| 1 | [[WMG:[[center:[-''[[Series/DoctorWho Doctor Who]]'' [[Recap/DoctorWho recap index]]\ |
| 2 | '''Twelfth Doctor Era'''\ |
| 3 | '''Series 8:''' [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E1DeepBreath 1]] | [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E2IntoTheDalek 2]] | [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E3RobotOfSherwood 3]] | [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E4Listen 4]] | [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E5TimeHeist 5]] | [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E6TheCaretaker 6]] | [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E7KillTheMoon 7]] | '''8''' | [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E9Flatline 9]] | [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E10InTheForestOfTheNight 10]] | [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E11DarkWater 11]] | [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E12DeathInHeaven 12]] | [[Recap/DoctorWho2014CSLastChristmas CS]]\ |
| 4 | '''[[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor <<< 2013 Specials]]''' | '''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E1TheMagiciansApprentice Series 9 >>>]]''']]-]]] |
| 5 | !Mummy on the Orient Express |
| 6 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dw_88_mummy_on_the_orient_express.jpg]] |
| 7 | [[caption-width-right:350:The literal rendition of, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E9TheEmptyChild "Are you my mummy?"]]]] |
| 8 | [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see the RadioTimes magazine poster for this episode:]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mummy_on_the_orient_express_poster_8856.jpg [[StealthPun The Who's Who in the Whodunnit!]][[/labelnote]]]] |
| 9 | ->Written by Jamie Mathieson\ |
| 10 | Directed by Paul Wilmshurst\ |
| 11 | '''Air date:''' 11 October 2014 |
| 12 | |
| 13 | ->''"There's a body '''and''' there's a mummy. I mean, can you not just get on a train? Did a wizard put a curse on you about mini-breaks?"'' |
| 14 | -->-- '''Clara Oswald''' (fed up with the Doctor's [[DoomMagnet magnetism to danger]]) |
| 15 | |
| 16 | JustForFun/{{The one w|ith}}here Music/{{Foxes}} sings Music/{{Queen|Band}}. |
| 17 | ---- |
| 18 | |
| 19 | All aboard the Orient Express! A stately steam train full of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-OTYT02W7E smooth jazz]], art-deco fittings and sophisticated, pleasurable company. Oh, and also, [[RecycledINSPACE it's IN SPACE!]] |
| 20 | |
| 21 | That's pretty awesome, and the Doctor seems to agree. He's headed there himself for a much-needed break - a more pleasant sort of adventure, where nothing's supposed to go wrong. But things are bittersweet; Clara's come along too, breaking out the ol' [[TheFlapper flapper attire]], but [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E7KillTheMoon her impossible choice on the Moon has still shaken her]], and she's made it very clear that this is her last adventure. "One last hurrah." The Doctor doesn't seem too happy, but he's content to sit with her and chat about the Magellan black hole whizzing past their window, and planets of darkness and shrubs. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | Shame there's been a murder, then. An old woman's dropped dead in her train carriage, gibbering about a monster that only she could see. Meanwhile, one of the chefs just had a breakdown and started slashing at the air with a knife, trying desperately to keep something away from him. Both victims' deaths were heralded by a flickering of the lights - after that, they saw a raggedy-looking mummy, and had 66 seconds to live. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E13TheBigBang It's not quite an Egyptian goddess on the loose]], but it's close enough, and the Doctor's still game for an adventure - [[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E3PyramidsOfMars he's taken on mummies before, right?]] And, besides, the steampunk AI monitoring the train seems ''very'' insistent he solve it. So begins the Doctor and Clara's last mission -- to solve the mystery of the Foretold and save as many passengers as they can. Even if the Doctor seems a little too close to not caring enough about that last part... |
| 26 | |
| 27 | Start the clock! |
| 28 | ---- |
| 29 | !!Tropes: |
| 30 | * AbsurdlyDedicatedWorker: The Foretold, an immortal malfunctioning {{Cyborg}} soldier that must keep killing those it perceives as its enemies until whatever mission it was programmed with is completed. |
| 31 | * AdvertisedExtra: Music/{{Foxes}} was promoted in some press articles as the episode's joint main guest actor along with Frank Skinner. She plays a [[TheChanteuse Jazz Singer]] onboard the train and appears in a few shots while singing in the background for less than a minute. However, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-OTYT02W7E a full version of her jazz cover]] of "Don't Stop Me Now" exists, starring her exclusively in a ''Doctor Who''-themed music video, so she did technically make a significant appearance for the show. |
| 32 | * AdmiringTheAbomination: The Doctor seems momentarily surprised at the sight of the Foretold when he becomes the target, until he rushes forward to confront it and, as per usual for our danger-magnet Time Lord, he ''smiles'' at the sight of it. |
| 33 | -->'''The Doctor:''' I'm so pleased to finally see you! |
| 34 | * AintTooProudToBeg: Professor Moorhouse tries begging for his life, given that the Doctor doesn't offer him any hope, and legend has it the Foretold can be stopped if given the right word. He turns out to be right about a specific word stopping the Foretold, but he doesn't live to see it. |
| 35 | * AffablyEvil: Gus, the train's AI. His programmed voice renders him permanently cheery even while murdering the train's crew to make the scientists work faster. Also his dialogue like "Isn't this exciting" gives him an air of a MisplacedKindergartenTeacher. |
| 36 | * AIIsACrapshoot: Averted: Gus is doing exactly what he's been instructed to do. |
| 37 | * AlasPoorVillain: The Foretold -- [[WasOnceAMan not in the usual sense that a mummy was "once a man"]], but that he is just a soldier from a war thousands of years ago, heavily bandaged, kept alive but not healed, spending ''thousands of years'' in torment sustained by malfunctioning medical technology. When the Doctor finally realizes this, he openly pities him, and figures out how to free him from his "curse" -- surrendering, so the soldier's mission will be complete, and the tech sustaining him for the mission will finally turn off. The Foretold salutes the Doctor -- either due to some scrap of memory, in respect or gratitude -- then disintegrates, finally released from his suffering. |
| 38 | * AlmightyJanitor: Perkins turns out to be perfectly innocent, but he does have a good deal of information on hand when needed, and contributes more to the conversation than most of the scientists on the train. So much so, that he gets the rare "You're a genius" compliment from the Doctor. |
| 39 | * AndIMustScream: It's implied that the Foretold is aware of what's happening, as it salutes the Doctor when he finally ends its unliving slavery. |
| 40 | * AndTheAdventureContinues: Clara talks about how this is her "last hurrah", but, at the end of the episode, she is eager for another adventure. That's how the episode ends; the next adventure. |
| 41 | * AntiVillain: The Foretold is not really evil. He's just a soldier who ''can't'' stop fighting until those he perceives as his enemies surrender. |
| 42 | * AnswerCut: |
| 43 | ** The Doctor asks how many people will die before Captain Quell stops avoiding the problem. We then cut to one of Quell's men being murdered. Afterward... |
| 44 | -->'''Quell:''' It turns out it's three. The amount of people that had to die before I stopped looking the other way. |
| 45 | ** The Doctor is handed the analysis of who the next victim will be. We get a BaitAndSwitch where it cuts to Clara, but their conversation quickly shows it's actually Maisie. |
| 46 | * ArtifactOfDeath: The scroll attracts the Foretold and so it will appear in its vicinity. This is subverted in that it turns out to be a perfectly ordinary piece of cloth; it's a flag. |
| 47 | * AskAStupidQuestion: |
| 48 | -->'''Clara:''' So you saved everyone?\ |
| 49 | '''The Doctor:''' No, I just saved you, and I let everyone else suffocate! |
| 50 | * AssholeVictim: The first victim, Mrs. Pitt, poisoned Maisie's father, and [[AndYourLittleDogToo also her pony]]. |
| 51 | * AutoDoc: Mrs. Pitt's chair is revealed to be one after she is killed. It couldn't save her from the Foretold, but it used up nearly all its battery power trying. The Foretold also has this technology built into it, which is why it can't die. |
| 52 | * BadassBoast: The Doctor, referring to the Foretold's 66-second countdown: "One minute with me, and this thing -- it would be ''over!''" He's not far wrong; he takes it down with half a second to spare. |
| 53 | * BaitAndSwitch: The stopwatch and countdown clock that herald each attack for the viewers appears when Clara and Maisie are locked up with an ominously-opening sarcophagus, suggesting to the audience that the ladies are in direct danger. The timing is just a coincidence, as the sarcophagus is vacant and the Foretold is actually targeting one of the security guards. |
| 54 | * BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: The Doctor's [[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E3PyramidsOfMars respiratory bypass system]] means he can stay conscious while everyone else is being asphyxiated and find a way to save them. |
| 55 | * BetterAsFriends: The position that Danny urges that Clara take with the Doctor. [[NiceGuy He's not asking her to sever all ties]], just to enjoy her last adventure. Unfortunately, the scene prior had Clara sounding out the Doctor on whether he could just "come round for dinner" now and then, and it's clear he doesn't see himself partaking in such a mundane get-together. |
| 56 | * BigBad: Gus. |
| 57 | * BlatantLies: |
| 58 | ** Once she decides to keep travelling with him, Clara tells the Doctor that her leaving him was all Danny's idea. |
| 59 | ** When asked [[NotThatKindOfDoctor what he's a Doctor of]], the Doctor replies, "Let's say 'intestinal parasites'." |
| 60 | * BreakUpMakeUpScenario: Continuing from the end of the previous episode, Clara is in the process of "breaking up" with the Doctor, and she even talks about "dumping him" on the phone to Danny. The adventure that ensues actually appears destined to finalize this. However, once Clara realizes the Doctor was forced to make tough decisions and isn't as heartless as he lets on, not only do they make-up and agree to continue their friendship, a LoveTriangle scenario launches. |
| 61 | * BrickJoke: In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E4Listen Listen]]", Clara called the Doctor a "grey-haired stick insect". We see in this episode that when the Doctor calls her on her mobile, the image that comes up is of a... grey-haired stick insect. |
| 62 | * BriefAccentImitation: When [[HoldingBothSidesOfTheConversation soliloquizing]] on the possibility that there might be danger on the train, the Doctor does one half of the conversation in the Fourth Doctor's voice. |
| 63 | * BrutalHonesty: The Doctor freely admits to Clara that he would have sacrificed as many passengers as necessary to beat the Foretold, because sometimes the only choices are bad ones, but someone still has to make them. |
| 64 | * BusmansHoliday: Clara and the Doctor come to have a nice time and immediately find mysterious goings-on. It's lampshaded by Clara, who asks if the Doctor's under a curse that prevents him from ever taking a break without an adventure interrupting. It's subverted when it turns out the Doctor already knew there was something going on when he chose the Orient Express as their destination, and just didn't tell Clara in advance. |
| 65 | * CallBack: All the way back to the Eleventh Doctor's era, when he got a phone call to come help the space Orient Express [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E13TheBigBang after Amy and Rory's wedding]]. |
| 66 | * CassandraTruth: The Doctor mentions a planet he had a picnic on, only for a passenger to accuse him of lying as it was destroyed thousands of years ago. The passenger is unaware that neither time or age are an impediment for the Doctor. |
| 67 | * TheChanteuse: Music/{{Foxes}} plays a singer in the lounge car. |
| 68 | * CharacterDevelopment: |
| 69 | ** Clara's journey to becoming the Doctor's DistaffCounterpart continues as she learns that people like him often have only bad choices to pick from in order to save the day... just as she encountered with the Moon. |
| 70 | ** Clara's relationships with both the Doctor and Danny also take a step forward -- for the Doctor -- and backward -- for Danny -- as she begins lying to both of them in order to stay with the Doctor. |
| 71 | * ChronicHeroSyndrome: Discussed; Clara questions whether the Doctor's lifestyle is an addiction. The Doctor says he won't know if he's addicted unless he tries to give it up.[[note]]For what it's worth, the Doctor did [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E12ClosingTime try to ignore a potential threat once]], and it didn't work.[[/note]] |
| 72 | * CliffhangerCopout: The Doctor is in the middle of explaining to Clara that he can teleport everyone to safety when the train blows up, which is where the commercial break starts in the American run. Cut to Clara waking up on a beach with the Doctor explaining that the train exploded well after they had escaped; it turns out the Doctor teleported them into the TARDIS and Gus detonated the train when the Doctor went back to try and hack it. |
| 73 | * ClosedCircle: An InvokedTrope by Gus. If everyone is on a train that's running through space, then no one can possibly leave. He even puts up a force around the TARDIS, as it's the only form of escape left. |
| 74 | * CoolTrain: A ''space train'' modelled on the Orient Express, to be precise. Someone has been watching a little ''Manga/GalaxyExpress999''. A sharp-eyed and meticulous fan has even devoted their efforts into [[http://www.deviantart.com/art/DW-Steam-Train-Mummy-on-the-Orient-Express-489942609 revealing the full appearance of the titular train]]. |
| 75 | * ComputerVoice: Gus, the Express' computer system, has a chipper voice. |
| 76 | * ContinuityNod: |
| 77 | ** The Twelfth Doctor wears a wing collar with a dark and fanciful bowtie -- the attire that the First Doctor most often wore. |
| 78 | ** The Doctor has a cigarillo case containing jelly babies, which first appeared with the [[Creator/PatrickTroughton Second Doctor]] and were a favourite of the [[Creator/TomBaker Fourth Doctor]]. |
| 79 | ** When he finally sees the Foretold, the Doctor quips [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E9TheEmptyChild "Are you my mummy?"]] |
| 80 | ** In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it gag, Clara's phone displays a grey stick insect when the Doctor calls her. She described the Doctor as "a big grey-haired stick insect" in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E4Listen Listen]]". |
| 81 | ** The Doctor exposits near the end that Gus had been trying to get him aboard the train for a while now and even called the TARDIS once. This explains the call at the end of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E13TheBigBang The Big Bang]]". |
| 82 | ** The Doctor [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E4Listen talks to himself]]. |
| 83 | * CostumePorn: Everybody is wearing elaborate 1920s costumes. Special mention must go to Clara's elaborate art deco dress and [[TwentiesBobHaircut flapper hairdo]]. |
| 84 | * DestructionEqualsOffSwitch: ZigZaggedTrope; Clara suggests fetching the Doctor with his handy sonic screwdriver to get them into the sealed compartment, but Maise just smashes the lock's control panel with her shoe, which instantly opens the door. The door then closes behind them, and they can't get out because the panel is smashed. When the Doctor turns up with his sonic screwdriver, even he can't get them out due to the damage. In the end, Gus just opens the door himself, since he doesn't need the panel. |
| 85 | * DoingInTheWizard: The apparently supernatural cursed mummy is actually a very old and decrepit alien super-soldier with technology that makes it invisible and permeable. |
| 86 | * DoNotGoGentle: Captain Quell. When the Foretold comes for him, he empties his gun at it while knowing that it wouldn't do him any good (as he put it, "What kind of soldier would I be, dying with bullets in my gun?"). After that, he calmly makes observations about it that further the Doctor's analysis, keeps his cool for far longer than anyone else did, and finally decides there are worse ways to be die than being taken by the Foretold; ''"Blood pumping, enemy at the gates and all that."'' |
| 87 | * DoubleMeaning: Apart from the "I love you" scene, there's also the Doctor pointing out to Clara that "sometimes the only choices you have to make are bad ones, but you still have to choose". Clara can choose to continue a life of dangerous adventure with the Doctor, or give him up for a mundane life with Danny. Either way she loses something. Additionally, Perkins notes that when the Doctor tells the Foretold that it's relieved, "he's not the only one." |
| 88 | * TheDreaded: The Foretold elects the fear that anyone would feel if a mummy pops out of thin air and chases them down. The difference with this one is that no one else can see it. |
| 89 | * DressUpEpisode: The Doctor and Clara abandon their usual mode of dress and instead wear a 1920s-era tux and flapper outfit, respectively. |
| 90 | * EinsteinHair: One of the scientists doing things in the background has a crazy mob of hair. |
| 91 | * EveryoneCanSeeIt: Maisie invokes this trope when she talks to Clara about her relationship with the Doctor and disbelieves Clara's statement that she's no longer friends with the Doctor. |
| 92 | * ExactTimeToFailure: Anyone who's caught sight of the Foretold has exactly 66 seconds to live before getting killed, with no delay or exceptions. |
| 93 | * FakeKillScare: The Doctor is trying to get the transporter to work, then the Orient Express explodes. Cut to the Doctor and Clara having escaped safely, and presumably everyone else. |
| 94 | * FiveStagesOfGrief: Moorhouse gets as far as Bargaining before the Foretold gets him. Quell makes it all the way to Acceptance. |
| 95 | * TheFlapper: Clara goes into full-out flapper mode. |
| 96 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: Tons that discreetly reveal the Foretold's true nature. |
| 97 | ** Mrs. Pitt, the first victim, was being kept alive by an artificial life-support system. So, the Doctor eventually discovers, was the Foretold. |
| 98 | ** When Professor Moorhouse mentions "The right word could save your life", the Doctor thinks it's nonsense at first. In the end, he manages to disable the Foretold by saying "WE SURRENDER!" |
| 99 | ** When the Foretold attacks him, Captain Quell acts like he's facing an enemy soldier in battle, which turns out to be what the Foretold is, at least in its own mind. |
| 100 | * ForgivenButNotForgotten: A non-adversarial application of this trope. Clara forgives the Doctor for what he did in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E7KillTheMoon Kill the Moon]]", as she learns that the Doctor is well aware he must occasionally make decisions from a pool of bad options. This is a lesson she takes to heart as her journey towards becoming a DistaffCounterpart of the Doctor continues. |
| 101 | * FreezeFrameBonus: Clara's mobile phone image for the Doctor is a grey-haired stick insect (doubles as a BrickJoke dating back to "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E4Listen Listen]]"). |
| 102 | * FutureImperfect: |
| 103 | ** The space Orient Express has supposedly been fitted out in the style of the original's heyday, correct in every detail. There are, however, a number of lapses: for instance, the in-flight entertainer's slow jazz ballad is actually a Music/{{Queen|Band}} number. |
| 104 | ** The Doctor also mentions that it's also a bit too large to be a real train, which can be interpreted as a [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall subtle jab at the sets used]], which have to be large for practical issues like moving cameras around. |
| 105 | * AGoodWayToDie: Captain Quell, in his final moments before being taken by the Forsaken, almost word for word. |
| 106 | -->''"I think this is it. Still, suppose it's not a bad way to go. Blood pumping, enemy at the gates and all that. And thank you, Doctor, for waking me up."'' |
| 107 | * GorgeousPeriodDress: |
| 108 | ** Clara rocks yet another period outfit. This one is 1920s flapper style. |
| 109 | ** Singer Foxes is no slouch either in her outfit. |
| 110 | * HardLight: Some of the people on the train are Hard Light Holograms, put there to add verisimilitude until the trap is sprung. Quell is quite dismayed to find that one of them was also his best guard. |
| 111 | * HaveANiceDeath: Gus. |
| 112 | ** "We apologise for any distress you may have just experienced. Grief counselling is available on request." |
| 113 | ** "Air will now be removed from the entire train. We hope you have enjoyed your journey on the Orient Express." |
| 114 | ** In an earlier version of the script, he follows this up be asking them to complete ''customer surveys''. The Doctor says he likes the ambience, but isn't so keen on the dying. |
| 115 | * HighClassGlass: Gus's interface includes an image of a monocle. The passenger who rudely bumps into the Doctor is wearing a SteamPunk version. |
| 116 | * HoldingBothSidesOfTheConversation: When the Doctor begins to suspect there might be danger on the train, Clara's in bed (in another cabin), so he discusses the situation with himself. Specifically, his fourth incarnation. |
| 117 | * HypercompetentSidekick: The Doctor dismisses Captain Quell as useless and leaves his cabin to find Chief Engineer Perkins, who has all the paperwork he needs to look into the mystery. |
| 118 | * TheILoveYouStigma: A rare breaking of this with regards to the Doctor. While on the phone to Danny at the end and lying about leaving the Doctor, Clara says "I love you" but finds herself looking directly at the Doctor and saying it loud enough for him to hear. The Doctor is oblivious to this, as, not only his he facing away from her, he assumes she has said it to Danny. WordOfSaintPaul confirms that Clara's "I love you" is actually addressed at the Doctor, not Danny. |
| 119 | * ImYourWorstNightmare: Spoofed; The Doctor tells Captain Quell's he's his worst nightmare, then shows him the psychic paper. Quell groans in disgust, "A mystery shopper. Oh, great!" The Doctor is visibly thrown, [[SureLetsGoWithThat but runs with it]]. |
| 120 | * ImmuneToBullets: The Foretold can safely ignore bullets on account of being [[IntangibleMan intangible]]. |
| 121 | -->'''Quell:''' [[SarcasmMode For the record]], it didn't even flinch. |
| 122 | * ImpairmentShot: When the Foretold attacks someone, their vision blurs until they're killed. It's deduced from this that the Foretold is out of phase with reality, and the blurring results from the Foretold shifting the person just enough for it to attack them. |
| 123 | * InHarmsWay: The Doctor suspected that the Orient Express was a trap, but brings Clara there when he thinks she's going to leave him, presumably in the hope of evoking the FireForgedFriends trope. Perhaps more disturbing is that Clara knows this and decides to stay with the Doctor anyway, as both characters have become too addicted to their dangerous adventuring to quit. |
| 124 | * InTheStyleOf: Music/{{Foxes}} does a version of Music/{{Queen|Band}}'s "[[Music/Jazz1978 Don't Stop Me Now]]" as a slow thirties jazz song. |
| 125 | * IntangibleMan: The Foretold is slightly out of phase with reality. Bullets just pass through, and he walks right through the Doctor when he tries to get between him and Quell. |
| 126 | * InvincibleBoogeymen: The Foretold. Effectively intangible, its touch kills instantly, and nobody else can see it except for its victims. As with most monsters on this show, it's ImmuneToBullets - but also to all potential technobabble solutions. Once you're targeted, you have exactly sixty-six seconds to live before it catches up with you, amping up the horror and tension significantly |
| 127 | * IWishedYouWereDead: Maisie admits to feeling like this about her grandmother, Mrs. Pitt, and feels guilty when she is killed by the Foretold, convincing herself she caused it. |
| 128 | * TheJuggernaut: Once the Foretold has decided to kill someone, it's unstoppable. It can teleport or simply [[IntangibleMan walk through]] any obstacle, and is immune to attack. The only way to stop it is by telling it what it wants to hear; A surrender. |
| 129 | * JustFollowingOrders: The Foretold is a soldier and it was just doing as it was told, for thousands of years. |
| 130 | * JustFriends: The episode begins with Clara and the Doctor supposedly in this mode, and later Maise gives the trope by name when Clara [[HeIsNotMyBoyfriend tells her there's nothing between them]]. No one buys it (not even, truth be told, Clara and the Doctor) and by the end of the episode their bond is, if anything, stronger than ever (even ignoring the ambiguous "I love you"). |
| 131 | * JustOneSecondOutOfSync: The reason only the victim can see the Foretold is that it is sixty-six seconds out of synch with the rest of the universe. It pushes its victim into this position. |
| 132 | * JustThinkOfThePotential: The people behind the Express' line purposefully stuffed it full of big-brained investigators and alien experts, including the Doctor, in order to find out what the Foretold is, and to make more like it. |
| 133 | * KarmaHoudini: Whoever set up the whole situation remains unidentified and unpunished at the end of the episode. Gus had failsafes up to self-destruction to make sure of it. |
| 134 | * KickTheDog: Gus kills the staff of the Express' kitchen to punish the Doctor for making a phone call when he should be researching the Foretold and ignoring him when he told the Doctor to focus. |
| 135 | * [[SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer Lady Not-Appearing-In-This-Trailer]]: Clara, having stormed out last episode, was not shown in the Next Time preview or the posters to keep her return as much as secret as possible. |
| 136 | * LeaveNoWitnesses: Whoever is behind Gus, the ComputerVoice, has had several goes at trying to figure out the Foretold. When the Doctor finally does, Gus decides to pull a YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness. |
| 137 | * LifeDrinker: The Foretold drains the energy from its victims. |
| 138 | * LiquidAssets: The Doctor is able to use a device to absorb Maisie's grief and transfer it into himself, thereby causing the Foretold to turn its attention to him. |
| 139 | * LiteraryAllusionTitle: To Agatha Christie's ''Literature/MurderOnTheOrientExpress''. |
| 140 | * LongingLook: Clara gives the Doctor a couple of these. And while it's not a "look", the definition of the trope still applies as the Doctor gives a noticeable and physical reaction to hearing Clara apparently say "I love you" to Danny. Not being aware that Clara said those words while looking directly at the Doctor. |
| 141 | * LoveConfession: At the end of the episode, Clara finally spills it to the Doctor. Befitting the whole awkward AnchoredShip situation, the barely maintained denial that stretches all the way back into series 7 and the overall complicated nature of their relationship, she does it in a rather indirect fashion and he responds with a brief, ambiguous reaction shot that might have contained the slightest flicker of a smile, but otherwise doesn't address it. However, the way she does it also officially kicks off the... |
| 142 | * LoveTriangle: Although technically in place for a while, given that Clara had been keeping the existence of the Doctor secret from Danny up until only a couple episodes earlier, with this episode she actively begins lying to Danny about no longer being with the Doctor. Explicitly illustrated with Clara's "I love you" moment that is spoken on the phone with Danny, who assumes it's addressed at him, but actually spoken to the Doctor (per WordOfGod). Not to mention the date-like aspects of the first act as Clara and the Doctor arrive on the train and before the jeopardy kicks in and the fact Maisie calls nonsense on Clara claiming to no longer being friends with the Doctor... despite boarding a space train with him. |
| 143 | * TheMainCharactersDoEverything: There are several scientists and experts on alien life forms and ancient mythology, but just the Doctor, Chief Engineer Perkins, Doctor Moorhouse and Captain Quell contribute to the mystery (with Clara and Maisie providing support, though Clara does the heavy lifting in getting Maisie to become a potential sacrificial lamb). The rest are just in the background doing [[BuffySpeak backgroundy things]], though an unnamed medic keeps popping up to check dead bodies at least. |
| 144 | * MeaningfulEcho: In the last episode, Lundvik told Courtney that "When you've grown up a bit, you'll realise that everything doesn't have to be nice, some things are just bad.". Clara writes her off as a cynic, thinking that the Doctor perfectly knew the "right" choice and just withheld it from her. In this episode, one of the "bad" choices again turns out better -- Just as the Moon egg hatches harmlessly, the Doctor manages to save Maisie after all. He then explains that he genuinely didn't know the outcome and that, echoing Lundvik's statement, "Sometimes the only choices you have are bad ones, but you still have to choose." These statements also directly echo the dilemma of the preceding episode that had led Clara to consider leaving the Doctor in the first place. |
| 145 | * MetaGuy: Maisie comes very close to this when she basically points out to Clara what has been made obvious to the audience: that Clara and the Doctor picked a weird way to essentially break up, by going on a romantic trip on the Orient Express. |
| 146 | * MissedHimByThatMuch: Clara comes out to knock on the door of the Doctor's sleeping compartment mere seconds after he'd paused outside hers, dithered over whether or not to knock, decided not to do so and headed off down the corridor to investigate the Foretold while she enjoyed the express. |
| 147 | * MistakenForMurderer: Briefly played with in classic ''Who'' tradition, but quickly averted. The Doctor is arrested by Quell when he finds out he's not supposed to be on the train, saying that, for all he knows, the Doctor is the killer. Just then there's another murder, and Quell immediately releases the Doctor and begins helping in the investigation, as he can no longer deny something isn't amiss. |
| 148 | * MrFixit: Perkins the engineer displays an impressive array of technical knowledge, guessing at the Foretold's phasing ability and suggesting that the Doctor replace a couple of the TARDIS' drive stacks. |
| 149 | * MsFanservice: Clara's period dress shows off a lot of leg, chest and back. Still quite conservative, but considering Clara generally covers herself up neck-to-toe, it's a noticeable exception to her usual rule.[[note]]The original version of Clara's costume - which is actually available off-the-rack - is ''far'' more revealing than the version seen on TV, which had a dark liner added to make it more appropriate for ''Doctor Who''[[/note]] She also sports a fashionable and period-accurate silk pyjama outfit at one point. |
| 150 | * MythologyGag: |
| 151 | ** When Perkins declines the Doctor's offer to join him on the TARDIS: |
| 152 | -->'''Perkins:''' That job could, ah, change a man. |
| 153 | -->'''The Doctor:''' Yes, it does. [[TheNthDoctor Frequently.]] |
| 154 | ** At one point, the sarcophagus opens ominously to reveal... bubble wrap and blinking lights, in a [[SelfDeprecation self-deprecating jab]] toward [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E2TheArkInSpace "The Ark in Space"]], which infamously used green bubble wrap as a special effect. |
| 155 | ** When the Doctor introduces himself, Captain Quell asks [[NotThatKindOfDoctor what kind of Doctor he is]] instead of the [[RunningGag expected]], "[[TitleDrop Doctor who]]?" The Doctor says he's not asked that question enough. |
| 156 | * NeverTrustATrailer: The trailers had no sign of Clara, as per her telling the Doctor to clear off out of her life in "Kill the Moon". |
| 157 | * NinjaPirateZombieRobot: The Foretold is an ancient alien {{Cyborg}} with the appearance of a {{Mummy}} that leeches energy from its victims' bodies like a vampire. Lampshaded by Perkins, who quips "So... not just a mummy, but a vampire as well?" when the Doctor observes its method of killing. |
| 158 | * OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: The Doctor saved the entire passenger list of the Orient Express (minus those who had already been killed by that point), while they were unconscious from oxygen depravation. |
| 159 | * OffTheShelfFX: The tablets used by Perkins and the scientists are iPads in white cases. |
| 160 | * OhCrap: When Professor Moorhouse starts describing the Foretold when it is coming for him, the Doctor implores him to give him more details so that he could save "the next one". |
| 161 | --> '''Moorhouse:''' The next one? You mean, you can't save me!? |
| 162 | * OntologicalMystery: Many of the Orient Express trappings vanish when the Doctor deduces they've been brought together to figure out what the Foretold really is. Gus admits that the Doctor is right. |
| 163 | * PaintingTheMedium: Whenever the Foretold appears, a countdown appears on-screen to let the viewer know exactly how long the victim has to live. The clock stays in place between cuts, giving the viewer the exact amount of time. |
| 164 | * TheProfessor: Professor Moorhouse in particular, but the train is absolutely full of experts and dignified academics. |
| 165 | * PunBasedTitle: The episode is named after ''Literature/MurderOnTheOrientExpress'', which happens to be a Creator/AgathaChristie novel. Said novel was mentioned when the author [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E7TheUnicornAndTheWasp appeared in person]] in Series 4. |
| 166 | * QuietingTheUnquietDead: The Doctor deduces from the various clues that the "mummy" is actually [[spoiler: a soldier kept alive by ancient regenerative tech, and sends him back to rest by saying "I surrender!" and then saluting the ancient soldier]] before sending him on his way to the afterlife. |
| 167 | * RaceAgainstTheClock: 66 seconds. ''Start the clock''. |
| 168 | * RealTime: Applies to all of the Foretold's attacks, except the one that's interrupted by a commercial break, and the one that's reset when the Doctor diverts the attack onto himself. [[note]] The first example is played straight in the original British broadcast, as the BBC does not have advert breaks due to the nature of their funding. [[/note]] |
| 169 | * RecycledInSpace: ''Murder on the Orient Express'' meets ''The Mummy'' IN SPACE! |
| 170 | * RedHerring: |
| 171 | ** Perkins being a shady character, who somehow, despite being "just" the chief engineer, has easy access to all the documents of the people on board the train, and seems a bit more clever than he lets on. When shady goings on continue, the Doctor keeps eyeing him, but, in the end, he turns out perfectly innocent. |
| 172 | ** The sarcophagus Clara and Maisie are locked up with, which suspiciously opens when the Foretold attacks. It doesn't actually contain the MonsterOfTheWeek; in fact, it's there so they have somewhere to put it once they've caught it. Even then, it's never actually used for that purpose, or ''any'' purpose. |
| 173 | * RefusalOfTheCall: |
| 174 | ** The Doctor invites Perkins to become a companion, but, despite having the qualifications of an excellent companion (intelligence, bravery, and MrFixit skills), he declines. |
| 175 | ** Averted by Clara, who spends much of the episode preparing to do this at last... only to change her mind and give in to the addiction. |
| 176 | * RhetoricalQuestionBlunder: |
| 177 | ** The Doctor has a scene near the beginning where he's talking to himself, and calls himself out for answering his own rhetorical question. |
| 178 | ** Later, the Doctor asks Captain Quell how many people have to die before Quell stops looking the other way. Shortly thereafter, the Foretold claims its third victim, and Quell says that three is the amount of people that had to die before he stopped looking the other way. |
| 179 | * SadisticChoice: |
| 180 | ** The Doctor says he constantly has to make bad choices, and then picks the least worse, when he's lamenting whether he's a good man or not. |
| 181 | ** The above discussion also addresses the sadistic choice the Doctor saddled Clara with in the preceding episode, which led her to want to end their relationship. |
| 182 | * SelfDeprecation: Clara is relieved the sarcophagus is filled with [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E2TheArkInSpace bubble wrap]]. |
| 183 | * SelfDestructMechanism: As a failsafe, Gus takes out the entire train when the Doctor tries to hack him at the end. |
| 184 | * SequelHook: Gus and his boss have gotten away with information on how the Foretold worked, and they're still out there. |
| 185 | * ShellShockedVeteran: Captain Quell, the [[SoleSurvivor only one to survive]] when his unit was bombed. He has [=PTSD=], which makes him the fifth target for the Foretold. |
| 186 | * SherlockScan: The Doctor picks apart Captain Quell very neatly by the items in his office. |
| 187 | * ShipTease: The episode has become infamous for having so much Doctor/Clara teasing that several reviews and newspaper articles were written about it - and the actress who plays Clara has made statements at conventions confirming at least one shippy moment as totally intentional, while the episode's writer has commented publicly about the sexual tension on display during the hallway nightcap "to the last hurrah" sequence (the sultry music on the soundtrack during the scene doesn't help). |
| 188 | * ShoutOut: |
| 189 | ** There are murders on the Orient Express, and the presence of many of the characters on board was [[Literature/MurderOnTheOrientExpress not nearly as coincidental as assumed]]. |
| 190 | ** The story has some conceptual similarities to the film ''Film/HorrorExpress'', which was set in the 1930s and had an apparent prehistoric apeman, that was actually an alien monster, killing people on a Russian express train. |
| 191 | ** A space team who think they're there for an innocuous purpose discovering they're actually being used as live bait to capture and bring back a highly efficient alien killer for study and duplication was the plot of the first ''{{Film/Alien}}'' film. |
| 192 | ** Flying steam trains IN SPACE originated with ''Manga/GalaxyExpress999''. |
| 193 | ** The Doctor walking on a rocky beach in his formal suit and carrying a stick is very reminiscent of the classic 19th century painting "Art/WandererAboveTheSeaOfFog". |
| 194 | * TheSleepless: The Doctor is shown still working on the mystery after Perkins and Professor Moorhouse have fallen asleep in their chairs. |
| 195 | * SofterAndSlowerCover: Foxes sings a mid-tempo jazz version of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-OTYT02W7E "Don't Stop Me Now"]] by Music/{{Queen|Band}}. |
| 196 | * SomeKindOfForcefield: The air ripples when Clara tries to get to the TARDIS. |
| 197 | * SpaceIsCold: A cart full of people that get [[ThrownOutTheAirlock jettisoned into space]] freeze over. |
| 198 | * StealthPun: The episode features a jazz version of the Queen song "Don't Stop Me Now", now which of their albums does it come from?[[note]]Jazz[[/note]] |
| 199 | * StepfordSmiler: The Doctor is annoyed at how Clara keeps trying to smile despite being sad, as this is supposed to be their last adventure. He says it's like two emotions at once; some kind of malfunction. |
| 200 | * SurroundedByIdiots: The Doctor feels this way among the crew, despite them being chosen for their expert knowledge. Perkins proves otherwise. |
| 201 | * TemptingFate: |
| 202 | ** During his first conversation with the Doctor, Moorhouse explains why he became so fascinated by Alien Mythology: "Earth legends are such dry, dusty affairs, and always fiction. But up here, in the stars, anything's possible. That's why I chose this field, to be honest, hoping one day I might meet a real monster." When the Foretold really ''does'' come for him, he admits the experience is "not nearly as rewarding as I thought it might be." |
| 203 | ** InUniverse, when the Doctor hopes that he might be the next victim, Perkins warns him not to even say that. Maisie is the next victim, but the Doctor changes things so he is instead. |
| 204 | * ThatLiarLies: When the Doctor says he's been on a long gone planet where the express is whizzing past, Maisie points out it's been gone for thousands of years. She doesn't know that the Doctor is a time traveller and has thus actually been there, so the Doctor was being called out on being a liar for telling the truth. Ironic, as "the Doctor lies" was RuleNumberOne for his eleventh incarnation. |
| 205 | * ThereAreNoCoincidences: A collection of some of mankind's (and one alien) most clever big brains regarding aliens and mythologies on board one train? ContrivedCoincidence? The Doctor doesn't think so. Even the Doctor's presence isn't a coincidence. Gus has deliberately sought him out, and the Doctor has deliberately walked into his trap to get Clara to stay with him, or at least share one last adventure. |
| 206 | * ThisIsReality: The Doctor says they're not in mythology or some other fiction when he convinces Moorhouse that finding the right word won't let him survive. |
| 207 | * ThrillerOnTheExpress: The story takes place on the OrientExpress InSpace. |
| 208 | * TrailersAlwaysLie: The trailer, not to mention the description for the episode, suggests that Clara has either left the Doctor already or will by the end. In fact, she decides to stick around. |
| 209 | * TrapIsTheOnlyOption: The Doctor mentions that Gus has tried to lure him to the Orient Express before. If he hasn't taken the bait in over a millennium, he must have suspected something was wrong. |
| 210 | * ThrownOutTheAirLock: The fate of the Express' kitchen staff is a freeze out in space. |
| 211 | * TouchOfDeath: The Foretold kills whoever it touches. It's played with a bit, as it cannot kill someone until the necessary 66 seconds has elapsed. |
| 212 | * UnresolvedSexualTension: Noticeable between the Doctor and Clara in the first act, especially during the "night cap" scene. WordOfGod (the episode writer) recognized this. Not helped by the fact the episode solidifies the LoveTriangle between the Doctor, Clara and Danny, and another WordOfGod (this time the actress) confirming that Clara's "I love you" at the end of the episode was spoken to the Doctor, not to Danny. |
| 213 | * TheUnreveal: When the Doctor tries to determine who was behind everything, it triggers a failsafe and the train explodes. |
| 214 | * VillainTeleportation: Justified, as a teleporter is indeed being used by the Foretold. |
| 215 | * WearingAFlagOnYourHead: When the Doctor confronts the Foretold, he finds that the writing on the scroll is inscribed on its chest. Since there's no good reason to duplicate the writing, he realizes that the scroll isn't a scroll at all; it's a flag. |
| 216 | * WhatTheHellHero: |
| 217 | ** Appalled at the Doctor's callous reaction to the deaths, Perkins wonders if he's a genius or just ''really'' arrogant. |
| 218 | ** Clara calls the Doctor out for knowing that their train ride was going to go bad and not telling her. |
| 219 | ** Clara is not happy that the Doctor made her lie to Maisie to trick her into entering the scientists' car. |
| 220 | * WhoWantsToLiveForever: This turns out to be the story behind the Foretold; a machine keeps it alive so it can continue fighting its war no matter how long it takes. It seems rather relieved to be told "We surrender". |
| 221 | * WithAFootOnTheBus: Clara spends most of the episode planning to board the bus, and at least once appears to be about to climb aboard after she's forced to lie to Maisie, but ultimately decides not to. |
| 222 | * {{Wormsign}}: The Foretold's arrival is preceded by the lights in the cabin dimming. |
| 223 | * YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: |
| 224 | ** Once Gus has all the data he needs on the Foretold from the Doctor, he attempts to kill the remaining passengers on the train. |
| 225 | ** Gus himself was given orders to self-destruct if anyone tries to hack him for information concerning his superiors. |
| 226 | * YouHaveToBelieveMe: The first few victims die surrounded by people they're futilely trying to convince of the Foretold's presence. |
| 227 | * ZippingUpTheBodybag: The cook after he's killed. |
| 228 | ---- |
| 229 | ->3... 2... 1... '''0.''' |
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