Review: Doctor Who Season 8 Episode 6: The Caretaker

This episode brings the Doctor back down to Earth. There seems to be an alien threat at Coal Hill School, where companion Clara and her now boyfriend teach. The Doctor manages to pose as the Caretaker there whilst planning to thwart the alien gone astray.

The Doctor still doesn’t know it’s Danny that Clara is seeing. thinking it’s another teacher at the school. Danny plays a bigger role in this episode, even helping to save the Universe in the end. Clara realises that she may not be able keep her life with the Doctor separate from her life with Danny. Especially after Danny gives Clara an ultimatum which may lead her to choosing between them, or lying to them both.

This episode did feel more like an instalment of The Sarah jane Adventures. It was scary in some places, but was a bit of a letdown overall. There were humorous little nods for the adults watching, but the alien itself left much to be desired and was not at all scary. There were some good action sequences, especially involving Danny, however the showrunners could have made more of a link towards Barbara and Ian (the pair of Coal Hill School teachers who travelled with the first Doctor and his granddaughter Susan); it would have been intriguing if the latest Doctor had looked up what happened to them.

We see Clara feel a bit stressed in this episode, as the Doctor is on her ground now, in her work place. At the end we are left wondering what will happen for Clara and the Doctor, and in Clara’s relationship with Danny.