episode. Samuel Anderson is finally given more to do than just being a love interest, but my single gripe is that they play too much with his soldier backstory. I’m glad it’s out of the way now, but every instance where the Doctor would mention he didn’t like soldiers or Danny saying he was one were constant annoyances no matter the situation. But now we’ve seen the soldier in action, we may be free from the regular references.

As for other stars, there isn’t much to add, as only two characters had any impact on the story. First, there’s Adrian, played by Edward Harrison, and there solely because he looks like Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith as part of a gag. A successful running gag, mind you, but an expected one from as far back as the Next Time trailer. Then there’s Courtney (Ellis George), who had brief appearances in the first two episodes of the season but goes full-fledge for The Caretaker, and she falls straight into the annoying child character category, alongside every other kid actor since The Almost People. Unfortunately, she plays a bigger role in next week’s Kill the Moon, and there I doubt she’ll become a full character, as here she’s incredibly unlikable and obnoxious.

Sometimes a filler episode can be skippable, and other times they can be worthy of viewing.  In this case, it’s worthy of a watch. While it does feel like two episodes squeezed into one with the switching between Danny/Clara/Doctor and Skovox Blitzer, the jokes and character chemistry helps carry the episode until the end. It gives a fitting conclusion to the oblivious Doctor/Danny storyline and finally allows the companion promised when he was announced. There isn’t much threat, and Courtney is annoying, but still enjoyable. 6/10

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