The Caretaker

"MOHAMMED PUT THAT DOWN"

I love that Doctor Who is reaching out to every teacher who shouted "Mohammed, put that down!" across a playground this week ^_^ That was the best bit. 


Besides that, though - oh I don't know :/ The whole theme of this one annoyed me. I've had my loved ones have pissing contests like that over me, and I don't like seeing that plot resolved as an expression of how loved Clara is. It's horrible. I'd rather like to see it resolved with someone pointing out how unacceptable and controlling the Doc and Danny are both being in this episode. The Doctor not understanding how humans work can be a funny trope when it's something little like jokes about Clara washing, or thinking that he and Clara are the same age. But when it's about relationship dynamics, it steps into actively upsetting territory. It's not funny when the Doctor demands Clara explain why she is dating Danny because that's not a cute, alien misunderstanding - that's creepass behavior from someone who explicitly said he wasn't her boyfriend. I've had people demand I justify why I am dating the person I am dating more than once in the past, and accepting the premise of the question was a m i s t a k e because those people never say "oh, I see - awesome :D" no matter what you tell them.

This made it rather hard for me to enjoy the episode as an episode - it brought up far too much personal upset. Who has done this plot before, with Micky-Rose-Doctor, and Sarah-Rose-Doctor, and to a lesser extent Amy-Rory-Doctor, and I'm bored of it. Mostly because of the quasi-controlling relationship dynamics which come up, but which are never properly explored. When Harry Met Sally is 30 years old. You would have thought that nowadays, we understood that men and women can be "just friends" (As a bisexual, this reasoning always strikes me as particularly obtuse - as clearly it would imply I could never have a friend ever again)

I loved when Donna met Martha, and instead of scrapping, they had a good ole chatter - it was lovely. Now, that wouldn't exactly match with Twelve's abrasive style. But his behavior is totally out of line in this episode, in every way - even the idea that Danny has to match his standards of "good enough" for her to be able to date him is utterly out of line. I don't enjoy watching that.

The beginning montage with Clara dashing from space adventure to date is gorgeous - lovely editing, lovely character development. Because also, it's focused around *Clara*. It's about the difficulty *she* is having leading a busy, double life. The pissing contest is about everything but her. It's about how two men, both of whom regard her as partially theirs, feel about her having friendships with other men. No one in this episode asks Clara how she feels, or demonstrates some compassion for her wanting to have a boyfriend as well as travelling in time. I feel like it's pretty obvious why super cutie boyfriend + ability to explore all existence and save the world would both be things which a person would want to do, but there's no leeway from either character.

I am rather bored of the Doctor being unheroic now. I like a good anti-hero as much as the next person, but the key to a good anti-hero is having redeeming features. I can't see any. He won't demonstrate empathy for anyone around him, and he does it in a very explicit way which is pretty offputting. I suppose this is how other people feel about Doctor Six. But for me, Six is redeemed in his utter delight in things, and his driving passion for justice, and the sincerity of his anger when injustice is done. With Twelve, I can't feel a passion for anything. I am only picking up on his "go away humans" vibe, and reacting accordingly - I want to go away, and I'd rather like Clara to too and find someone who values her and is nice sometimes instead. Being mean to his companions, and letting people die, and what are this person's heroic qualities again? I don't even know where his drive to save the planet comes from. Completeness, perhaps. Neatness.

(The only way they can redeem this for me is if this is revealed to be a canonical decision tying Doctor Twelve's development into the Valeyard. They won't do that, so I'm not interested in rewriting the series every episode to suit my requirements - I'd actually rather like a hero I can admire and feel some empathy for. The role of a companion is to be a placeholder for the audience. I'm looking at Clara and thinking r u n girl, so there's clearly a problem with his characterisation.)

Part of the problem is, I really like Danny. I think being upset about being lied to is reasonable. He comes across as a genuinely nice guy. The actor conveys his mistrust of the Doctor's officer-like qualities and his aristocratic status in a way which seems genuine, which seems like it comes from within, rather than a blind prejudice from a guy whose best buddy was a Brigadier for over 300 years. It reveals character, and is a reasonable complaint. His scene with Clara on the sofa at the end is genuinely very beautiful. Here, he does show he understands why Clara stays with the Doc, and that seems so real.


Trying to ignore the central theme of the episode, there were lots of lovely moments. I have warmed to Clara so much, especially when she thinks of the safety of her pupils first when the Doc starts talking about aliens at the school. I thought it was a cute touch for the Doc to think she likes the geeky teacher with the bowtie, and for the Pink Floyd. I think Courtney is a great character. It'd be so easy to do inner-city-London-pupil in a stereotypical fashion, but this episode seems like a really warm, knowing characterisation rather than something cruel or crude. She's adorable, and I love her and the Doctor bonding over being a disruptive influence. The moment when she pointed out the sign said "Keep Out Humans" cracked me up. COURTNEY FOR FULL TIME COMPANION. Absolutely I would watch that series. Oh, and I loved the moment Clara's annoyance at being flicked on the nose turned into delight at the Doctor's invisibility.

Bad moments? Apart from the entire theme of the episode, I think correcting a caretaker who knows about English Literature by saying "you are a caretaker this is not what you do" is ill advised - I know what the joke was meant to be, about the Doctor not understanding what a caretaker is, but it sounded to me like "go back to washing windows, pleb". And while it was a great like for Clara to point out she is the Doctor's conscience, and he'd need to get his own if she left...why is she saying things like that and not hearing alarm bells?


6/10 bored of this plot. Would have been 5/10, but for Courtney and the scene on the sofa.