History Recap / DoctorWhoS33E4ThePowerOfThree

Written by Creator/ChrisChibnall.

** A reference to ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'': When the Doctor gets his hearts going, he says, "Back in the game," and makes a pose -- the exact same words and pose were used by Ziggy in the episode "Dome Dolls".

The year of a ton of cubes, the first one with the Brig's daughter[[note]]Well, in the main series that is[[/note]], and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the one where the Doctor plays]] ''VideoGame/WiiSports'' and gets ''very bored''.

* CanonImmigrant: Kate Stewart made various appearances in spin-off media before appearing in the show. Her previous onscreen adventure was a straight-to-video release with companions Sarah Jane Smith and Victoria Waterfield called ''Downtime''.

* WritersCannotDoMath: If the Doctor was telling the truth about how many times he kicked the football (five million), he would have had to kick it about 1,400 times per second to do it in roughly an hour. However, he had to have been kicking the ball at an exponentially faster rate than that, since he managed to squeeze in a whole bunch of other activities in that space of time as well. Maybe Rory's watch was wrong... or the Doctor's count was off. Lack of skill with numbers would suit [[Manchild him]] perfectly.

* WritersCannotDoMath: If the Doctor was telling the truth about how many times he kicked the football (five million), he would have had to kick it about 1,400 times per second to do it in roughly an hour. However, he had to have been kicking the ball at an exponentially faster rate than that, since he managed to squeeze in a whole bunch of other activities in that space of time as well. Maybe Rory's watch was wrong...

* SneezeOfDoom: Rory, the Doctor and Amy are hiding under Henry VIII's bed. The Doctor sneezes.

* AnachronicOrder: The events of previous episode ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E3ATownCalledMercy A Town Called Mercy]]'' took place at the end of the anniversary trip the Doctor takes Amy and Rory on in this episode.

->''"Every time we flew away with the Doctor we'd just become part of his life, but he never stood still long enough to become part of ours. Except once..."''

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: Amy and Rory have been married for ten years (in their personal timeline). When the story is set is unclear, as she's adding Earth time and Doctor time together. It gets wibbly-wobbly.
* AccidentalMarriage: Amy accidentally marries UsefulNotes/HenryVIII. This is both a CallBack and a CallForward: It makes Amy Elizabeth I's stepmother; thus, it makes her the Doctor's step-mother-in-law ''and'' mother-in-law. It also explains how Rory left his cell phone charger in Henry's court. It also makes Henry VIII the Doctor's father-in-law and step-father-in-law as well through his Tenth and Eleven incarnations.
%%* AfraidOfNeedles

* AllergicToRoutine: Eleven [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E10VincentAndTheDoctor still]] really, ''really'' hates waiting. He counted bouncing a football five million times and was annoyed to be informed only an hour had passed. He also vacuumed the house, painted the fence, and mowed the lawn in between bouncing the football.

* AsHimself: Professor Brian Cox and Lord Alan Sugar.
* BadassBoast: The Doctor gives one to a cube '''''while playing VideoGame/WiiSports'''''.

* BodyHorror: There are two fake "nurses" who abduct humans from the hospital and take them to the Shakri ship, and they wear surgical masks to hide that they don't have mouths. Instead, they have something that looks like a ''vent''.
* BreatherEpisode: One last fun outing with the Ponds before things get ''dark'' next episode.

** The Doctor and the Ponds visit [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E3ATownCalledMercy Henry VIII]].

** The [[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E1TerrorOfTheZygons Zygons]] show up at the Savoy Hotel in 1890.

* CuddleBug: The Doctor spends a ''lot'' of time in this episode kissing Amy's forehead and cuddling her, because he knows she's considering a life without him. Rory even gets in on it, grabbing the Doctor's face and very sweetly kissing him on the cheek.

* DescriptionCut: The news reports show Professor Brian Cox saying that "the answer must come from a greater man than I." Cut to the Doctor at work.

** Brian keeps diligently watching the cubes long after the world stops caring.

* DoubleMeaningTitle: The title refers both to the invasion of cubes and the Doctor, Amy and Rory forming a PowerTrio.
* DumbMuscle: Kate Stewart seems to regard the UNIT troops and possibly the older, not so MildlyMilitary, commanders as this. In her first scene, she says they don't know how to ''knock'' on a door, only storm the place, and that she had to drag them "kicking and screaming" into a science direction.

* EurekaMoment: "Oh, Amelia Pond... you always get what you want... [[OhCrap [the cubes] got what they wanted]]."

* InternalHomage: A homage to Creator/RussellTDavies-era Earth-invasion stories.

* LargeHam: Creator/MattSmith gives his grand ode to overacting after one of the Doctor's hearts stops, and it's ''glorious''.

** Kate seems a lot like her dad, Alistair; leader of UNIT, snarky British lady, and heroic defender of Earth.
* MadeOfIndestructium: Kate Stewart has subjected the cubes to positive and negative 200 degrees Celsius, a simulated underwater depth of 5 miles, a drop from a height of 10,000 feet and then had them run over by a tank. There wasn't as much as a blemish.

* MundaneUtility: The cubes spend so long doing absolutely nothing that people eventually take them for granted. Among other things, they've been put to use as paperweights.

-->'''The Doctor:''' So. Here you are, depositing slug pellets all over the earth. Made attractive, so humans will collect them, hoping to find something beautiful inside. Because that's what they are. Not pests or plague; creatures of hope. Forever building and reaching. Making mistakes of course. Every life form does. But. But -— they learn. And they strive for greater and they achieve it. You want a tally. Put their achievements against their failings, through the whole of time. I will back humanity against the Shakri every time.

* RealAfterAll: The Doctor was under the (mistaken) impression that the Shakri were a Gallifreyan myth.

* ShipSinking: The Doctor says he's never been kissed by a Lethbridge-Stewart before.

* SinisterGeometry: The little black cubes appear in the billions all over the world. They are identical in every way and can't be destroyed by anything. Are they extraterrestrial, and if so, are they an invasion? No, they are an ''extermination''.

* TheSlowPath: The Doctor still considers anything in excess of a few minutes TheSlowPath. He gets intensely frustrated with boredom after a couple of days.

* TitleDrop: Amy does this in the final line. ''Both'' the actual episode title and the working title, actually.
* WhamLine: "Why did you drop Lethbridge?"
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: There were a number of people on the ship that exploded and we only saw the Doctor, Amy, Rory and Brian escape. It can be assumed that Rory and Amy were moving them out while the Doctor talked with the Shakri's hologram.
* WritersCannotDoMath: If the Doctor was telling the truth about how many times he kicked the football (five million), he would have had to kick it ''about 1,400 times per second'' to do it in roughly an hour. However, he had to have been kicking the ball at an ''exponentially faster rate than that'', since he managed to squeeze in a whole bunch of other activities in that space of time as well. The Doctor lies...
** However, given that Missy would later recount a story in ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E2TheWitchsFamiliar The Witch's Familiar]]'' of the Doctor moving and reacting ''[[SuperSpeed even faster than this]]'', he may not necessarily be exaggerating his ball kicking rate after all, possibly making this a retroactive aversion.

The year of a ton of cubes, the first one with the Brig's daughter, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the one where the Doctor plays]] ''VideoGame/WiiSports'' and gets ''very bored''.

* HumansAreSpecial: The Doctor counters the Trope above, with the Picard Speech, however; claiming that while Humans may make mistakes (like any species can), they learn from them and work to better themselves, with their achievements outweighing any thing negative about them, and the Doctor always on their side?

* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: Although it's obvious someone's behind the cubes, there are no hints as to the identity or motive of this MonsterOfTheWeek until the last few minutes of the show.

* BadassBoast: The Doctor gives one to a cube '''''while playing'' Wii Tennis'''.

** The Doctor, while playing Wii Tennis, wonders what famous 1930s tennis player Fred Perry would say, and then says he'd probably want his shorts back.

* {{Adorkable}}: The Doctor loves playing tennis on the Ponds' Wii.

* FauxHorrific: One of the cubes [[EarWorm emits the Birdie Song/Chicken Dance on a constant loop.]] [[TakeThat The Doctor and Amy are suitably horrified.]]

* WritersCannotDoMath: If the Doctor was telling the truth about how many times he kicked the football (five million), he would have had to kick it ''about 1,400 times per second'' to do it in roughly an hour. However, he had to have been kicking the ball at an ''even faster rate than that'', since he managed to squeeze in a whole bunch of other activities in that space of time as well. The Doctor lies...

* SuperSpeed[=/=]WritersCannotDoMath: If the Doctor was telling the truth about how many times he kicked the football (five million), he would have had to kick it ''about 1,400 times per second'' to do it in roughly an hour. However, he had to have been kicking the ball at an ''even faster rate than that'', since he managed to squeeze in a whole bunch of other activities in that space of time as well. The Doctor lies...
** The latter trope is possibly averted though, as a story recounted by Missy in the ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E2TheWitchsFamiliar The Witch's Familiar]]'' would later suggest, the Doctor could very well be capable of moving this fast...

** The Doctor's inability to handle the boredom of living in normal time on Earth echoes his Third incarnation's irritation at being stuck on Earth for much of his career, and this is only reinforced by his cooperation with UNIT and the presence of a Lethbridge-Stewart.

* AnachronicOrder: The events of previous episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E3ATownCalledMercy A Town Called Mercy]]" took place at the end of the anniversary trip the Doctor takes Amy and Rory on in this episode.

* SuperSpeed[=/=]WritersCannotDoMath: If the Doctor was telling the truth about how many times he kicked the football, he would have had to kick it ''about 1,400 times per second'' to do it in roughly an hour. However, he had to have been kicking the ball at an ''even faster rate than that'', since he managed to squeeze in a whole bunch of other activities in that space of time as well. The Doctor lies...

* SuperSpeed[=/=]WritersCannotDoMath: If the Doctor was telling the truth about how many times he kicked the football, he would have had to kick it ''over a thousand times per second'' to do it in roughly an hour, and even ''more than that'' if he is to squeeze in all that other activity he was seen doing in that space of time as well. The Doctor lies...