'The Caretaker' (Story Code 8.06) by Gareth Roberts and Steven Moffatt

“I’m the caretaker. Don’t mind me.” – The Doctor.

Clara appears to have her dual-life under control, juggling her adventures in time and space with the Doctor with her dates with Danny. On her latest visit inside the TARDIS Clara finds the Doctor being uncharacteristically nice to her, and she immediately becomes suspicious; the Doctor explains that he has a secret undercover mission, something that he cannot even tell his friend about… Returning to Coal Hill Secondary School for a day’s teaching, Clara joins Danny in the teachers’ office for the headmaster’s pre-assembly briefing; she soon gets a surprise when the headmaster introduces the new relief caretaker: a familiar-looking, Scottish-sounding man by the name of John Smith, whom most people call ‘The Doctor’! After assuring Danny that she does not know the new caretaker, despite the fact that he winked at her, Clara says goodbye to her boyfriend and then goes back to the teachers’ lounge to find out why the Doctor is there; although the Time Lord avoids her questions, he does admit that there is a threat to the school, and that he intends to save everyone from it. Elsewhere, a police Community Support Officer named Matthew sees off two Coal Hill schoolboys hanging around in the street, and then hears a noise coming from a nearby abandoned warehouse; Matthew investigates – and is quickly blasted into little blackened pieces by something alien and deadly… While teaching her class about Jane Austen, Clara is interrupted by the sight of the Doctor at the window, standing on a ladder; when the Time Lord corrects the facts of her lesson, Clara gets infuriated and sees him off. The bell sounds to end classes for the week and Clara rushes off to find Danny – and sees him standing in the school garden watching as the Doctor makes repairs to the main electrical junction box. Wending her way past school-kids and teachers, Clara grabs a watering can and attempts to overhear the conversation between her best friend and her boyfriend. Breaking up the conversation, Clara asks if the Doctor recognised Danny, but the Time Lord has failed to notice that he looks exactly like the time travelling Colonel Orson Pink they met earlier; in fact, the Doctor hasn’t even realised that Danny is Clara’s boyfriend, and instead he mistakes a bow-tie wearing teacher called Adrian for the person she has been seeing. The Doctor goes off to secret small electronic devices all over the school, after which he returns to his caretaker’s office, where the TARDIS now resides. As the Doctor goes inside the ship to scan the school, disruptive schoolgirl Courtney Woods comes into the office to get some paper towels for a spillage; the Doctor quickly deals with her, and she leaves just as Clara arrives on the scene. The Doctor explains that he is on the trail of a Skovox Blitzer, one of the deadliest killing machines in the universe, which has detected the artron energy emissions that are prevalent at the school after the many incidents that have been centred around there. The Doctor also shows off his latest gadget, a watch that makes its wearer invisible, which he intends to use in his plan to deal with the alien menace: the Doctor has hidden time mines all over the school, which he will use to open up a time vortex that will suck the alien killer billions of years into the future. The Doctor discusses Clara’s boyfriend with her, but both of them cross wires about Danny and Adrian. Clara leaves and meets up with Danny, who is curious about the new caretaker… That night, the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to track the Skovox Blitzer to the disused warehouse; the Time Lord activates his invisibility watch, but the spider-like killing machine detects his thermal image, and it immediately gives chase… Back at the school, Danny finds one of the mines stuck to a fire alarm, and inadvertently deactivates it when he removes it; taking the object to the caretaker’s office to show to the Doctor, Danny then sees another device in a hanging basket. Just after Danny leaves Clara arrives on the scene, but she is disappointed to see that both the Doctor and the TARDIS have now gone. Leading the Skovox Blitzer to the school hall, the Doctor tries to lure it into a circle of chairs, each with a Chronodyne Activator mine attached; however, Danny’s work has mucked up his plan, and the vortex fails to activate. The Doctor tries to reason with the creature, but it gets distracted by the arrival of Danny, and opens fire. As the Doctor sonics the mines and the portal opens, Clara arrives in time to see the Skovox Blitzer being sucked into the vortex. In the aftermath, the Doctor berates Danny for ruining his plans: not only did the portal only send the Skovox Blitzer seventy-four hours into the future, but the mechanical creature managed to scan the Time Lord – it will be coming straight for him next time. But Danny is more surprised by the fact that that the Doctor and Clara seem to know each other, and they are unfazed by the appearance of an alien-robot monster in the school; Danny takes Clara for a spacewoman, and the Doctor for her space dad! The Doctor is all for hypnotising Danny’s memories away, until he learns that he is actually Clara’s boyfriend, and that she loves him. As Clara explains to Danny how she and her alien friend travel in space and time together, the Doctor pulls aside the stage curtains to reveal the TARDIS and then shows Danny inside. Danny is all for evacuating the school and calling in the army, but the Doctor overrides him, preferring to do things his way. Taking Danny back to her flat, Clara tries to explain her amazing double-life; Danny tries to come to terms with it, but competing with an alien is a lot to take in… The following morning, Clara gives Danny the Doctor’s watch so that he can become invisible and follow her into the TARDIS. Inside they find the Doctor working on a new device with which to deal with the Skovox Blitzer; unfortunately for them, the Time Lord quickly senses Danny’s presence, and so Clara’s boyfriend de-cloaks himself. There then follows an awkward argument: the Doctor makes it clear that he doesn’t like soldiers, while Danny points out that as a ‘Time Lord’ he is no better than the officers Danny served under. As Danny storms off Clara goes after him, leaving the Doctor to deal with another visitor: Courtney has been watching from inside the caretaker’s office, and she wants to know why he has a Police Box. The Doctor shows her inside, and even promises to take her travelling... Later that day, Clara, Danny and Adrian brace themselves for the onslaught that is Parent’s Evening. Meanwhile, in the main hall, the vortex begins to open... As Danny tries talking tactfully to Courtney’s parents, Clara spots the Doctor beckoning from outside the door; she and Danny rush off, joining the Doctor as he concocts a hasty plan that involves Clara using the sonic screwdriver to decoy the Skovox Blitzer. Ordering Danny to go away, the Doctor then returns to his office. Clara confronts the Skovox Blitzer and lures it through the school towards the TARDIS; when she and the robot-spider arrive in the Caretaker’s office the Doctor uses his new device to speak to the killing machine – but unfortunately his efforts only cause it to activate its self-destruct system. Having followed Clara, Danny distracts the alien machine by leaping over it, making it open fire on him instead. This buys the Doctor enough time to adjust his device, enabling him to override the Skovox Blitzer’s controls – and to everyone’s relief the mechanical monster shuts itself down. The threat over, the Doctor and Danny form a wary truce: Danny can see how the Doctor was angry that he wasn’t good enough for Clara, but his act of bravery just now has helped to prove himself… Later, the Doctor and Courtney watch as the deactivated Skovox Blitzer drifts off into space; but the Doctor’s latest companion isn’t as good as Clara, as she is suffering from space-sickness… Back on Earth, Clara and Danny enjoy a night in together. Danny can see how the Doctor pushes people into being stronger, just like his officers did when he was in the army. Clara promises that she will tell her boyfriend the truth from now on… Elsewhere, police Community Support Officer Matthew finishes his report to his superior, only to learn that he is not where he thought he was; looking around the white-walled hallway in which he now stands, Matthew hears that he is dead, and in somewhere called the Nethersphere…


Peter Capaldi (The Doctor), Jenna Coleman (Clara), Samuel Anderson (Danny), Ellis George (Courtney Woods), Edward Harrison (Adrian), Nigel Betts (Mr Armitage), Andy Gillies (CSO Matthew), Nanya Campbell (Noah), Joshua Warner-Campbell (Yashe), Oliver Barry-Brook(Kelvin), Ramone Morgan(Tobias), Winston Ellis (Mr Woods), Gracy Goldman (Mrs Woods), Diana Katis (Mrs Christopholou), Jimmy Vee (Skovox Blitzer), Chris Addison (Seb), Michelle Gomez (Missy [The Gatekeeper of the Nethersphere])

Directed by Paul Murphy
Produced by Nikki Wilson
Executive Producers Steven Moffat and Brian Minchin
A BBC Wales production

TX (BBC 1 & BBC 1 HD):
27th September 2014 @ 8.30 pm


Notes:
*Featuring the Twelfth Doctor, Clara, Danny and Courtney