History Recap / DoctorWhoS29E2TheShakespeareCode

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Queen Elizabeth I in the end. While she really did have her faults, ordering her soldiers to murder a man on sight in her presence without a trial was not among them.

* {{Doomsayer}}: He's quite delighted that the end of the world is happening, crying: "I told ye so! I told ye!"

* AllPartOfTheShow: The climactic scene takes place at the end of a performance of ''Love's Labours Won'', the ending of which was written by the Carrionites to call the rest of their race to take over the world. After the villains are defeated, the audience stands up and applauds. Martha assumes that they think it was all special effects.

-->'''The Doctor:''' We can all have a good flirt later–\\

** The reverse joke: the Queen turns up, sees the Doctor, and yells "My sworn enemy. OffWithHisHead!" with the Doctor having no idea what he'll do to upset her...which will not be revealed until "[[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor The Day of the Doctor]]", a full six years of real-time later.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: The Doctor cheerfully tells Martha she could tell everyone she knows that she's met Shakespeare. Martha points out in SarcasmMode that if she did, she'd be institutionalized.

* {{Doomsayer}}: He's quite delighted that the end of the world is happening, crying: "I told ye so! I told ye so!"
* DrivesLikeCrazy: Martha is a little alarmed at her first [=TARDIS=] trip and asks if you have to pass a test to fly it. The Doctor replies that you do, and he failed it.

** Martha's concern [[NoEqualOpportunityTimeTravel about old-timey racism]] was rightly founded in a following [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E8HumanNature episode]].
** The power of words and the GrandfatherParadox will be key to defeating the Master in the climax of the season.

*** One of these (Sonnet 130, a satire of the flowery love sonnets prevalent in his era) has Shakespeare complaining of his Dark Lady's bad breath. [[HypocriticalHumor Turns out his own breath is nothing to boast about!]]

'''Martha:''' Wait, [[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} Hamlet?]] \\

* LiteraryWorkOfMagic: Shakespeare's lost play, ''Love's Labours Won'', was influenced by a trio of aliens to serve as a summoning ritual for their species.

* MagicFromTechnology: Sort of. The Doctor points out that the Carrionites' powers only seem like magic because Earth's science is maths-derived while the Carrionites instead learned how to [[WordsCanBreakMyBones manipulate words]].
* MagicalIncantation: The Doctor instructs Shakespeare to create a counter-spell that will re-seal the Carrionites. He comes up with the following.

* MindRape: The Doctor gives an Elizabethan mental patient a nice soothing MindHug.

* NoEqualOpportunityTimeTravel: Martha worries about being sold as a slave, but the Doctor assures her this wasn't actually an issue. In reality, there actually were some black people in England, none of whom were slaves, and the dialogue was actually meant to teach kids that England wasn't entirely white in the 17th century.
* NoNonsenseNemesis: Despite all their cackling and gloating, the Carrionites are ruthless in pursuit of their goal. They kill the master of the revels when he threatens the play, kill the landlady when she walks in on them bewitching Shakespeare, send Doomfinger to kill Peter Street and the others when he reveals their plan, and don't hesitate to kill both Martha and the Doctor when they interfere (with only the Doctor's biology and Martha's time displacement saving them). The only mistake they make is not killing Shakespeare [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness once he's finished writing the play]], allowing him to banish them with a spell of his own.

* PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad: Shakespeare's attempts to flirt offend Martha because he keeps bringing up her skin color as exotic (albeit using what, for the time, are very polite terms). The Doctor invokes the trope by name.

* BrickJoke: Notable in that one of these bricks falls in ''reverse.''
** As the Doctor shows Martha around turn- of-the-17th-century London, they pass by a doomsday preacher shouting "And the Earth will be consumed by flames!" At the end, when the void opens and the Carrionites are being released, the same preacher is seen screaming with almost glee-like tones, "I TOLD THEE SO! I TOLD THEE!"
** When handing out the scripts for ''Love's Labours Won'', Shakespeare tells the performers to give it their all, "Y'never know, the Queen might show up", before muttering that she never does. Cue the end of the episode...
** We finally discover what the Doctor did to anger Queen Elizabeth I in "[[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor The Day of the Doctor]]", making this a rather prolonged Brick Joke, as there was ''over six years'' between the two episodes.

** The power of words will also come up again this series, as will the GrandfatherParadox.

** Nearly [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor seven years later]], the full story is revealed. Ten married Elizabeth I, after proposing to her, thinking she was a [[ItMakesSenseInContext shapeshifting alien]]. After marrying her he left quickly, but due to the presence of his future self he forgets exactly what happened.

** The Doctor feeding Shakespeare his own lines. Specifically, it resolves the BrickJoke of the Sycorax set up in "[[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion The Christmas Invasion]]"; Sycorax is a witch mentioned in ''Theatre/TheTempest'', and where Shakespeare got the name is a bit of an academic mystery — as far as anyone can find she's not a figure from mythology, and if it's a MeaningfulName, it's far from obvious what the meaning is. "The Christmas Invasion" used it as the name of an alien species, with no explanation/comment, and in this episode Shakespeare hears the Doctor talking about them and likes the sound of it.

*** One of these (Sonnet 130, a satire of the flowery love sonnets prevalent in his era) has Shakespeare complaining of his Dark Lady's bad breath. Turns out his own breath is nothing to boast about!

-->'''Shakespeare:''' I got new ideas. Perhaps it is time for me to write about fathers and sons. In memory of my boy, my precious Hamnet. \\
'''Martha:''' Wait, [[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} Hamnet?]] \\

* TrueName: The bane of the Carrionites. It can banish them, but only once.

* SanitySlippage: The man who designed the Globe Theatre was driven mad by the Carrionites, after they were done using him.

* NoNonsenseNemesis: Despite all their cackling and gloating, the Carrionites are ruthless in pursuit of their goal. They kill the master of the revels when he threatens the play, kill the maid when she walks in on them bewitching Shakespeare, send Doomfinger to kill Peter Street and the others when he reveals their plan, and don't hesitate to kill both Martha and the Doctor when they interfere (with only the Doctor's biology and Martha's time displacement saving them.) The only mistake they make is not killing Shakespeare [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness once he's finished writing the play,]] allowing him to banish them with a spell of his own.

* NoEqualOpportunityTimeTravel: Martha worries about being sold as a slave, but the Doctor assures her this wasn't actually an issue. In reality, there actually were some black people in England, none of whom were slaves, and the dialog was actually meant to teach kids that England wasn't entirely white in the 17th century.

** Nearly [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor four years later]] the full story is revealed. Ten married Elizabeth I, after proposing to her, thinking she was a [[ItMakesSenseInContext shapeshifting alien]]. After marrying her he left quickly, but due to the presence of his future self he forgets exactly what happened.

** The Doctor mentions [[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion the Sycorax]]. Shakespeare will use the name for [[Theatre/TheTempest one of his characters]].

* DirtyOldMan: The Master of the Revels is accosted by Lilith looking to get a hair sample from him to use her magic on. He assumes she's trying to get a feel and whispers that he'll come back later.

* ClarkesThirdLaw: The Carrionites are three crones who appear to be witches that cast spells through incantations. When they use a spell to kill a man, the Doctor warns Martha to keep quiet, otherwise the townsfolk will think it's witchcraft. It turns out that the witches were aliens called Carrionites, who use science based on the power of words.

** As the Doctor shows Martha around turn- of-the-17th-century London, they pass by a doomsday preacher shouting "And the Earth will be consumed by flames!". At the end, when the void opens and the Carrionites are being released, the same preacher is seen screaming with almost glee-like tones, "I TOLD THEE SO! I TOLD THEE!"

* BizarreAlienBiology: The Carrionite witch Lilith creates a voodoo doll and stabs one of the Doctor's hearts. He gets by well enough on the other one until Martha gets it going again.

** Queen Elizabeth I turns up at the end, angry with the Doctor for something he hadn't done yet. What was it? [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime He married her]] [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor and ran off]].

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The episode repeatedly shows plays being performed in the Globe Theatre at night. Plays in Elizabethan England were performed during the day, since several hundred years prior to the invention of electric lighting, they would have had no way to light the stage properly when it was dark. This one can be chalked up to the fact that all of the scenes at the Globe were shot in the real-life Globe, which, like the original which it is a replica of, stages its plays exclusively in the daytime, resulting in very limited daytime shooting time for the show to use.

* AluminiumChristmasTrees: There were many complaints in online fandom about the episode suggesting there were black people living in England in William Shakespeare's time. In real life, Queen Elizabeth I wrote letters to the Mayor of London complaining about the "great numbers of Negars and Blackamoors" in the city.

[[caption-width-right:350: Shakespeare's trademark ruff is actually a neck brace. We're just as surprised as you are.]]

This clue, along with the murder of the Master of the Revels, leads the Doctor and Martha to Bedlam, the insane asylum, [[note]]also known as Bethlem Royal Hospital [[/note]] with Shakespeare tagging along. They interview the architect who designed the Globe -- fourteen sides, like fourteen lines in a sonnet -- and realise the plan: the performance of ''Love's Labour's Won'' will be a spell to allow the witches to take over Earth. A witch shows up and kills off the architect... way too late, as the Doctor has worked out the witches' TrueName... Carrionite. The mere word banishes her, and the trio split up: Shakespeare to stop the performance of the play, and the Doctor and Martha to find Witch Headquarters.

* AuthorAppeal: Gareth Roberts is a big Shakespeare fan, having included him as a character in ''A Groatsworth of Wit'', a Ninth Doctor comic strip.
* BadassBookworm: William Shakespeare, the Word-Smith. He doesn't plan on fighting witches, but was quick to adapt to the changes brought forth by the Carrionites and the Doctor.

* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: Creator/{{Will|iamShakespeare}} is involved with real witches.

* BiTheWay: Shakespeare is hinted at being this, leading the Doctor to quip that "fifty-seven academics just punched the air" (one of the series' many {{Historical In Joke}}s as more than a few historians speculate about this regarding the real Shakespeare — with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet_57 Sonnet 57]] being part of their evidence).
-->'''The Doctor:''' We can all have a good flirt later--\\

--->'''Martha:''' It's like in those films. You step on a butterfly, you change the future of the human race.\\

* CelebrityParadox: The ''Literature/HarryPotter'' books and films exist in the ''Doctor Who'' universe. We must assume that someone other than Creator/DavidTennant played Barty Crouch Jr. in the film adaptation of ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'' since otherwise Martha would probably tell the Doctor he resembles him.

'''Martha''': No.\\
'''The Doctor''': Well, then.

* HaveWeMetYet: {{Inverted}} -- the Queen immediately recognizes the Doctor from a meeting that hasn't happened to him yet.

** The Doctor feeding Shakespeare his own lines. Specifically, it resolves the BrickJoke of the Sycorax set up in "[[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion The Christmas Invasion]]"; Sycorax is a witch mentioned in ''Theatre/TheTempest'', and where Shakespeare got the name is a bit of an academic mystery -- as far as anyone can find she's not a figure from mythology, and if it's a MeaningfulName it's far from obvious what the meaning is. "The Christmas Invasion" used it as the name of an alien species, with no explanation[=/=]comment, and in this episode Shakespeare hears the Doctor talking about them and likes the sound of it.

Between the points -- Seven six one three nine 0.\\

I sing to thee EXPELLIARMUS!

* MomentKiller: For once it's not the Doctor who does this.
-->'''Shakespeare:''' [[ObliviousToLove The Doctor may]] [[{{Foreshadowing}} never kiss you]]; why not entertain a man who will?\\

** Except earlier when he's [[ThereIsOnlyOneBed sharing the same bed with Martha]], who doesn't look like she'd mind the Doctor making a romantic pass. He starts rambling on about Rose instead.

* PresentDayPast: An example of present-day ''future'' - the Doctor babbles happily about ''Literature/HarryPotter'', telling Martha that she's going to love getting to read the last book (which had not been released at that point and was at the time being heavily hyped). Problem is, ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]'' was released in July 2007 in real life, and Martha's "home" time period is early 2008.[[note]]Martha's home time isn't specifically stated -- which is why the writers forgot -- but following the episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E4AliensOfLondon "Aliens of London"]], in which the Doctor tried to return Rose to the time she left and was a year out, all "present day" episodes must still be that year out, at least until [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E15PlanetOfTheDead "Planet of the Dead"]]. There isn't a point where you can reverse this and say maybe a season took ''less'' than a year, because all the Christmas episodes from [[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion "The Christmas Invasion"]] to [[Recap/DoctorWho2007CSVoyageOfTheDamned "Voyage of the Damned"]] take place on successive Christmases.[[/note]]

** Subverted with [[Literature/DoNotGoGentleIntoThatGoodNight "Rage, rage against the dying of the light"]], which the Doctor says Shakespeare can't use because it's another author's -- or will be in a few hundred years.

-->'''The Doctor''': Come on, we can all have a good flirt later.
-->'''Shakespeare''': Is that a promise, Doctor?
-->'''The Doctor''': Oh, 57 academics just punched the air.

-->'''Shakespeare''': Tell me, Doctor. How can a man so young have eyes so old?
-->'''The Doctor''': I do a lot of reading.

* LiteraryWorksOfMagic: Shakespeare's lost play, ''Love's Labours Won'', was influenced by a trio of aliens to serve as a summoning ritual for their species.

* UnresovledSexualTension: Martha wants nothing better than to jump the Doctor's bones when they briefly share a bed together (for sleeping only) but he's having none of it.

* WaybackTrip: It's pointed out by Martha. The Doctor explains that it is similar to ''Film/BackToTheFuture''. Except this doesn't make sense either; in ''BttF'', Marty was the one who altered history, whereas in the episode, the witches existed totally independent of the Doctor's travels. The general HandWave is that things have gotten ''really'' screwy since the Time Lords died off.

* InnoculouslyImportantEpisode: The ending includes William Shakespeare using words to stop the Carronites. The last episode in the season, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E13LastOfTheTimeLords Last of the Time Lords]]", took that concept and turned it Up to Eleven. The relationship between the Tenth Doctor and Elizabeth I is later explored in the 50th anniversary special.

* AluminuimChristmasTrees: There were many complaints in online fandom about the episode suggesting there were black people living in England in William Shakespeare's time. In real life, Queen Elizabeth I wrote letters to the Mayor of London complaining about the "great numbers of Negars and Blackamoors" in the city.

* AllPartOfTheShow: The Carrionites and the "Expelliarmus!" are mistaken as practical effects.

* BiTheWay: Creator/WilliamShakespeare.

* CelebrityParadox: The Harry Potter books and films exist in the ''Doctor Who'' universe. We must assume that someone other than Creator/DavidTennant played Barty Crouch Jr. in the film adaptation of ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'' since otherwise Martha would probably tell the Doctor he resembles him.

'''The Doctor:''' Are you ''planning'' to?

* HaveWeMetYet: Inverted -- the Queen immediately recognizes the Doctor from a meeting that hasn't happened to him yet.

* RealityEnsues: A pretty companion meets a handsome, intelligent, and famous historical figure... and won't snog him because oral hygiene was somewhat lacking in those days.

* CelebrityParadox: The Harry Potter books and films exist in the ''Doctor Who'' universe. We must assume that someone other than David Tennant played Barty Crouch Jr. in the film adaptation of ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'' since otherwise Martha would probably tell the Doctor he resembles him.

* FateWorseThanDeath: Bedlam Hospital, where the mentally ill of Elizabethan London is sent. As Shakespeare explains, fear of being sent there after his son died cured him of his grief pretty damn quick (he takes this as proof it works, rather than it being horrific).

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Martha's concern [[NoEqualOpportunityTimeTravel about old-timey racism]] was rightly founded in a following [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E8HumanNature episode]].

** When Shakespeare flirts with him, the Doctor's line about "57 academics" (see BiTheWay above) doesn't refer to a number of people rather to the Bard's Sonnet 57, which several Shakespeare scholars have interpreted as homoerotic.

** After Shakespeare has flirted with him, the Doctor's line about "57 academics" (see BiTheWay above) doesn't refer to a number of people rather to the Bard's Sonnet 57, which several Shakespeare scholars have interpreted as homoerotic.