The Caretaker Doctor Who Extra

Welcome to behind the scenes.

'Who'd have thought the job of a school caretaker

'would be so dramatic? On top of his daily rounds,

'the Doctor has to clean up quite a big mess,

'from a robotic soldier from the future,

'a rocky relationship...'

You wouldn't go out with PE teacher.

'- And, of course, the odd spillage.' - Ah, yes.

'So, grab your mop,

'it's time we showed you how much elbow grease went into this episode.'

'Being that this episode was set in a school,

'it was no surprise we headed to Coal Hill Secondary.

'Clara's day job as an English teacher

'was set to become a lot more complicated.

'And one student who had appeared in earlier episodes was excited

'to get the call to come back with a starring role.'

My mum called me, she was like,

"Ell, you might have some more stuff."

I was like, "Oh, my gosh. Never! Fine, you know.

"Maybe I'll accept it. I don't know."

'Ellis was also looking forward to

'meeting her first Doctor Who creature - the Skovox Blitzer.'

Everyone keeps telling me about it and I'm just like, I want to see it.

I want to be part of this gang, just see the Skovox.

'Time you found out how our team created this fearsome warrior.'

From start to finish, it was about four weeks.

That's from the beginning of the sculpt for the top section,

the model making for the bottom section and all the mechanics inside.

We had a little issue with getting the legs as close to the ground

as we could so it didn't look like it was hovering too much

which we've done, but because they're not weight bearing,

you know, we can't have him walking along on his legs.

What we've got right in the centre,

right in the bowels is an electric motor.

That's linked up to our little control box here

so it's just a simple on/off switch, forward and reverse and leg speed.

'But this killer robot isn't all machine,

'there's someone inside operating the top half.'

I'm basically sitting crouched inside

so if they want it left or right,

I've got to scrim that way, scrim right that way.

'Some of you at home may recognise this veteran of Doctor Who

'from past episodes.'

I've been the alien pig, the Graske,

the Groske,

Bannakaffalatta in the Christmas special with Kylie Minogue.

'How does being inside a robot compare to being a spiky red head?'

Slightly easier being inside to work here.

I've got to be there to make sure the head, the arms,

the guns, you know, the movements are there.

Inside the Skovox it gets very warm.

Very warm.

The guys have rigged a small fan that can draw air in, you know,

but we don't keep it going because it is cold.

'While Jimmy cools off

'we should catch-up with Coal Hill's new employee.'

I'm the new caretaker. John Smith.

'What does Peter think about his new career?'

I think there's a part of the Doctor that quite enjoys being a caretaker.

Thanks.

I think that his skill and understanding of the world

is put to good use by being a caretaker.

I think he likes showing off.

So I think he's happy to be seen in a position where

he can suddenly surprise people with his spectacular skills.

JENNA: I find it hilarious that the Doctor

in The Caretaker has the worst disguise you've ever seen.

I'm a caretaker now. Look, I've got a brush.

And the way Peter plays it as well, he thinks he's being so, so clever.

Nobody's going to know because he's the caretaker

and he's just wearing a jacket.

'But it's not the first time our wanderer in time and space

'has briefly settled down and got himself a job.

'In fact it's not even the first time he's worked in a school,

'having once been a physics teacher in a modern day secondary...'

Good morning, class.

'..and serving as a master at Farringham School for Boys in 1913.

'The First Doctor started it all, serving as a lawman in Tombstone

'after he was deputised by the legendary gunslinger, Wyatt Earp.

'Years later the Eleventh Doctor became a marshal in Mercy,

'Time Lord with a badge.

'The Eleventh Doctor also spent time as a rapper,

'toy maker,

'a caretaker for the Arwell's

'and even another job that came with a badge - a shop assistant.

'On a grander level the Fourth Doctor became

'the President of the Time Lords which technically made him

'one of the most powerful individuals on Gallifrey.

'But the job he held down for the longest period

'was working as the scientific advisor for UNIT.

'The Third Doctor took the position and the Fourth continued it

'and, years later, the Eleventh Doctor implied he'd never resigned.

'But the Doctor's number one job and, let's face it,

'pretty much his full-time role,

'intergalactic time-travelling hero.

'Speciality - saving planet Earth.

'This episode was created by a renowned Doctor Who writer,

'Gareth Roberts.

'Peter was not only impressed with his Skovox impression...'

MECHANICAL VOICE: "Helicon source, targeting, pursue."

'..but his fantastic skills with a pen.'

"Stop! Skovox Blitzer-superior-Skovox Artificer-stop-analyse-stop."

It's quite a difficult gig to try

and make a Doctor Who story work in a school

and I think he did that very successfully,

but with great humour and vigour.

"Human beings have incredibly short lifespans.

"Frankly you should all be in a permanent state of panic!"

I like the fact that we have kids who are quite tough and quite lippy.

"Hello, Miss. Love to the squaddie."

And I think the Doctor, being as he himself is a rebel,

I think he enjoys Courtney's insolence.

Hello? Mr Smith. There's a spillage in Geography, I need paper towels.

Very good.

I've just done my first scene, fun, very hard,

harder than you think, but it was really fun.

'But that wasn't the most exciting thing Ellis had

'when she came back to Doctor Who.'

Who was it that came up to me? They were like,

"Ellis, come. You've got your own chair. It even has your name."

I was like...

I was like, "I saw it! It's got my name, it's like Ellis George."

And I was like, "Oh, my gosh. That is so cool!"

I just keep taking pictures.

Obviously I didn't react like that. I was like calm, average,

it happens to me everyday. Yeah.

'Ellis, what do you think of your character?'

She's very...

big for her boots, shall I say.

I think I'd be a bit scared of her.

- Good to meet you. - And you.

Yeah, now get lost.

'Honestly, give us the gossip. What's Clara like as a teacher?'

Yeah, my teacher Clara's quite good. She's quite nice.

I feel bad for her. I'm not a very nice student.

Ell is so cool.

She takes absolutely everything in her stride, so easy,

so chilled. She's very funny in the series as well I think.

Yeah, she's got a lot of talent.

Oh, Ellis is great. She's a gas.

So funny, so full of energy and just so perfect for this

and she'd just been doing her drama exam

on the first morning that we were working together.

I would have given her full marks and I hope they did too.

'Well, Clara's pupil may have got full marks from the Doctor

'but I don't think Danny will be getting any gold stars any time soon.

'He's managed to sneak onto the TARDIS.'

Today, I've been given an invisibility watch.

Well, all it does is make you disappear, it can tell the time too,

but, you know, I've got a mobile phone for that now.

'And you were told you'd never make it onto the TARDIS?'

I honestly did not expect to get onto the TARDIS

but, yeah, it's finally happened.

I said it never would. Here's to many more times.

I've tried to resist, but there's a child in me

that just wants to see if I can make it take off.

'What would you do with an invisible watch?'

Oh, if I could be invisible...

I mean I'm already a little bit of a prankster

but I'd have the world believing in ghosts for sure.

Actually all this talk of disappearing,

I might go and get into some trouble now, boys. Cheerio!

'While Samuel's off causing trouble,

'we should go catch up with Clara and see how this relationship is going.'

He's my boyfriend!

- Him? - Yes, him!

When the Doctor finds out about Danny, it's a huge turning point

in the series because it's always been Clara and the Doctor.

This is the point where actually you can kind of see

how protective the Doctor is of Clara.

It's quite moving and very sweet.

There's a mistake. You've made a boyfriend error.

The Doctor has been around the block.

Every time there is a new relationship in his life,

within it are the seeds of doom.

I think Danny is someone to be...

watched.

Time Lord! I might have known.

The Doctor doesn't know this about himself

but he shows off to women and insults men.

- Do you have to salute those? - Definitely not.

He doesn't particularly like it when there's another bloke

in the room that the girl he arrived with wants to talk to.

It's not straightforward jealousy,

it's just, "Hang on, hang on, who's the alpha male here?"

- And you can get out of my TARDIS! - Oh, immediately, sir!

'Time to find out what's happening back at Coal Hill School.'

OK, well, today we are in sunny, sunny Wales blowing up the school.

An action hero, me.

And then we're just about to set-up, in a minute,

a load of additional mayhem

with big fire balls happening inside, so a bit of a tricky one.

As you can see, it's quite a small building,

but, yeah, it's going to be an exciting day.

'So what was your favourite subject in school?'

Yeah, chemistry was my favourite and also probably my downfall.

'Well, that figures.

'Whilst you're eager to blow it up, our Samuel is busy saving the day.'

I feel brilliant! I just saved the world.

It's all in a day's work really for Danny.

He's more than a math teacher.

'Sounds like the Doctor has some competition.

'Do you think you're a match for the Doctor?'

No way.

That's a tough one. I'm trying though.

He did just make a mess up, so I think I fixed that one.

Good start.

'Well, that seems to have cleaned everything up quite nicely.

'Danny and Clara's relationship is back on track,

'the Skovox Blitzer is back where he belongs

'and someone even got to go on a special trip.

'So there's nothing left to say other than this...'

Thank you for watching. Good night!