Sometimes just a location can hold a lot of connotations for a character, it can bring back memories of old adventures and build upon the show’s own mythology; for Doctor Who a very important location is Coal Hill School, the very first story An Unearthly Child started there and one of the final stories in the original run Remembrance of the Daleks saw him returning there and now this is where Clara works and where this episode is set.
After a montage of Clara trying to balance her adventures with the Doctor and her relationship with Danny Pink the Doctor tells her he can’t take her on an adventure just now because he’s going undercover somewhere, she doesn’t trust it but goes along with it for now, then the same day a new caretaker shows up at the school, saying he’s called John Smith, but you can call him the Doctor. Yes the Doctor is undercover at Clara’s school and is going to meet Danny Pink for the first time while trying to stop an evil mechanical spider thing.
This episode is okay, there’s a lot of good stuff between Clara and Danny and it’s the strongest their relationship has been so far in the series; but then there’s the Doctor, he comes off as a total jerk in this episode, his hatred of Soldiers just being really laid on too thick, yes he’s had problems with soldiers in the revival before, but his best friend and most loyal companion was the Brigadier, a soldier. However the Brigadier also became a maths teacher at a later point, so maybe Danny being a maths teacher is meant to be something of a call back.
There is again a lot less of a villain here, with the focus being Clara and Danny with the mechanical spider thing just sort of being a secondary thing to give the episode a climax. Unfortunately it was nowhere near as interesting as Listen was without a villain, could have done with something of a better balance I think. There’s also a moment of the heaven story arc continuing with Chris Addison revealing that Missy is not the only one working in this weird afterlife thing.
After a montage of Clara trying to balance her adventures with the Doctor and her relationship with Danny Pink the Doctor tells her he can’t take her on an adventure just now because he’s going undercover somewhere, she doesn’t trust it but goes along with it for now, then the same day a new caretaker shows up at the school, saying he’s called John Smith, but you can call him the Doctor. Yes the Doctor is undercover at Clara’s school and is going to meet Danny Pink for the first time while trying to stop an evil mechanical spider thing.
This episode is okay, there’s a lot of good stuff between Clara and Danny and it’s the strongest their relationship has been so far in the series; but then there’s the Doctor, he comes off as a total jerk in this episode, his hatred of Soldiers just being really laid on too thick, yes he’s had problems with soldiers in the revival before, but his best friend and most loyal companion was the Brigadier, a soldier. However the Brigadier also became a maths teacher at a later point, so maybe Danny being a maths teacher is meant to be something of a call back.
There is again a lot less of a villain here, with the focus being Clara and Danny with the mechanical spider thing just sort of being a secondary thing to give the episode a climax. Unfortunately it was nowhere near as interesting as Listen was without a villain, could have done with something of a better balance I think. There’s also a moment of the heaven story arc continuing with Chris Addison revealing that Missy is not the only one working in this weird afterlife thing.
I will say my only major problem was the Doctor not liking soldiers being overplayed so much; it just really makes the Doctor, who as Capaldi has so far been likable if a bit intimidating and short tempered, seem very unlikable. I want the Doctor to be willing to look past his own prejudices and accept Danny, if he’s supposed to trust Clara then hearing her say that she loves Danny should be enough for him. It is starting to get on my nerves now.
Overall this episode had some good stuff and was enjoyable enough, but some of the cracks in the writing are starting to show up in how the Doctor is dealing with Danny.
Overall this episode had some good stuff and was enjoyable enough, but some of the cracks in the writing are starting to show up in how the Doctor is dealing with Danny.