Doctor: Peter Capaldi (Twelfth Doctor)
Companion: Jenna Coleman (Clara Oswald)
Others
Samuel Anderson – Danny Pink
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
Molly Griffiths - Angelina Christopholou
Jimmy Vee – Skovox Blitzer
Chris Addison – Seb
Michelle Gomez – Missy (uncredited)
Production
Directed by Paul Murphy
Written by Gareth Roberts
Steven Moffat
Script editor
David P Davis
Derek Ritchie
Produced by Nikki Wilson
Executive producer(s)
Steven Moffat
Brian Minchin
Incidental music composer Murray Gold
Series Series 8
Length 45 minutes
Originally broadcast 27 September 2014
Clara Oswald struggles to balance between the excitement of being the Doctor's companion, and the normalcy of teaching at Coal Hill School and keeping her relationship with Danny Pink.
The Doctor alerts Clara he will need to go alone on his next outing under "deep cover", but Clara is surprised the next day that he has been hired as a temporary caretaker under the alias "John Smith". Privately, the Doctor explains that a murderous robot, the Skovox Blitzer, is near the school, and has already killed a community support officer. If he does not intervene, it could destroy the Earth. He has been planting devices around the school to create a time displacement vortex as to send the robot far into the future where it cannot harm anyone, and has an invisibility watch to help approach it.
Danny observes the Doctor's interactions with Clara and becomes suspicious of him. He inadvertently finds one of the devices the Doctor has planted and interferes with its settings. When the Doctor attempts to carry out his plan, Danny's change causes the Blitzer to only be displaced forward by 73 hours. After seeing the Doctor again approach Clara discussing this change in plan, Danny accosts Clara, believing she is an alien and the Doctor her father. Clara dismisses him and lets him use the invisibility watch to see how she interacts with the Doctor. However, the Doctor is aware of Danny's presence, and they get into an argument, during which Clara admits her love of Danny. Meanwhile, student Courtney Woods has come across the Doctor's TARDIS and starts following him around.
At Parents' Evening, the Blitzer rematerialises earlier than the Doctor expected. The Doctor and Clara inadvertently trigger the Blitzer's self-destruct mechanism, but Danny's timely intervention allows them to force it to stand down. The Doctor offers Courtney a trip in the TARDIS as he leaves the inactive Blitzer in deep space, but Courtney ends up getting sick and throwing up within the TARDIS. On Earth, Danny tells Clara he is impressed with her resolve under the Doctor but not to let him push her too far, or otherwise their relationship will be over.
Meanwhile, the community support officer awakens in the Promised Land. The interviewer, Seb, informs him of his death and their whereabouts, and states that Missy is too busy to deal with him.
The Caretaker