History Recap / DoctorWhoS34E5TimeHeist

* CrazyJealousGuy: Turns out the Doctor is NotSoAboveItAll when it comes to Clara; wooing her with another exciting adventure, stuffing her with food just before her dinner date, then bragging about it after she's left.

You may have noticed there was a fairly big gap between the events of that paragraph and the last one. The Doctor and company noticed too, and they intend to find out what the hell happened. But first, they have to contend with an AffablyEvil security head, a million and one locks, [[KillItWithFire walls full of flamethrowers]] and, deadliest of all, the Teller; a terrifying beast that'll turn your mind to soup so it can feed on your guilt . . .

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: The Doctor tries to convince Clara out of her date and mentions the places they could go, like the Satanic Nebula, the Lagoon of Lost Stars . . . or Brighton.

** Anyone who remembers [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E7AmysChoice "Amy's Choice"]] will be one step ahead of the game when the Doctor starts talking about how much he hates the Architect.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E5TheRebelFlesh Solar storms]] interfere with the TARDIS' ability to fly properly.

* CyanidePill: The Doctor assumes the syringes they find are "atom shredders" meant to painlessly kill anyone caught by the Teller. He calls them an "escape route . . . of a sort." In fact, they're a more conventional escape route: they teleport the user to a spaceship in orbit.

* DisproportionateRetribution: People caught disobeying rules or stealing at the Bank of Karabraxos have to face the Teller as punishment. Not only do they get turned into walking vegetables, but their descendants get incarcerated as insurance that the family will not commit a crime against the bank a second time. It makes sense in that there are such things as crime families like the Slitheen afoot who might co-conspire and this is a preventative measure designed to split them up, but innocent children . . . hoo boy, it's gonna suck for them.

* IncrediblyObviousBomb: The Doctor opens their mysterious briefcase.
-->"OK well I'm no expert but fuses, timer . . . I'm going to stick my neck out and say ''bomb''."
** Played with in that, while it ''is'' indeed a bomb, its detonation doesn't cause a conventional explosion.

* IWasQuiteAFashionVictim: The Doctor allows a psychic alien to feast on his memories, telling it, "Big scarf . . . bow tie . . . embarrassing."

* LiteralMetaphor: Employees of the Bank of Karabraxos whose performances are deemed substandard are fired . . . by means of an incinerator.

* LogoJoke: The opening credits "time tunnel" are shown at the start of the episode . . . which turns out to be Clara's washing machine with the Doctor peering into it.

* PinPullingTeeth: Psi does this with his transporter locking pin while thinking it will kill him, trying to go out like a badass . . . only to scream in terror seconds later as it activates.

** Clara's outfit. It's a simple black and white suit with a thin black tie. Being worn for a bank heist. Still haven't put it together? She was wearing it for her date with a man who could easily be called . . . [[Film/ReservoirDogs Mr. Pink]].

The one with brain soup.

* AndIMustScream: Having your mind erased until you're just an empty husk. This was why the Doctor chose to give Saibra a mercy death, at least he thought he did.

* TheAlcatraz: Even those incarcerated in the bank who haven't been mind-wiped can't escape because the Teller will pick up their guilty thoughts.

-->'''Saibra:''' That's your plan? A ''thing'' will happen?

** When the Teller is going through the Doctor's mind, he tells him to dig deep and see everything, mentioning [[Creator/TomBaker scarf]], [[Creator/MattSmith bowtie]] and right now, which he claims was meant to be minimalist but turned out [[SelfDeprecation magician]]. (Much like how the florid Third Doctor was once [[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E2CarnivalOfMonsters mistaken for a carnie.]])

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E5TheRebelFlesh Solar storms]] interfere with the TARDIS's ability to fly properly.

* DisproportionateRetribution: People caught disobeying rules or stealing at the Bank of Karabraxos have to face the Teller as punishment. Not only do they get turned into walking vegetables, but their descendants get incarcerated as insurance that the family will not commit a crime against the bank a second time. It makes sense in that there are such things as crime families afoot like the Slitheen who might co-conspire and this is a preventative measure designed to split them up, but innocent children . . . hoo boy, it's gonna suck for them.

* FreezeFrameBonus: When Psi is going through the list of criminals, it flashes through several previously introduced characters from the Doctor Who universe, including [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E3ATownCalledMercy the Gunslinger]], [[{{Series/Torchwood}} John Hart]] and [[{{Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine}} Abslom Daak]].

* HilariousOuttakes: In contrast to the Creator/DavidTennant and Creator/MattSmith eras, gag reels have not been released for Capaldi's episodes. One of the only publicly released bloopers from Series 8, from the epilogue scene in which Capaldi begins speaking the wrong line of dialogue, can be found in the ''Doctor Who Extra'' featurette for this episode released online and later on DVD.

* InformedAbility: The "most secure bank in the universe" apparently cannot afford cameras, regular patrols, or any kind of meaningful security other than the Teller and some intermittently placed breath-based DNA scanners. It does make sense in a way, the Teller stops anyone even thinking about committing a crime and the final lock required a time travelling genius and a planet destroying solar storm to beat.

* LiteralMetaphor: Employees of the Bank of Karabraxos whose performances are deem substandard are fired . . . by means of an incinerator.

* LogoJoke: The opening credits "time tunnel" are shown at the start of the episode . . . Which turns out to be Clara's washing machine with the Doctor peering into it.

* MomentKiller: A student walks in on Clara and Danny {{Almost Kiss}}ing. They react [[GetOut swiftly.]]
* MustMakeAmends: The heist is a rescue mission contracted by the future dying Karabaxos for just this reason. She has a lot of regrets and freeing the Teller is one that she can correct before she dies.

* PinPullingTeeth: Psy does this with his transporter locking pin while thinking it will kill him, trying to go out like a badass . . . only to scream in terror seconds later as it activates.

** The Doctor says that the Architect must be a time traveler because he could [[Film/BackToTheFuture find out exactly when a rare solar storm would hit]].

** Clara's outfit. It's a simple black and white suit with a thin black tie. Being worn for a bank heist. Still haven't put it together? She was wearing it for her date with a man who could easily be called . . . [[Film/ReservoirDogs Mr. Pink.]]
** Picking up the phone and instantly appearing somewhere else resembles ''Film/TheMatrix''. There's an Architect in the second movie too.

** The premise revolves around LaserGuidedAmnesia, [[{{Film/Memento}} and in the end the heroes learn that the person they thought was responsible was just a fabricated identity by one of them.]]

* StableTimeLoop: It turns out the Doctor was hired by the future version of Madame Karabraxos to free the Teller, but she only had his number because he gave it to her during the heist itself. Possibly also true of some of "the Architect's" break-in tactics, if she also told him as much as she could remember about how his team had penetrated the bank.

** Inverted with Karabraxos. She's set up to be the villain from the start, while it's later revealed her regretful future self had sent The Doctor back in time to fix her mistakes.

* [[ArtisticLicenseBiology Artistic Licence -- Biology]]: The Teller's ability to reduce its victims' brains to soup somehow also caves in their skulls, the bone going from a nice convex dome to a concave section where the forehead and front half of the top should be. It makes the victims actually ''look'' like their heads are empty, and is all the more horrifying for it.

There aren't many people in the universe who have that number -- one exception being [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E6TheBellsOfSaintJohn the woman in the shop who gave it to Clara]], who they still haven't managed to identify. Like a moth to a flame, or [[{{Metaphorgotten}} a mad alien man with big eyebrows to an upcoming adventure]], the Doctor goes to pick it up. Clara warns him not to -- [[GenreSavvy that's how]] ''[[GenreSavvy adventures]]'' [[GenreSavvy start, don't you know]] -- but the Doctor ignores her. After all, WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong

* GenreSavvy:
** When the TARDIS phone gets a call, Clara insists the Doctor not answer, because "[[BuffySpeak a thing]]" always happens. He does, [[SmashCut and they wake up]] holding memory worms to their heads in a strange room with strange people.
** When discussing what's next in their plan the Doctor tells Saibra he doesn't know, but he assumes "a thing" will happens fairly soon. Then Psi and Clara find the next suitcase.

* [[ArtisticLicenseBiology Artistic Licence -- Biology]]: The Teller's ability to reduce its victims brains to soup somehow also caves in their skulls, the bone going from a nice convex dome to a concave section where the forehead and front half of the top should be. It makes the victims actually ''look'' like their heads are empty, and is all the more horrifying for it.

* MindRape: The Teller has the ability to liquefy the brain of anyone he makes eye contact with, provided he isn't interrupted. Strangely, this doesn't kill the person, even though their head deflates; it must leave enough of the brainstem intact to keep the heart and lungs going. Being around, and absorbing, so many thoughts are slowly driving the Teller insane too, giving a rare two-way version of this trope.

** The Teller pushes his eye stalks together when liquifying the brains of his targets.

Written by Stephen Thompson and Steven Moffat.

There aren't many people in the universe who have that number - one exception being [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E6TheBellsOfSaintJohn the woman in the shop who gave it to Clara]], who they still haven't managed to identify. Like a moth to a flame, or [[{{Metaphorgotten}} a mad alien man with big eyebrows to an upcoming adventure]], the Doctor goes to pick it up. Clara warns him not to - [[GenreSavvy that's how]] ''[[GenreSavvy adventures]]'' [[GenreSavvy start, don't you know]] - but the Doctor ignores her. After all, WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong

You may have noticed there was a fairly big gap between the events of that paragraph and the last one. The Doctor and company noticed too, and they intend to find out what the hell happened. But first, they have to contend with an AffablyEvil security head, a million and one locks, [[KillItWithFire walls full of flamethrowers]] and, deadliest of all, the Teller; a terrifying beast that'll turn your mind to soup so it can feed on your guilt...

!!Tropes

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: The Doctor tries to convince Clara out of her date and mentions the places they could go, like the Satanic Nebula, the Lagoon of Lost Stars... or Brighton.

** The Doctor has used Memory Worms before, [[Recap/DoctorWho2012CSTheSnowmen with varying degrees of success]].

* CyanidePill: The Doctor assumes the syringes they find are "atom shredders" meant to painlessly kill anyone caught by the Teller. He calls them an "escape route... of a sort." In fact, they're a more conventional escape route: they teleport the user to a spaceship in orbit.

* DisproportionateRetribution: People caught disobeying rules or stealing at the Bank of Karabraxos have to face the Teller as punishment. Not only do they get turned into walking vegetables, but their descendants get incarcerated as insurance that the family will not commit a crime against the bank a second time. It makes sense in that there are such things as crime families afoot like the Slitheen who might co-conspire and this is a preventative measure designed to split them up, but innocent children... hoo boy, it's gonna suck for them.

-->"OK well I'm no expert but fuses, timer... I'm going to stick my neck out and say, bomb."

* IWasQuiteAFashionVictim: The Doctor allows a psychic alien to feast on his memories, telling it, "Big scarf... bow tie... embarrassing."

* LiteralMetaphor: Employees of the Bank of Karabraxos whose performances are deem substandard are fired... by means of an incinerator.

* LogoJoke: The opening credits "time tunnel" are shown at the start of the episode... Which turns out to be Clara's washing machine with the Doctor peering into it.

* PinPullingTeeth: Psy does this with his transporter locking pin while thinking it will kill him, trying to go out like a badass... only to scream in terror seconds later as it activates.

** Clara's outfit. It's a simple black and white suit with a thin black tie. Being worn for a bank heist. Still haven't put it together? She was wearing it for her date with a man who could easily be called... [[Film/ReservoirDogs Mr. Pink.]]

** The scene in which the Teller is stalking Clara and the Doctor in the tunnels very much brings to mind the famous [[Myth/ClassicalMythology legend of the Minotaur]], especially the fact that in that scene its eye-stalks in the shadows look like horns.

There aren't many people in the universe who have that number - one exception being [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E6TheBellsOfSaintJohn the woman in the shop who gave it to Clara]], who we still haven't managed to identify. Like a moth to a flame, or [[{{Metaphorgotten}} a mad alien man with big eyebrows to an upcoming adventure]], the Doctor goes to pick it up. Clara warns him not to - [[GenreSavvy that's how]] ''[[GenreSavvy adventures]]'' [[GenreSavvy start, don't you know]] - but the Doctor ignores her. After all, WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong

* AlmostKiss: Followed by a mutual GetOut when Clara and Pink are interrupted by a student.
* AndIMustScream: Having your mind erased until you're just an empty husk. This was why The Doctor chose to give Saibra a mercy death, at least he thought he did.

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: The Teller's ability to reduce its victims brains to soup somehow also caves in their skulls, the bone going from a nice convex dome to a concave section where the forehead and front half of the top should be. It makes the victims actually ''look'' like their heads are empty, and is all the more horrifying for it.

* BigShutUp: "Shut up, Shut up, Shuttity up up up!"

* ContinuityCavalcade: Images are played of [[Recap/TheSarahJaneAdventuresS3E1E2PrisonerOfTheJudoon Androvax]], a [[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E7TheSensorites Sensorite]], [[{{Series/Torchwood}} Captain John Hart]], [[Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine Abslom Daak]], a [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E5WorldWarThree Slitheen]], a [[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E4TheVisitation Terileptil]], [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E3ATownCalledMercy The Gunslinger]] and [[Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures the Trickster]]. In the case of Abslom Daak, this firmly cements him as a CanonImmigrant.

** When the Teller is going through the Doctor's mind, he tells him to dig deep and see everything, mentioning [[Creator/TomBaker scarf]], [[Creator/MattSmith bowtie]] and right now, which he claims was meant to be minimalist but turned out [[SelfDeprecation magician]]. (Much like how the florid Third Doctor was once [[{{Recap/DoctorWhoS10E2CarnivalOfMonsters}} mistaken for a carnie.]])

** Anyone who remembers "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E7AmysChoice Amy's Choice]]" will be one step ahead of the game when the Doctor starts talking about how much he hates the Architect.

* {{Cyborg}}: Psi. The Doctor describes him as having a mainframe in his head, it lets him wipe his own memory, interface with other systems and upload imprints of close to all the greatest bank criminals in existence making him guilty enough to distract the Teller from Clara.

* FootPopping: The Doctor is so pleased with himself for exhausting Clara right before her dinner with Danny Pink ("Robbin a whole bank. Beat ''that'' for a date!") that he does this in the last shot.
* FreezeFrameBonus: When Psi is going through the list of criminals, it flashes through several previously introduced characters from the Doctor Who universe, including [[{{Recap/DoctorWhoS33E3ATownCalledMercy}} The Gunslinger]], [[{{Series/Torchwood}} John Hart]] and [[{{Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine}} Abslom Daak]].

* LampshadeHanging: The Doctor's comment on Clara's height and her showing off her shoes highlight [[ScullyBox the truly impressive heels]] 5'2" Jenna Coleman has had to wear to stay in frame with 6' Peter Capaldi.

* NiceShoes: Clara dons a pair of particularly high heels for a date with Danny, which confuses the Doctor who thinks she needs to them to reach a high shelf. Later, the Doctor recommends she changes her shoes.

* SelfDeprecation: The Doctor refers to his current look as intended to have been "Minimalist" but winding up with "Magician". Also, throughout the episode, the Doctor continually mentions how he hates the Architect. Later, it turns out he is the Architect.

** Saibra's powers are strongly reminiscent of those of both Mystique and Rogue from Franchise/XMen. Said powers share the same ArtisticLicenseBiology genetic origin, and she even describes herself as a "mutant human."

** Picking up the phone and instantly appearing somewhere else resembles TheMatrix movies. There's an Architect in the second movie too.
** The scene in which The Teller is stalking Clara and The Doctor in the tunnels very much brings to mind the famous ancient greek "Minotaur in the labyrinth" legend, especially the fact that in that scene its eye-stalks in the shadows look like horns.

* WhamLine: "Beat that for a date." A wham because it implies the Doctor was deliberately trying to sabotage Clara's dinner date (including feeding her just before she's to have dinner with Danny) and that his feelings for her might not be all that platonic. So much for "Clara, I'm not your boyfriend".

* NotSoHarmlessPunishment: Employees who disappoint Madame Karabraxos are "fired", by which she means they are thrown into the incinerator.

* GuiltByProxy: Whenever anyone who tries to rob the bank is caught, their ''entire family'' is arrested to prevent future attempts.

* EurekaMoment: In Karabraxos' vault, the Doctor figures out who the Architect is.

* KarmaHoudini: Yes, Delphox, on her death bed, is hit with guilt over what she did to the Teller and his mate and helps save the day in a timey-wimey fashion. Otherwise, though, there is no indication given that she ever faced direct consequences regarding her actions towards the Teller, the killings of multiple clones, and the "brain souping" of numerous individuals.

* PlotTailoredToTheParty: Averted; characters are killed after they've used their skillset, but it turns out they're NotQuiteDead.

* The Bank Computer at one stage begins counting down. [[VideoGame/TheStanleyParable At least it was able to get past number eight.]]

* ShipTease: "Beat ''that'' for a date!" caught fans by surprise who assumed that the series had executed ShipSinking with the Doctor and Clara. In reality

* ShipTease: "Beat ''that'' for a date!" caught fans by surprise who assumed that the series had executed ShipSinking with the Doctor and Clara.

* ShesGotLegs: Lampshaded. Clara is wearing heels and a skirt, but the Doctor just thinks she needs the heels to reach a high shelf.

* ContinuityCavalcade: Images are played of [[Recap/TheSarahJaneAdventuresS3E1E2PrisonerOfTheJudoon Androvax]], a [[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E7TheSensorites Sensorite]], [[{{Series/Torchwood}} Captain John Hart]], [[Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine Abslom Daak]], a [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E5WorldWarThree Slitheen]], a [[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E4TheVisitation Terileptil]], [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E3ATownCalledMercy The Gunslinger]] and [[TheSarahJaneAdventures the Trickster]]. In the case of Abslom Daak, this firmly cements him as a CanonImmigrant.

* BlackDudeDiesFirst:
** The Teller's first onscreen victim.
** Saibra, the only black member of the heist crew and the first to fall by the wayside, appears to be an example until it turns out she survived.

[[caption-width-right:349:[[labelnote:Click here to see the RadioTimes magazine poster for this episode:]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/time_heist_poster_9729.jpg The Doctor meets a vixen: cunning like a fox. [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal Colder than frostbite. Casually calculative.]] Cutthroat to the core. [[/labelnote]]]]