The Caretaker ( TV story ) The Caretaker was the sixth episode of the eighth series of " Doctor Who " produced by BBC Wales . It had the Twelfth Doctor and Clara Oswald deal with an alien threat to Coal Hill School , leading to both Danny Pink and Courtney meeting the Doctor and subsequently discovering his true nature . It also contributed to the " Promised Land " arc by introducing an underling of , and giving her location a new name , the Nethersphere . Building on the experience of writing " The Lodger " and " Closing Time " , Gareth Roberts and Steven Moffat tried to match the former for threat , feeling there was an excessive amount in " Closing Time " , which had included back - story for the antagonists at the expense of other themes . For this reason , it was decided that the first draft had the right amount of threat and that it would be unnecessary to add more later . ( DWM 478 ) Synopsis . The Doctor ' s decision to use Clara ' s school at the centre of a trap for a wild Skovox Blitzer results in revelations in her personal life . Meanwhile , the Doctor ' s mechanical quarry , which has enough firepower to decimate entire planets , is running amok in the halls of Coal Hill . Plot . Clara and the Doctor are chained to posts on a desert planet . He asks her for the vibro - cutters ; however , Clara tells him that she left them in her other jacket . The Doctor is baffled , wondering why she has two jackets ; is one of them malfunctioning ? However , Clara then tells him that she couldn ' t have handed him the vibro - cutters since they are chained up . She worries about dying of dehydration , but the Doctor tells her that the Sand piranha s will get to them before that happens . Somehow , the Doctor and Clara manage to free themselves . Clara gets back home just in time for a date with Danny , who notices the tan she ' s developed from being stuck on the planet for so long . She passes it off as the result of a tanning bed . Later , Clara tries to leave for a date with Danny , only to find the Doctor waiting outside her bedroom . He offers to take her to see fish people ; curious , she boards the TARDIS . Once the trip is over , Clara heads to meet the taxi Danny is waiting in . Luckily , it was raining , so Clara can pass off her wet dress as due to the rain . Danny is slightly confused , given the short short distance to the cab ; however , he then finds seaweed stuck in her hair . Clara quips " I did say " freak " shower " . On another adventure , the Doctor and Clara are running from hostile soldiers as they head back to the TARDIS . The Doctor once more voices his dislike of soldiers . The exhausted Clara is dropped off at home ; however , much to her disappointment , it was also her day to go jogging with Danny . Once back home , Clara collapses , deciding that she can ' t continue this double life ; however , she regains her spirit and decides she can ' t quit just because her adventures with the Doctor wear her out . The next day , she enters the TARDIS , wondering where the Doctor will take her this time . However , he complements her appearance , asking if she ' s had a wash ; he apologises , saying there won ' t be a trip today . She notes that he ' s acting mysterious , which the Doctor says is because he ' s a man of mystery . However , Clara becomes serious , telling him that he must be up to something , and insulting her by trying to pretend that she can ' t figure it out . He finally relents , admitting that he ' s going under deep cover , which she doesn ' t need to be a part of . Laughing at the idea of the Doctor going undercover , Clara tells him he ' d have a good chance with the Magic Circle . Accepting he doesn ' t need her help , Clara leaves , saying she ' ll have a wash . The Doctor starts fiddling with the controls as Clara sticks her head back in , giving the " I ' m watching you " gestures . Once she leaves again , the Doctor turns his concern to something the scanner found in East London . Clara arrives at Coal Hill School , where she greets Danny formally in the parking lot to avoid mockery from the children . However , they all laugh the moment the two teachers are inside the school ; they know about their relationship , and have written graffiti mocking it throughout the school . Danny wonders what ' s up with Clara , noting she ' s usually in a rush or a state of anxiety before their dates ; he even notes Clara showed up in space helmet once . Smiling , Clara tells that she was busy with something all those times , but nothing odd will happen for the next few days - she ' s all his . After a meeting in the teacher ' s lounge , Mr Armitage announces the caretaker Atif is out sick ; they have a new caretaker for the next week . The replacement walks in the room , and to Clara ' s shock it ' s the Doctor , introducing himself as John Smith ; he winks at Clara . Everyone leaves for an assembly as the Doctor silently mouths to Clara that he ' s under deep cover . Danny wonders if Clara knows who " Smith " is as he winked at her , to which she denies ; pretending to have left her students ' homework in the lounge , Clara heads back to confront the Doctor . In the lounge , the Doctor sees Clara enter and hides a map he was studying . Clara points out that she recognised him ; the only difference is he ' s wearing a worn - out brown coat ( not exactly a disguise ) . She demands to know where Atif is ; the Doctor explains he hypnotised Atif into thinking he was sick , plus having a flying car and three wives - " it ' s going to be a rude awakening . " He needed to investigate without being suspicious . Clara points out the Doctor does a poor job at pretending to be human ; he explains he was able to live among otters for a month . However , he then admits that he was sulking after having a big fight with River . Clara yells that humans are not like otters ; the Doctor says that ' s what makes it easier . The Doctor says he needs to get to work as " the walls need sponging , and there ' s a sinister puddle . " Clara demands to know if there is an alien in the school ; the Doctor retorts there is since , he ' s there . Clara immediately deduces the Doctor is up to something involving the school ; he didn ' t tell her because it would anger Clara . He tells her to go the assembly - " go worship something " Annoyed , she glares at the Doctor , causing him to raise his broom in defence . Pushing the broom away , Clara demands that the Doctor answer a single question - are the kids safe ? The Doctor tells her no , but soon the answer will be " yes " if she leaves him be . The Doctor leaves , telling Clara to go " sing with the otters " ( due to mis - remembering their conversation ) . Clara loudly whispers that she hates him ; the Doctor says it ' s a perfectly natural reaction . Meanwhile , CSO Matthew finds two kids from the school near an abandoned building . He tells them to get to school , with them retorting that it ' s free period . He threatens to take their names down , annoying the kids into leaving . Hearing a noise inside , Matthew heads in to see if another kid is there . Hearing an electronic voice , Matthew thinks it ' s a game and tells the kid to shut it off and head to school . However , a robot reveals itself instead and reduces the officer to charred pieces . Clara attempts teaching during school , finding the Doctor outside the window . He tells her that she got the date on the autobiography of Jane Austen wrong ; she wonders if it ' s because he met her during some kind of ridiculous adventure . However , the Doctor explains that it ' s because he read the biography on the back of " Pride and Prejudice " , surprising her . Clara tells the confused students that the Doctor is Mr . Smith , the new caretaker . The Doctor resumes his caretaking duties , placing small devices around the school . Clara catches sight of the Doctor working on a substation with Danny and Adrian talking to him . She walks to him , being stopped by a student named Tobias ( she ignores what he ' s saying , telling him she ' s okay with him leaving class early for his club activities ) . Clara is next stopped by Armitage , who explains about someone getting hurt and can ' t help with a upcoming fair ; Clara , having not paid attention , says she ' ll help with anything . She manages to get outside , only to be bothered by Courtney Woods , who she completely ignores , telling her to deal with her own problems . Courtney retorts " Ozzie loves the Squadie " , confusing Clara . The Doctor continues working on the substation , with Adrian leaving to deal with a kid . Danny tells him about being a soldier before coming to work at the school ; Clara greets them and manages to get the conversation from getting strange . However , the Doctor thinks Danny is P . E . teacher , not a Maths teacher , despite being corrected numerous times . Once Danny is gone , Clara wonders if the Doctor noticed Danny looked like Orson Pink ; he didn ' t , but asks if Clara ' s boyfriend is at the school . He promises not to act like a normal human " to be nice " ; however , before they are stopped by Adrian , who needs help with class . The Doctor notices that Adrian looks like his last incarnation , coming to the wrong conclusion that Clara is dating this man because of the resemblance . Laughing to himself , the Doctor leaves the teachers to continue talking as he returns to the caretaker ' s storeroom , where he has parked the TARDIS . He is soon bothered by Courtney , who needs fresh paper towels for the ladies ' loo . The Doctor gives her the towels and sends her off after some snarky remarks are exchanged between them . Clara enters as Courtney leaves , wondering what the Doctor is up to . Relenting , the Doctor admits that he ' s scanned for dangerous elements in the area . Annoyed that he gave in to her pestering , the Doctor notes that he once had a teacher just like her ; Clara retorts that he still does since she travels with him . He activates a hologram , which shows a Skovox Blitzer , a machine that will kill without any concern as to whether its victims actually pose a threat ( " it basically just kills whatever moves " ) ; it was attracted by residual atron energy in the area . Knowing it will eventually destroy Earth , he aims to send it away ; the military will just mess things up . They head inside the TARDIS , where Clara asks what the " insanely dangerous plan " is . The Doctor reveals that he ' ll use an invisibility watch to prevent the Blitzer scanning him and use the sonic screwdriver to lead it to trap , where the chronodyne generators will send it billions of years into the future through a vortex . As he doesn ' t need her help this time , the Doctor tells Clara to go " conoodle " with her boyfriend , telling her that he did recognise him and has given his approval on their relationship . Clara smiles , not knowing the Doctor mistook Adrian for her boyfriend ; she leaves the caretaker ' s storeroom , happy . Danny finds her , saying that he will something else to do that evening as she had a look that told him she would be busy . The Doctor exits the storeroom , with Danny asking Clara ' s opinion of him as he seems shady ; she retorts that the caretaker has nothing but nice things to say about him . Once done with her work for the evening , Clara returns to the TARDIS , telling the Doctor that her plans were cancelled . Seeing no - one there , she wonders if the Doctor has turned invisible and messing with her . Danny , likewise is leaving for the evening , but notices one of the generators under a Fire Alarm lever ; he examines it , thinking the Doctor is up to something . Clara leaves the storeroom , being missed by Danny who walks up to it with the generator in - hand ; he notices another one in a flower basket , coming to the wrong conclusion that the Doctor must be hostile . Elsewhere , the Doctor finds the Blitzer ' s location , turning invisible and luring out into the open ; he gives bursts of the sonic screwdriver to lure it . Danny notices the Blitzer walking through the school hall . The Doctor arrives and de - cloaks , but finds to his horror that the generators have been deactivated due to Danny ' s interference . The Blitzer arrives , and the Doctor attempts to reason with it ; however , the machine refuses to listen and targets him . Danny enters to talk with the Doctor about the devices , catching the Blitzer ' s attention ; he drops the generator in - hand and the devices turn back on . Clara enters , giving the Blitzer more confusion . Trying to hit any of the trio , the Blizter fires a blast that burns a hole through two stacks of chairs . The Doctor dives for the control for the generators in the confusion . The Doctor activates the generators , sucking the creature into the time vortex , along with some chairs in the hall battering it . The tear closes , with the Doctor rushing to scan it . Clara wonders if the Blitzer is gone and Earth is safe ; the Doctor tells her the scan revealed that it will come back in three days rather than a billion years thanks to " P . E . " ruining the precise positioning of the devices . This will force the Doctor to come up with a new plan as the machine will now kill him on sight since he has been scanned and pegged as a hostile target . Clara demands to know what Danny was doing there , to which he starts to explain ; however , he then demands to know what Clara is doing there and using alien words . To keep Danny in the dark about the secret part of her life , Clara tries passing off the events as a rehearsal for a play . Danny rhetorically asks how stupid she thinks he is ; " " I ' m willing to put a number on it . " " the Doctor grumbles . Coming to wrong conclusion that Clara is from space and that the Doctor is her dad , Danny earns annoyance from both of them . The Doctor wonders how Danny can mistake her for his daughter , as they are the same age ; Clara points out that the Doctor has gotten their ages wrong ( again ) , to which he says he was being kind ( thinking she ' s the older one ) . The Doctor takes out the sonic , ready to erase the night ' s events from Danny ' s mind , promising Clara that he will try not to erase his mind entirely . However , Clara stops him , wondering why the Doctor has forgotten that Danny is her boyfriend . The Doctor is stunned , wondering about Adrian ; Clara tells him that Adrian is just a friend and not her type . Danny asks Clara why she ' s never told him about the Doctor ; Clara explains it ' s because he ' s an alien . When asked if she ' s one , Clara says she ' s a human from Blackpool . The Doctor walks up to the stage and pulls back the curtains to reveal the TARDIS , prompting Clara to explain they travel the universe in this time machine that ' s bigger on the inside ; however , it ' s stuck looking like an old police telephone box . The Doctor opens the doors to show Danny the inside of the TARDIS . Danny wonders if the Doctor brought the Blitzer to earth ; annoyed , the Doctor tells him that he will protect Clara and him from it . It ' s only coming back because Danny interfered with the plan , and therefore caused more danger . Danny wants to call in the military , but the Doctor tells him that is the worst idea . Clara takes Danny home to deal with the shock . The Doctor tells her to finish the job by explaining to him about Danny once the Blitzer has been taken care of . At Clara ' s flat , she has finished telling him about her travels with the Doctor . Danny is silent , prompting her to ask him to speak . Danny recaps what Clara ' s told him : the Doctor used to resemble Adrian , but changed into a Scottish caretaker . And when Clara ' s not with him or teaching , she ' s off traveling throughout time with the Doctor . He asks her why she travels with him , which she attributes mostly to the wonders that she experiences . Danny struggles to accept whether or not Clara loves the Doctor romantically , which she denies . Parents ' evening arrives , and Clara gives Danny the invisibility watch . He turns invisible , and she takes him with her into the TARDIS so he can watch her interact with the Doctor . He has nearly finished building a device to fight the Blitzer , thanking her for leaving him alone . Clara says she explained to Danny and that he gets it . Clara tries telling the Doctor that Danny wasn ' t a soldier , trying to improve his opinion of him . The Doctor mentions something is odd , suddenly suggesting that they go off as he ' s bored . She reacts worriedly , and Danny realises that the Doctor knows he ' s there . He turns off the watch , becoming visible . The Doctor reveals Time Lord s can feel an invisibility shield " when it ' s right next to them " . Seeing the Doctor ' s title as a Time Lord to be pompous , he mockingly responds to the Doctor ' s demand to leave the TARDIS like a soldier taking an order . This brings out the militant side of the Doctor , and the two men trade insults in a heated confrontation . As Danny heads for the door , the Doctor then turns to Clara , saying " " Well , all things considered , I think that went well . " " Clara and Danny leave the TARDIS ; Clara reminds Danny that he can ' t go home as it ' s parents evening . The Doctor lags at the door , wondering why he never seems to learn his lesson about humans . Courtney Woods enters the storeroom , asking the Doctor what ' s really in the police box , which he shows her . Wondering if she can go with him , the Doctor says he might have a vacancy . As the parents arrive , the Blitzer unexpectedly returns from the vortex . Inside the TARDIS , the Doctor is putting away his tools when the alarm goes off , much to his horror ; it ' s much too soon . Grabbing his device , he summons Clara through the door , prompting her and Danny both to leave . Courtney ' s parents , who were talking to Danny , express that their daughter was right about the two teachers ' relationship . Outside , the Doctor reveals that the Blizter has returned , yelling " SHUT UP ! ! ! " at Danny for interrupting him . The plan is for Clara to attract the Blitzer with the sonic screwdriver , taking it on a little goose chase away from the civilians . She needs to keep it busy for a couple minutes while he finishes the device ; Clara will then lead it to the caretaker ' s storeroom . He tells Danny to do one very important thing : keep out of their way . The plan seems to work , with the Doctor speaking into his device . He explains that it makes the Blitzer think he ' s a Skovox Artificer , it ' s general . The Doctor tells the Blitzer that there is no conflict and to shut down . It obeys , pending a final authorization code . Instead of deactivating , the Blitzer has begun a self - destruct count down . He tells Clara to distract it while he hurriedly tries to prepare the code , but she is unsure what to do . Just then , Danny yells out to the Blitzer . He runs and jumps over it as it fires its lasers at him . This distracts it long enough for the Doctor to give the final code , deactivating the Blitzer . Danny reveals to Clara he was following her with the watch and vows to protect her . He tells her that he only needs to do one thing , which the Doctor confirms : to prove he ' s worthy of Clara . This is reason that the Doctor is so angry ; he wants to make sure Danny is the right choice for his best friend . The Doctor takes the Blitzer into space and ejects it from the TARDIS , taking Courtney on her first trip . Unfortunately , Courtney is unable to cope with the immensity of the universe and finds herself feeling rather ill — whereupon she rushes back inside and is sick . The Doctor is not too pleased that someone made a mess in his house . Back on Earth , Clara and Danny watch television . Danny tells her that the Doctor reminds him of previous commanders he has known , who push their soldiers to get them to do more than they realised they were capable of . Clara obeyed the Doctor without being scared . Danny worries that the Doctor might push her too far . He insists that Clara promises to tell him if that happens . Elsewhere , CSO Matthew is in a long white office corridor with many doors on either side of the hallway . He doesn ' t realise that he is now dead , and is talking to a person named Seb at an information desk . Seb tries to break the news gently , having encountered many new patrons to the afterlife because of the Skovox Blitzers . He tells Matthew that the place has many names , including the Promised Land . Seb personally prefers to call it the " Nethersphere " . They notice appear from one of the doors . She gives a stone - faced glance . Seb tells Matthew that Missy is quite busy at the moment , before asking him if he has any questions about his new existence in the Nethersphere . Story notes . Ratings . 6 . 82 million ( DWM 480 ) External links . " to be added "