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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