History Recap / DoctorWhoS30E5ThePoisonSky

* CurbStompBattle: The Sontarans find themselves on the receiving end of one this time once UNIT figures the Sontaran technology that stops their guns from firing. Once that happens, the aliens start getting mowed down.

** Despite knowing about the Sontarans' gun-blocking signal, the Doctor doesn't tell the Colonel, resulting in Ross' untimely demise.

* RedshirtArmy: {{Subverted}} with the UNIT troops. Initially the Sontarans slaughter them with their FrickinLaserBeams because they've used {{Technobabble}} to render UNIT's firearms inoperable. But UNIT just pulls out, switches ammunition, then goes back in and mops the floor with them.

(Luke enters, aiming a gun)

(Rattigan enters, aiming a gun)
-->'''Rattigan''': (nervous) Don't tell anyone what I did. It wasn't my fault, the Sontarans lied to me, they-
-->'''The Doctor''': ([[NoSell walks past Rattigan while taking his gun;]] infuriated) ''If I see one more gun...'' (tosses gun away)

** Skorr: "[[SincerityMode Wonderful]]..."

* DoesntLikeGuns: The Doctor snatches Luke's gun out of his hand and throws it away without breaking his stride. "If I see one more gun..."

** Shouting an Alan Partridge-style [[Series/AlanPartridge "Back of the neck!"]]

* SwapTeleportation: TheDragon Luke Rattigan pulls a RedemptionEqualsDeath by switching places with the Doctor using one of these, taking his place in the SuicideMission to stop the Sontarans. This is how he chooses to interpret the Doctor's parting instruction to "Do something clever with your life."
* Franchise/StargateVerse: All based off Ancient technology:

* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: The Doctor throwing Luke's gun across the room is ''incredibly'' dangerous. [[FridgeBrilliance That is, assuming the gun is even loaded]].

* {{Squick}}: In-universe, as disgusted as Rattigan's fellow students are by his plan to destroy the Earth and move the school off-planet, what ends up making them leave is that he planned a ''[[GeniusBreedingAct mating program]]'' for them. (What's worse is that you'd need about 200 people to repopulate humanity without a ''lot'' of incest, and there are nowhere ''near'' 200 students at Rattigan's academy.)

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Colonel Mace can kill a Sontaran - Commander Skorr, no less, who's an example in his own right - in one shot ''without'' using the back of the neck weakness. No one else can do this. Oh, and he warns the Sontaran of his presence.
--> You will face me, sir!

-->'''Mace''': [[DeadpanSnarker Having fun, Doctor?]]

-->'''Mace''': You will face me, sir!

--> You will face me, sir!

-->'''Martha:''' Just send that thing up on its own. I don't know, put it on a delay.\\

* InsufferableGenius: Luke Rattigan is revealed to be a JerkassWoobie because of this. All he ever really wanted was to have some real friends who would praise him for his achievements, hence why he was so willing to work for the Sontarans, even hoping they'd adopt him into the fold, as it were. When they reveal he's disposable, he takes the Doctor's comment that he should do something clever with his life to its logical conclusion and decides to atone for his error by doing a TakingYouWithMe to the Sontaran mothership.

** However, this doesn't stop them having an OhCrap moment when Luke replaces the Doctor - because they know that unlike the Doctor, he won't hesitate.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Colonel Mace can kill a Sontaran in one shot ''without'' using the back of the neck weakness. No one else can do this.

* ColonelBadass: Colonel Mace proves he's one not only by inspiring UNIT to put some steel-jacketed rounds in Sontaran heads, but he also double-taps Commander Skorr with a pistol — and this after [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority Skorr]] easily took down two UNIT soldiers armed with automatic rifles.

* GunshipRescue: "UNIT carrier ship ''Valiant'' reporting for duty, Doctor."

* HonourBeforeReason:

* ShutUpKirk: A rare heroic example: "Thank you, Doctor, for your lack of faith, but unfortunately I've stopped listening." After two episodes of contempt and insults from the Doctor, whom he had treated with utter respect from the start, Colonel Mace finally stops listening and proceeds to prove the Doctor wrong and wipe the floor with the so-called "universe's greatest soldiers". However, the mothership would have wiped them out from space if it wasn't for the Doctor, so he was correct about them standing no chance against the Sontarans. Notably, while the Doctor never congratulates Mace on the bullets thing (though this being the Doctor he wouldn't) he flat-out congratulates Mace for the use of the ''Valiant''.

* TalkingToHerself: Martha talks to her clone; she even calls her Martha.

** Shouting an Alan Partridge-style [[Series/AlanPartridge "Back of the neck!"]].

* MythologyGag: Rattigan calls the planet he intends to colonize "Earth.2", similarly to how the Cybermen [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E5RiseOfTheCybermen referred to themselves]] as "Human.2".

Luckily, the Doctor can whip up something that can burn all the gas, cleansing the air, using technology that has conveniently been developed by Rattigan's geniuses for when they were going to move to a new planet. He also, [[DeathSeeker once again]], decides to sacrifice himself, but Rattigan takes his place and, in an HeroicSacrifice, blows up the whole Sontaran fleet with a Sontar-HA!

* HumanityEnsues: The clone-Martha gives the real Martha some vital information after considering her fake memories while she dies.

* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: The Sontarans correctly deduce that the Doctor is bluffing when he threatens to blow up their ship, reasoning that he doesn't have it in him to kill them all. As it turns out, Luke did.

* TheCameo: Newsreader and presenter Kirsty Wark.

* BigDamnGunship: The ''Valiant'' makes a return appearance, accompanied by the necessary RousingSpeech.

* BizarreAlienSenses: The Doctor can tell that clone!Martha was a clone because of "reduced iris contraction", and a "thinning of the hair follicles on the left temple".

* BizarreAlienSenses: The Doctor could tell that clone!Martha was a clone because of "reduced iris contraction", and a "thinning of the hair follicles on the left temple".

* ArmourIsUseless: The Sontarans' armour seems mostly decorative, as UNIT mows them down when their firearms are working again. It might be that it's specifically designed to counter energy weapons, the same way that kevlar is specifically designed to stop bullets, and less good against more primitive weapons like blades.

Also the one with a scene that would make UsefulNotes/AlGore scat his pants. '''[=>>>=]'''\\
Need anymore proof?

* ArmorIsUseless: The Sontarans' armour seems mostly decorative, as UNIT mows them down when their firearms are working again. It might be that it's specifically designed to counter energy weapons, the same way that kevlar is specifically designed to stop bullets, and less good against more primitive weapons like blades.

* AnAxeToGrind: When the Doctor and Donna are unable to free Wilfred from his car, Sylvia comes along with an axe and smashed the window open. She claims she has it in case of burglars.

** Subverted. The Sontarans appear to be one of these until UNIT overcomes their weapons being disabled and gives them the ass-kicking of the century. The Doctor had just introduced them as the greatest soldiers in the universe, too.[[note]]Of course, this is the Doctor we're talking about, he was probably throwing a StealthInsult their way.[[/note]] Despite all their talk of discipline they fought as individual warriors, and once UNIT got around their advanced technology (a field that made copper-jacketed bullets unfireable), they were immediately cut down by UNIT's organized fire-teams. It's stated that they could have easily destroyed Earth from orbit without much trouble, but on the ground UNIT was more than equal to the challenge, especially since the Sontarans weren't expecting any resistance and allowed themselves to be caught off-guard.
** Played straight with UNIT, as once they find a way around the Sontaran's anti-gun field they proceed to mow down the Sontarans with ease.

* ChekhovsGun: Chekhov's Hammer, in this case -- Donna uses the one the Doctor occasionally uses on the TARDIS console.

* ColonelBadass: Colonel Mace proves he's one not only by inspiring UNIT to put some steel-jacketed rounds in Sontaran heads, but he also double-taps Commander Skorr with a pistol - and this after [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority Skorr]] easily took down two UNIT soldiers armed with automatic rifles.

** The Doctor, who Donna can see and hear on a monitor, secretly communicates with her the same way he did with [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E6TheAgeOfSteel Mickey in a previous episode.]] He gets her attention by saying "noble", while with Mickey he repeatedly used the word "idiot" (which is what he frequently called him).

* DeadlyGas: Downplayed -- the gas is harmful, but not fatal until it reaches a very high density. This is a hint that it's not meant to be a weapon, but something else.
* DefconFive: Averted, the DEFCON status is used correctly. Nukes are ordered to be launched at Defcon 1.

* FunWithAcronyms: Taken to its logical conclusion with ATMOS, which stands for "'''Atm'''ospheric '''O'''missions '''S'''ystem". The final S has to come from System, or Rattigan's whining makes no sense. One would think "omissions" is a misspelling of "emissions", but it's actually a pun: the system takes the dangerous chemicals out of the car's emissions; it's an emission omission system. That's just the kind of joke somebody like Rattigan would think was clever.

* HeyYouHaymaker: Colonel Mace does this to Commander Skorr -- with his gun.

* HostileTerraforming: Weakened by their eternal war with another race of ScaryDogmaticAliens, the Sontarans hatched an uncharacteristically circuitous plan to bathe the Earth in gas which is poisonous to native life but nutritious to themselves, so that they can use it to spawn more soldiers.

** Despite knowing about the Sontaran's gun-blocking signal, the Doctor doesn't tell the Colonel, resulting in Ross's untimely demise.
* InformedAbility: The Sontarans being the "universe's greatest soldiers" when their tactics appear to mostly consist of walking forward and shooting people. Sure they mopped the floor with the UNIT forces in the first encounter, but once the humans got past the Sontaran's ''blatant cheating'' (a field which prevented their weapons from firing, making them incapable of even fighting back) they absolutely [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomped]] the "invincible" Sontarans. And unlike say, Daleks with powerful shields, these guys get cut down by bullets pretty easily when their copper-expanding gimmick fails.
** Considering this was coming from a TechnicalPacifist who views the word "soldier" as an insult, and that Sontarans are obviously a MartyrdomCulture that believes WarIsGlorious this actually may have been a bit of FridgeBrilliance. And it was stated several times throughout the episode that the Sontarans were holding back since they could have killed everyone easily, but needed the planet intact and the Sontarans inside the factory were caught flat-footed, as they expected no resistance since the soldiers' weapons were disabled.

* ItHasBeenAnHonor: "Donna, thank you. For everything. Martha, you too. Oh, so many times. Luke, do something clever with your life."

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: When the Doctor complains about being stuck on Earth like a human, he quickly apologizes. As he does that, he [[AsideGlance looks at the camera]] for long enough that this apology is more to the viewers than (evil)Martha.

* MauveShirt: After spending 1.5 episodes as the Doctor's {{sidekick}} Ross Jenkins is killed in battle. This is why the Doctor doesn't like guns!

* MundaneSolution: When they find out the Sontaran technobabble field effects the copper in their bullet casings, UNIT just switches to steel cased ammo and goes to town.
* MythologyGag: Rattigan calls the planet he intends to colonize "Earth.2", similarly to how the Cybermen [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E5RiseOfTheCybermen referred to themselves]] as "Human.2".

* NotHerself: Martha. The Doctor suspects this almost immediately -- one of the first things he asks the clone is if she's called her family. "No, what for?" Also, she smells.
* OfficerAndAGentleman: Colonel Mace, who on spotting Commander Skorr, barks "You will face me, sir!", and waits for him to turn [[CombatPragmatist (though only just)]] before shooting him

* OutGambitted: The clone!Martha prevented UNIT from launching nuclear weapons at the Sontarans, only to discover that was just what the Doctor wanted, having immediately recognized her as a fake.

* SoldierVsWarrior: UNIT fights like soldiers in organized squads, the Sontarans fight like individual warriors - and UNIT are much more mobile. The Sontarans didn't stand a chance.