History Recap / DoctorWhoS37E1TheWomanWhoFellToEarth

[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see the RadioTimes magazine poster for this episode:]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doctorwhotwiceuponatimeposter.jpg[softreturn]It's time for the Thirteenth Doctor to rise and save the world once more.]][[/labelnote]]

** This doesn't stop the Doctor from taking a well-aimed pot-shot of her own. She survives, of course.

** When Yaz introduces herself to the Doctor as "PC Khan", the Doctor retorts that she asked for Yaz's name, not her title. This, from the person who only ever introduces themselves with nothing ''but'' a title...

Meanwhile, a Flying Spaghetti Monster soon attacks a train, containing Graham, Grace and a third random guy. By sheer coincidence (and for dramatic purposes, and also because the TARDIS doesn't normally do coincidences), it is also into that train that the Doctor, who has been falling from the sky for half an hour, makes rather a rough landing... right on to of the MonsterOfTheWeek — nice shot TARDIS. Gotta love the first fifteen hours of a regeneration. Only barely noticing her changed gender - and liking it when it's pointed out - she assumes command even over the protest of policewoman Yaz, who has just arrived with Ryan in response to a cut-off call Ryan got from his Nan about the stalled train. The Doctor zaps the thing with a loose electrical cable, but since the sonic fell out of her pocket mid-fall, she's unable to stop the spaghetti monster from zapping all six of them and flying off. They return to the woods only to find the pod also gone.

* BizarreAlienBiology: Somehow, the Doctor can figure out exactly when she's going to pass out by sticking her finger up her nose. Or, given how the time kept changing, not so exactly ("This new nose is so unreliable!").

** The Doctor [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime survives a fall from at least aircraft altitudes]] without a scratch.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E1TheEleventhHour "The Eleventh Hour"]]:
*** The episode begins with a freshly-regenerated Doctor falling out of the sky and landing in an English municipality at night. Only this time, said Doctor doesn't have the TARDIS to cushion the fall.
*** The Doctor doesn't have access to either the TARDIS or sonic screwdriver when the adventure begins.
*** The Doctor had the fire engine lights and sirens on in that episode, and he was really happy about it. In this episode? She doesn’t get any luck this time around in Yaz’s patrol car, causing her to sulk a bit.
** The Doctor holding on for dear life to avoid falling from a great height is reminiscent of the Fourth Doctor's predicament in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E7Logopolis "Logopolis"]], except that this time, unlike her predecessor, the Doctor ''doesn't'' fall.

* CloseOnTitle: Just like [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E9SleepNoMore "Sleep No More"]], this episode's title card appears at the beginning of the credits. Unlike the former episode, though, there's no flash of credits early in the episode, and the reason for the title's placement is very different.

** A BaitAndSwitch opening narration where we first think a companion is describing the Doctor, but it later on turns out they're talking about a heroic human close to them, was also done with Amy in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E7AGoodManGoesToWar "A Good Man Goes to War"]].

** The Doctor gets a moving scene in which she says that she lost her family but that she [[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E1TheTombOfTheCybermen carries them with her]].

* {{Dissimile}}: The Doctor describes the sonic screwdriver as a "Swiss Army knife... only without the knife. [[BadassPacifist Only idiots carry knives.]]" [[note]]Doubles as a BrickJoke in the next episode, where someone's life is saved thanks to a handy knife.[[/note]]

** Also, from the Doctor's perspective, everything from their last stand against the Cybermen on Floor 507 of the spaceship in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E12TheDoctorFalls "The Doctor Falls"]], right up until the defeat of Tim Shaw and Grace's death in this episode, all occurs within the span of less than a day — possibly no more than several hours.

* FiveSecondForeshadowing: The Doctor, while explaining how the teleporter she's made from the pod is designed to follow the TARDIS' energy signature, mentions that she hates Stenza technology, specifically pointing out there are some parts of it that don't make any sense. Is it any surprise that the teleporter doesn't work the way the Doctor intended it to?

--> '''The Doctor:''' Swiss army sonic. Now with added Sheffield steel.

'''Yaz:''' ...because you're a woman?\\

'''Yaz:''' ...what?\\
'''The Doctor:''' Oh yeah… I remember! Sorry. Half an hour ago I was a white-haired Scotsman.

* {{Retool}}: Also like [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E1TheEleventhHour "The Eleventh Hour"]], this is the start of another major retool for ''DW'': New logo, format, theme (composed by Segun Akinola), et al. In addition, Series 11 consists of nine 50 minute stand-alone episodes (not counting the hour-long premiere) airing on Sundays with no appearances from the show's established RoguesGallery.

-->'''Dennis:''' What do you think you're– ''ARRRRRGGHHH!''

** This doesn't stop the Doctor from doing her own taunting. She survives, of course.

Meanwhile, a Flying Spaghetti Monster soon attacks a train, containing Graham, Grace and a third random guy. By sheer coincidence (and for dramatic purposes, and also because the TARDIS doesn't normally do coincidences), it is also into that train that the Doctor, who has been falling from the sky for half an hour, makes rather a rough landing... right in front of the MonsterOfTheWeek — nice shot TARDIS. Gotta love the first fifteen hours of a regeneration. Only barely noticing her changed gender, she assumes command even over the protest of policewoman Yaz, who has just arrived with Ryan in response to a cut-off call Ryan got from his Nan about the stalled train. The Doctor zaps the thing with a loose electrical cable, but since the sonic fell out of her pocket mid-fall, she's unable to stop the spaghetti monster from zapping all six of them and flying off. They return to the woods only to find the pod also gone.

* CityOfWeirdos: Yaz asks her boss if anyone's reported anything out of the ordinary. He snarks that in Sheffield at night, ''everything'' is out of the ordinary.

* NoodleIncident: When the Doctor realises she needs new clothes, she says that it's been a long time since she's bought women's clothing. As the Doctor has never been female before now, you have to wonder: did he go shopping with Susan, River, etc. or is it something stranger? The Doctor ''has'' crossdressed before, so it could be that!

* {{Dissimile}}: The Doctor describes the sonic screwdriver as a "Swiss Army knife... only without the knife. [[BadassPacifist Only idiots carry knives.]]"

* AnachronismStew: The [[GadgeteerGenius Doctor]] combines Stenza technology with spoons, a welding torch and a microwave oven, among other things.

* AmnesiacHero: Even more than Twelve, regeneration puts some weird gaps in Thirteen's memory. She doesn't know the name for a tongue, and is under the impression that she's ''looking'' for a doctor initially. She also doesn't know that she is a woman or what the word for tongue is. She doesn't remember her name until she confronts Tim Shaw on top of the crane at the climax.

* AmnesiacHero: Even more than Twelve, regeneration puts some weird gaps in Thirteen's memory. She doesn't know the name for a tongue, and is under the impression that she's ''looking'' for a doctor initially. She doesn't remember her name until she confronts Tim Shaw on top of the crane at the climax.

* SurvivalMantra: Karl recites from his affirmation tape when nerving himself to jump from one crane to another. [[SubvertedTrope Unfortunately, it gives Tzim-Sha enough time to catch up and grab him before he jumps.]]

Only for viewers to be treated to a thrilling CliffHanger as the teleporter lands not only her but also her new companions in the void of space, with no blue box in sight... ''sans'' spacesuits. Cue the OhCrap, then cue the new theme.[[note]]Unless you watched on BBC America, in which case you got a DW promo while the credits (if shown at all) were relegated to a tiny corner of the screen.[[/note]]

** Likewise, on Ryan's heartfelt video about Grace, [[{{Jerkass}} two people thumbed it down]]. [[{{GIFT}} This is the internet, after all]].
** The Doctor wires a bunch of human tech with alien tech that she doesn't fully understand. Normally he'd save the day regardless--here she beams everyone into outer space.

* SoundOnlyDeath:
-->'''Security guard:''' What do you think you're--''ARRRRRGGHHH!''

* SurvivalMantra: Karl recites from his affirmation tape when nerving himself to jump from one crane to another.

** The Doctor wires a bunch of human tech with alien tech that he doesn't fully understand. Normally he'd save the day regardless--here he beams everyone into outer space.

* ShesBack: The Doctor is looking for a doctor. By the time she gets to the construction site, she's found the Doctor again.

->'''Tim Shaw:''' Who are you?\\

->'''Tzim-Sha:''' Who are you?\\

* AlienAbduction: Rahul believes this is what happened to his older sister when he was a child, and it's confirmed by Tzim-Sha that she was the "trophy" of a previous hunt.

* AliensSpeakingEnglish: Introduced without contact with the Doctor, and thus the TARDIS' telepathic translation circuitry, Tzim-Sha is nevertheless fluent in English. Presumably due to his species visiting Earth before.
* AmnesiacHero: Even more than Twelve, regeneration puts some weird gaps in Thirteen's memory. She doesn't know the name for a tongue, and is under the impression that she's ''looking'' for a doctor initially. She doesn't remember her name until she confronts Tzim-Sha on top of the crane at the climax.
* AndIMustScream: Tzim-Sha describes the process used to preserve his [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame hunting trophies]], which involves trapping them in a state somewhere between life and death.

* BattleTrophy: Tzim-Sha collects a tooth from each being he kills as a trophy, and implants them into his face.

** One of Tzim-Sha's victims is a drunk who sees this dark, imposing creature that doesn't look like he even came from this world, assumes he's some guy in a costume, and ridicules him while throwing food at him. [[TooDumbToLive Do we even need to tell you how this ends?]]

** The Doctor, at the end, converts Tzim-Sha's pod into a teleportation device to send her to the location of the TARDIS, setting it to track down the errant time machine by the [[Recap/DoctorWho2006CSTheRunawayBride unique energy]] the ship runs on.

** As Karl crawls along the crane arm, he passes a sign indicating a broken guardrail. Karl ends up kicking Tzim-Sha through the simple chain being used as a replacement.

* ClipboardOfAuthority: The Doctor assigns Graham and Grace to clear bystanders from the construction site where Tzim-Sha is hunting. They grab reflective vests and clipboards, pretending to be supervisors.

** The teleportation device Thirteen bodges together out of Earth rubbish and the remnants of Tzim-Sha's travel pod resembles the sorts of [=MacGyvered=] gadgets Three used to whip up from junk.

* CreepySouvenir: Tzim-Sha takes a tooth from each of his victims as a trophy, which he then embeds in his face.
* CrowbarCombatant: Rahul grabs a crowbar to defend himself against Tzim-Sha. It doesn't do him any good.

* DisneyVillainDeath: As Tzim-Sha starts to dissolve, Karl kicks him off the crane.

* EnclosedExtraterrestrials: Downplayed. Tzim-Sha mentions that his home planet is much colder than Earth and his armour presumably allows him to deal with Earth's climate, but he can expose his hands and face for short periods of time without suffering any ill effects.
* EveryoneHasStandards: Averted with Tzim-Sha, but played straight with the ''other'' alien on Earth, the Doctor, who declares that leaving human beings in stasis to "rot" is "completely obscene".

** Also, from the Doctor's perspective, everything from their last stand against the Cybermen on Floor 507 of the spaceship in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E12TheDoctorFalls "The Doctor Falls"]], right up until the defeat of Tzim-Sha and Grace's death in this episode, all occurs within the span of less than a day — possibly no more than several hours.
* FacialHorror: Tzim-Sha has a collection of human teeth on his face, which he ''absorbs'' from the victims he's killed.

** Security guard Dennis being murdered by Tzim-Sha after getting off a call with his granddaughter foreshadows Grace's death subduing the data coil.

* GoryDiscretionShot: We don't see Rahul's body after Tzim-Sha killed him. Given that his jaw was cracked open because Tim took one of his teeth as a trophy, it was likely not pretty. The Doctor even apologizes to her human friends for them having to see it, and Grace goes to find something to cover it.

* HeKnowsTooMuch: The most logical reason why Tzim-Sha had the data coil plant bombs in Grace, Graham, Ryan, Yaz and the Doctor is probably to dispose of the witnesses to his presence (and cheating).

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Tzim-Sha responds to the Doctor's ultimatum by activating the DNA bombs he implanted in the humans... not realising the Doctor removed them and tricked him into absorbing them into himself using the data coil. The same data coil he brought with him to cheat his way through the hunt. Ironically, had he played the hunt honestly, he probably would never have been caught.
* HopeSpot: Karl works up the nerve to jump to the Doctor, only for Tzim-Sha to catch up and grab him mid-leap. The Doctor is forced to jump the distance herself, which is problematic since the crane she's on is positioned lower than Karl's and her legs aren't as long as they used to be.

-->'''Tzim-Sha:''' You're interfering in things you don't understand.\\

* KillItWithIce: The Stenza's body temperature is so low that Tzim-Sha can cause lethal freezer-burn to humans just by touching them.
* KickTheDog: When Rahul demands to know what happened to his sister, Tzim-Sha cruelly replies that he will never know, before killing him.
* KirkSummation: The Doctor to Tzim-Sha. As per usual, the VillainOfTheWeek rejects this.

* LastSecondChance: At the climax, the Doctor offers Tzim-Sha the option to end the hunt and go home peacefully. He refuses, just as she expected.

* MexicanStandoff: During the climactic crane scene, the Doctor and Tzim-Sha have leverage over each other; she's grabbed the recall unit that he needs to get home, while he controls the DNA bombs inside the Doctor and her friends. At least, that's what the Doctor lets him think...

** Tzim-Sha's ritual of leadership is ''supposed'' to be this, but he cheats by using the smuggled data coil to track his prey.

* NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught: The Stenza's hunt is supposed to be without weapons or assistance. Of course, Tzim-Sha decides to use a massive data coil to help him identify which "random human" is his target. When the Doctor confronts him, he uses a short-range teleporter to escape.

* ProducePelting: A drunk decides to throw his salad at the alien hunter Tzim-Sha while telling him that YourCostumeNeedsWork. This ends badly for the drunk.
* PyrrhicVictory: The Doctor's intervention saves one life — Karl's — but Grace dies instead. Both of them accomplished their objective, but the latter died in the process. Not to mention those who Tzim-Sha killed during his hunt for Karl.

** When the drunk man stumbles across Tzim-Sha, how does he react? [[TooDumbToLive Mocking him for]] [[YourCostumeNeedsWork dressing up for Halloween a month early,]] [[ProducePelting and then throwing bits of salad at him.]]

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: The Doctor denounces Tzim-Sha as a "big blue cheat" for breaking the rules of the hunt.

** Tzim-Sha has a short-range teleporter that he uses at one point.
** At the end, the Doctor rigs the remains of Tzim-Sha's pod into a teleporter intended to send her, and only her, to the current location of the TARDIS. Instead, it sends her, Graham, Ryan and Yaz off into deep space.

** Shortly after that, the security guard says, "Not every grandad's this lucky." Moments later Tzim-Sha kills him.

* WhatTheHellHero: The Doctor is not impressed when Karl knocks Tzim-Sha from the top of the crane, telling him "You had no right to do that."

* WhyAmITicking: Tzim-Sha implants DNA bombs in the Doctor and her new friends as a means of eliminating them as witnesses. During the final showdown with the Doctor, he activates them, only to discover that the Doctor had removed them earlier and tricked him into absorbing them into himself when he interacted with the data coil.

-->'''Tzim-Sha:''' You're interfering in things you don't understand.\\

* YourCostumeNeedsWork: Tzim-Sha meets a drunken man, who looks at his armour and mockingly tells him he's a bit early for Halloween. The drunk doesn't live long enough to tell any more jokes.