History Recap / DoctorWhoS25E3SilverNemesis

* ArtisticLicenseMathematics: The mathematician hired by Lady Peinforte derives that the comet Nemesis will return to Earth exactly 350 years after it departed on 23 Nov 1638, on 23 Nov 1988. Except for one little problem...in 1752, Great Britain switched from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar, necessitating the dropping of 11 days in order to sync it back up with all the other countries on the Gregorian Calendar. Not only this, but the Julian and Gregorian calendars would also fall further out of sync by two more days (the leap days for 1800 and 1900), so that by the present day the total error would be 13 days. So the date he's calculated means they would actually arrive 13 days too late, on 6 Dec 1988!
** Of course, there's no way that a mathematician in 1638 could possibly know that the British calendar would be changed in the year 1752, but the problem is caused by the writers not researching this properly. It would've worked just fine if they'd had the comet being launched in 1763 or later instead...

* AuthorAppeal: Writer Kevin Clarke incorporated his love of jazz and Jacobean theatre into the story.

* ArtisticLicense-Mathematics: The mathematician hired by Lady Peinforte derives that the comet Nemesis will return to Earth exactly 350 years after it departed on 23 Nov 1638, on 23 Nov 1988. Except for one little problem...in 1752, Great Britain switched from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar, necessitating the dropping of 11 days in order to sync it back up with all the other countries on the Gregorian Calendar. Not only this, but the Julian and Gregorian calendars would also fall further out of sync by two more days (the leap days for 1800 and 1900), so that by the present day the total error would be 13 days. So the date he's calculated means they would actually arrive 13 days too late, on 6 Dec 1988!

* ProportionalArticleImportance: Played for laughs; the ''Daily Mirror'' has a huge headline proclaiming that the meteor that kicks off the plot is returning to Earth. Ace, however, is more interested in the football results at the bottom of the back page, and the Doctor doesn't notice.

"Silver Nemesis" was promoted as the show's 25th anniversary special; the first part airing on the anniversary itself. Because of the broadcast rearrangement to facilitate this, it [[OutOfOrder aired before]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E4TheGreatestShowintheGalaxy "The Greatest Show In The Galaxy"]], but clearly follows it in chronological order.

* WeaksauceWeakness: The Cybermen's vulnerability to gold -- originally a difficult-to-exploit weakness where gold dust, if gotten ''into their workings'', could take them out, and ''not instantly'' -- is taken to utterly absurd levels in this story. While they at least regain the resistance to bullets that they somehow lost in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E1AttackOfTheCybermen Attack of the Cybermen]]," you can now cause them to instantly die screaming by ''throwing a gold coin at their chest''. Evidently the writer never stopped to think how absurd it was that the Cybermen could withstand high-velocity impacts without any trouble, but be instantly killed by a low-force impact with any gold or gold-plated object. This came about because, at the time, the only knowledge the writers had of this vulnerability was a throwaway remark about gold from Creator/JohnNathanTurner.

"Silver Nemesis" was promoted as the show's 25th anniversary special; the first episode of the serial aired on the anniversary itself. Because of the broadcast rearrangement to facilitate this, it [[OutOfOrder aired before]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E4TheGreatestShowintheGalaxy "The Greatest Show In The Galaxy"]], but clearly follows it in chronological order.

"Silver Nemesis" was promoted as the show's 25th anniversary special; the first episode of the serial aired on the anniversary itself.

* ContinuityNod: "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E1RemembranceOfTheDaleks Ace compares the events she encounters here with her encounter with the Daleks. The Doctor also mentions that they had destroyed her stereo, and he built her a new one]].

* ShoutOut: Lady Peinforte says a [[ExitPursuedByABear bear wouldn't pursue them]] as such things [[Theatre/TheWintersTale only happen in the theatre]].

The one where the Doctor wears a fez.

* SwissCheese: Lampshaded when the Doctor and Ace find themselves wandering around Windsor Castle -- walking towards ''the Queen'':

* CometOfDoom: The Nemesis asteroid.

* ExactWords: Do you understand the instructions the Cyber Leader has given?

* CaliforniaDoubling: Arundel Castle stands in for Windsor Castle.

* OutOfOrder: Was originally intended to be shown after "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E4TheGreatestShowInTheGalaxy The Greatest Show in the Galaxy]]." This introduces a minor continuity error: Ace has Flowerchild's earring pinned to her jacket in this serial.

** Well, these Cybermen ''were'' plated in [[BlingOfWar chrome silver]] this time around. It's possible something their attempts to upgrade their casings made them even more vulnerable to gold. Somehow...

* NoSwastikas: Averted. Creator/JohnNathanTurner got cold feet about having actual Nazis in ''Doctor Who'' at the last minute and had some of the dialogue toned down to make it less explicit. Unfortunately, the director and set designer didn't get the message so De Flores's introductory sequence begins with a close-up shot of an enormous swastika-decorated ink stand.

''Silver Nemesis'' was promoted as the show's 25th anniversary special; the first episode of the serial aired on the anniversary itself.

* ContinuityPorn: References to Rassilon and Omega, Earth becoming "New Mondas", and in the deleted scenes the Doctor hypnotises some security guards by wearing spectacles in an overt reference to ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E7TheWarGames The War Games]]''.

* DoingInTheWizard: Taken on its own, this episode appears to claim that Lady Peinforte's powers are literal magic, making it the only Original Series episode to allow such a thing rather than [[MagicByAnyOtherName handwaving it somehow]] (''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E1Battlefield Battlefield]]'' doesn't really count, because the Arthurian characters are visitors from another universe with different physical laws). However, a throwaway line in ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E3TheCurseOfFenric The Curse of Fenric]]'' establishes that, in fact, Lady Peinforte got her powers from Fenric. [[AuthorsSavingThrow So there.]]

** The deleted scenes seem to imply that the Doctor is playing chess against an unseen opponent each time he returns to Lady Peinforte's house. Later revelations in ''The Curse of Fenric'' would suggest that Fenric is operating behind the scenes in this story, and the chess motif later takes on great significance in that episode.

* LampshadeHanging: Ace points out that the resolution is exactly the same as that from ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E1RemembranceOfTheDaleks Remembrance of the Daleks]]'', a story only two serials before this one.

* OutOfOrder: Was originally intended to be shown after ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E4TheGreatestShowInTheGalaxy The Greatest Show in the Galaxy]]''. This introduces a minor continuity error: Ace has Flowerchild's earring pinned to her jacket in this serial.

* ThoseWackyNazis: The only twentieth-century TV ''Doctor Who'' story to feature actual Nazis, as opposed to evil fantasy cultures with a [[ANaziByAnyOtherName suspicious resemblance]].

* WeaksauceWeakness: The Cybermen's vulnerability to gold -- originally a difficult-to-exploit weakness where gold dust, if gotten ''into their workings,'' could take them out, and ''not instantly'' -- is taken to utterly absurd levels in this story. While they at least regain the resistance to bullets that they somehow lost in ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E1AttackOfTheCybermen Attack of the Cybermen]]'', you can now cause them to instantly die screaming by ''throwing a gold coin at their chest''. Evidently the writer never stopped to think how absurd it was that the Cybermen could withstand high-velocity impacts without any trouble, but be instantly killed by a low-force impact with any gold or gold-plated object. This came about because, at the time, the only knowledge the writers had of this vulnerability was a throwaway remark about gold from Creator/JohnNathanTurner.

* WholePlotReference: Has clear similarities to [[Theatre/TheRingOfTheNibelung The Ring of the Nibelung]], which is lampshaded by De Flores.

* CelebrityStar: jazz musician Courtney Pine and his band.

* ContinuityPorn: references to Rassilon and Omega, Earth becoming "New Mondas", and in the deleted scenes the Doctor hypnotises some security guards by wearing spectacles in an overt reference to [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E7TheWarGames "The War Games"]].
* CreatorCameo: a number of contemporary and past ''Series/DoctorWho'' cast and crew play the tourists at Windsor Castle.

* DoingInTheWizard: Taken on its own, this episode appears to claim that Lady Peinforte's powers are literal magic, making it the only Original Series episode to allow such a thing rather than [[MagicByAnyOtherName handwaving it somehow]] ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E1Battlefield Battlefield]]" doesn't really count, because the Arthurian characters are visitors from another universe with different physical laws). However, a throwaway line in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E3TheCurseOfFenric The Curse Of Fenric]]" establishes that, in fact, Lady Peinforte got her powers from Fenric. [[AuthorsSavingThrow So there.]]

* LampshadeHanging: Ace points out that the resolution is exactly the same as that from [[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E1RemembranceOfTheDaleks Remembrance of the Daleks]], a story only two serials before this one.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: there are hints, especially on the DVD deleted scenes, that "De Flores" is meant to be a pseudonym for Martin Bormann, the most senior Nazi unaccounted for in 1945 who was widely believed in the 1980s to be still alive and hiding out in South America.

* OutOfOrder: Was originally intended to be shown after "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E4TheGreatestShowInTheGalaxy The Greatest Show In The Galaxy]]". This introduces a minor continuity error: Ace has Flowerchild's earring pinned to her jacket in this serial.

* ThoseWackyNazis: the only twentieth-century TV ''Doctor Who'' story to feature actual Nazis, as opposed to evil fantasy cultures with a [[ANaziByAnyOtherName suspicious resemblance]].

* WeaksauceWeakness: The Cybermen's vulnerability to gold -- originally a difficult-to-exploit weakness where gold dust, if gotten ''into their workings,'' could take them out, and ''not instantly'' -- is taken to utterly absurd levels in this story. While they at least regain the resistance to bullets that they somehow lost in "Attack of the Cybermen," you can now cause them to instantly die screaming by ''throwing a gold coin at their chest''. Evidently the writer never stopped to think how absurd it was that the Cybermen could withstand high-velocity impacts without any trouble, but be instantly killed by a low-force impact with any gold or gold-plated object. This came about because, at the time, the only knowledge the writers had of this vulnerability was a throwaway remark about gold from Creator/JohnNathanTurner.