Please note: Potential spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen the episode!

Um…what he said. I’ve been slightly lax with this whole blogging thing recently. I started a new job last week and trying to get used to the hours messed up my usual schedule, so I didn’t manage to get my review of ‘Time Heist’ written (for the record, I thought it was distinctly average and ‘meh’ so you’re not really missing any strong or interesting opinions on it from me). Sorry about that, if you’re reading this regularly. I will try and put it up at some point before the season ends in November, and I’m also planning a more general post-mortem of series 8 once it’s over. In the meantime I’ll stick to my usual modus operandi of writing about the previous week’s episode; in this case, Gareth Roberts’ The Caretaker. On we go…

It has to be said that this is a really fucking funny episode- funnier than ‘Robot of Sherwood’ for sure, although I still really enjoyed the humour in that. It’s also what you might call a ‘monster-light’ episode. The Skovox Blitzer isn’t particularly compelling or original, but the beauty of it is that it’s not at all important to the episode’s themes or storyline so bypasses the risk of feeling underused. The central plot is much more reminiscent of dramedy than sci-fi this week; the romcom-esque flashing between Clara’s adventures with the Doctor and her dates with Danny Pink makes this clear from the start, and as the episode progresses an increasing amount of emphasis is placed on the psychology of and relationships between the characters. Plus, the whole concept of the Doctor going ‘undercover’ at Coal Hill School was hilarious. As expected, 12 fits in with humans even more awkwardly than his predecessor, which makes for some amusing moments, particularly involving his attempts to use a broom and new coat as “deep cover”. Peter Capaldi’s physicality in the role continues to be perfect, all hands and angles and subtle, alien gestures, which is perfect for this type of situation. I also got vibes not dissimilar to Neil Flynn’s Janitor from Scrubs at some points, which pleased me greatly. The only humour I felt fell a bit flat in ‘The Caretaker’ was the “PE” joke; it was funny the first few times and made sense for the character dynamic, but became overly repetitive later on.

One of the major plot threads in this episode is the matter of Clara’s relationship with Danny (or her “boyfriend error” as the Doctor describes it). The characterisation of Clara herself continues to improve and become more distinctive, as does the dynamic between her and the Doctor- they constantly take the piss out of eachother, but he is essentially protective, even paternal, towards her. ‘The Caretaker’ could almost be a three-hander with Danny, Clara and the Doctor, so perfectly measured is its exploration of how the trio relate to eachother, and there’s a great emotional complexity to it. A case in point would be the argument Danny and the Doctor have in the Tardis- it’s not just a clash of egos, but a tense and uncomfortable interplay between two men who, in their trauma and defensiveness, are more alike than either of them would care to admit. It’s clear that Danny touches a raw nerve when he speculates on the Doctor’s class and military background, a moment beautifully played by Anderson and Capaldi. Moments like this, and the scene where he desperately tries to escape from the difficulty of the situation in the only way he knows how- namely, “let’s fly off in the Tardis!”- show that for all his bluster, grouchiness and misanthropy, the 12th Doctor actually has a dimension that is emotionally vulnerable and avoidant to an almost childlike extent. This is the kind of nuance that I love seeing in Doctor Who, and it was brilliantly done.

The Promised Land- or Heaven, or the Nethersphere, take your pick- reappears here after a couple of episodes’ absence. I’m beginning to be more interested in that particular mystery, and I thought it was much better paced than in ‘Deep Breath’, ‘Into the Dalek’ or ‘Robot of Sherwood’. It’s appearance wasn’t as abrupt, rather it was planted early on in the episode then not revisited until the very end. Furthermore, we saw the first appearance of Chris Addison as Seb, a vaguely sinister St Peter figure who welcomes the dead to the Promised Land, who managed to impress and intrigue me in minutes.#

‘The Caretaker’ is one of those episodes that will probably be divisive purely for the lack of sci-fi, and those who dislike Gareth Roberts’ style of writing in general probably won’t be huge fans. I loved it, however. It was hugely enjoyable both for its humour and its emotional depth, managing to find a delicate balance between the two and introducing some lovely character moments. Now, at the halfway point of the series, the Doctor feels fully ‘cooked’, and I’m fascinated to see how his story develops from here.

Final Verdict: 8/10