Doctor Who 8.6 Episode Recap 

That’s Not Clara’s Boyfriend, Doctor! Doctor Who Season 8 Episode 6 – The Caretaker

Clara is having trouble keeping up her dual life. Spending time with the Doctor is putting a strain on her relationship with Clara. Finally, one day, the Doctor tells Clara he can’t hang out with her because he has a thing. What thing? Well, a thing. An undercover thing. And he’ll see Clara when he sees her. She is extremely suspicious, but who is she to question the Doctor (she’s one of the few who can close the TARDIS doors with the snap of a finger, hmm).

Clara heads to work and meets up with Danny. He asks her if she’s alright, because every time he sees her she’s always flustered. She promises him the next few days are dedicated to him and him alone. In a staff meeting, the boss introduces the new caretaker. His name is John Smith, but you can call him the Doctor.

In the hall, Danny asks Clara if she knows the Doctor fellow, and she denies it. She remembers she “left plans behind,” and rushes back to the room where the Doctor is. She confronts him, and he’s surprised she saw through his disguise (“You’re wearing a different coat!”). He wants Clara to pretend like she doesn’t know him, and she tries to tell him he can’t blend in with the humans. He tries to shoo her out, but she wants to know one thing: Are the children safe? No, they are not, but let the Doctor do his job.

Outside, two boys are messing around when a police officer asks them if they go to Coal Hill (the school Clara teaches at). They say they do, but that they have a free period. The officer makes them go to school anyway. He goes inside a building and thinks there’s a child inside playing games. He yells for the child to go to school, and instead he is met by a robot that kills him.

At the school, Clara is teaching when the Doctor pops his head in her window. She tries to shoo him away, but he wants to correct her teaching. She sends him away just as the bell rings. She tries to find him, but students and co-workers get in the way.

She sees Danny talking to the Doctor, and she makes her way to them. The Doctor can’t get his head around the fact that Danny was a soldier and isn’t a P.E. teacher. He still won’t tell Clara what he’s up to, but we see him placing small green discs everywhere. Another teacher asks to speak to Clara, and the Doctor thinks this is the guy she’s been seeing.

In the caretaker’s shed, the Doctor pops into the TARDIS and a green glow emits from it. A student enters his shed looking for paper towels and begins asking questions. The Doctor tries to get her to leave, but she’s a pre-teen and will do what she wants. He finally gets her to leave when Clara shows up. He tells her he knows all about her relationship and that he’s happy for her. He sends her home for some canoodling time.

Clara leaves and runs into Danny, who cancels their plans for the night. She’s a bit disappointed, but goes back to the Doctor for some adventure (I like a girl that doesn’t rely 100% on her man for fun). The Doctor has disappeared (literally) and she can’t find him. Danny is poking around looking for the Doctor as well.

The robot monster finds infrared scans of the Doctor’s footsteps and follows him to the school. He traps the Doctor in the auditorium, and Danny bursts in just as the robot is about to fire at the Doctor. The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to send the robot away, but not before Danny was almost blown up.

Danny is dazed and confused and has messed up the Doctor’s plan. Clara asks the Doctor if everything is okay, and the Doctor says they have three days. Danny wants to know if she’s from space, and she tries to convince him it’s an elaborate play. Danny isn’t buying it, and the Doctor wants to erase Danny’s memory. Clara won’t let him, telling the Doctor he’s her boyfriend, which the Doctor denies. He asks her why, and she shouts she loves Danny.

Everyone is stunned, and Clara explains the whole the-Doctor-is-an-alien-and-the-TARDIS-is-bigger-on-the-inside thing. (Oh, he’s your space dad!) The Doctor is very upset, and sends them away. The Doctor tells her that when it’s all over, he can explain Danny to him.

At home, Danny is very upset with Clara. He wants to know why she does it, and he wants the truth. She tells him she does it because it’s amazing, because she sees wonders. He feels like he doesn’t know who she really is.

The next day she steals the Doctor’s invisibility watch so he can observe her with the Doctor. The Doctor is very short with Clara, and she tries to warm him up by talking about his plan. He doesn’t bite, and then suddenly changes his tone. He wants to go on an adventure, but Clara tries to stop him. Danny reveals himself, and the two begin arguing. The Doctor kicks Clara out, and tries to joke about it with Clara. She’s not laughing and goes after Danny.

Danny and Clara have parent’s night to attend. In the middle of talking with parents, the Doctor calls them (although I think he was just wanting Clara to come), and they both leave their interviews. The Doctor tells Clara the robot is back (a day early) and gives her the plan on what to do (she’s a decoy). Danny wants to know what he can do, and the Doctor tells him to stay out of their way.

Clara heads off to find the robot and begins leading him along. Danny sees Clara running through the halls being chased by the robot. She leads the robot to the caretaker’s room, but the Doctor isn’t quite ready. Clara tries to distract the robot, and the Doctor is ready. He tries to override the robot’s innate commands, but messes up the frequency and the robot goes into self-destruct mode. Just in the nick of time, Danny appears and distracts the robot long enough for the Doctor to fix his machine and destroy it.

Later we see the Doctor out is space with the child that was interrupting him from before. She gets space sick and doesn’t look like a good companion.

Clara and Danny are at home discussing the Doctor. Danny is upset that Clara wasn’t as scared as she should have been. She tells him she trusts the Doctor. He makes her promise that if the Doctor pushes her too far she will tell him. Danny tells her that if she doesn’t, they are done.

Next, we see the police officer that died from before in a very white place. Something tells me he’s in the afterworld, but he’s talking to a man instead of Missy. The police officer is telling the man the story of how he died, but then realizes that he’s dead. Missy walks by, but doesn’t stop. The man says she is very distracted.

What did you think of this week’s Doctor Who? The Missy character is very interesting (we didn’t see her last week), but so is the introduction of Danny and the Doctor. We know that Clara’s last episode will likely be the Christmas special, but will Danny stay on as the Doctor’s companion? Let us know what you think in the comments below!

That’s Not Clara’s Boyfriend, Doctor! Doctor Who Season 8 Episode 6 – The Caretaker was last modified: September 27th, 2014 by

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