The two attempt to get away from the Daleks, but are followed by them throughout time and space. Whether it's in World War II, in the Doctor's house in Baker Street (where a team of scientists has installed a space/time portal, allegedly at the Doctor's insistence, although he hasn't done that part yet), or any alien planet they can think of — there are always Daleks right on their trail. Even more confusingly, the TARDIS isn't translating for Molly, and Eight can't think of any reason that would be possible.
When Sally, the lead scientist from the Baker Street house, is exterminated, the Doctor is just about ready to lie down and give up. His Survivor Guilt is hitting him hard — the idea of being trapped in a constant war with the Daleks is something he can't cope with any longer. His mission, given by Straxus, was to save Molly. It was meant to be a way to give him hope. Why Molly needs saving, or just how the Daleks can track her, is far beyond his understanding at the point. And with all his despair, all his guilt and all his confusion, he eventually decides to deal with it all by...
... staging a Hot Springs Episode!
At Molly's request, the Doctor takes her to "somewhere nice," a futuristic floaty swimming pool, where he strips down to his undies and jumps right in to go play with a space dolphin. Molly joins him, and realises she's made a huge mistake when the dolphin turns out to be yet another Dalek drone. They just barely manage to escape.
Someone named Kotris, meanwhile, is working together with the Dalek Time Controller and plotting against Gallifrey.
In the middle of all that, Straxus visits a rather scenic planet named Srangor full of cliffs and tries to commit suicide. It doesn't take, as something on the planet has installed drones specifically to prevent that sort of thing...
Tropes:
- Action Dress Rip: Molly is forced to do this while escaping the Daleks.
- Berserk Button: Molly being called Dark Eyes by the Doctor.
- Continuity Nod:
- The Doctor is not the least bit fazed by flying Daleks, shrugging it off as typically something the Daleks would eventually do. In fact, he has already seen them doing it.
- The Fifth Doctor's house in Baker Street becomes quite important.
- Deadpan Snarker: When Straxus says "Some unknown alien power with access to space/time travel has hatched an insane plan to destroy the universe" the Doctor's reaction is "Is there a sane one?"
- Dramatic Irony: The Eighth Doctor hopes there's a way out of constant war with the Daleks. As we all know from the new TV series, there isn't, and the Doctor will eventually sacrifice his entire species in an unsuccessful attempt to kill all Daleks.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Molly being called Dark Eyes by the Doctor.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: Molly is extremely out of place in anything that isn't the 1910's, and she's horrified to find out that there's more than one world war.
- Follow That Car: Subverted when a driver says he always wanted to hear that when the Doctor uses the taxi to escape the Daleks. Molly says it to him.
- Friendly, Playful Dolphin: Some of these are swimming on another planet. Unfortunately the Daleks are controlling one.
- Gratuitous French: Eight speaks a bit of it to a British soldier.
- Gravity Screw: A wave on another planet is constantly held up by Anti-Gravity.
- Important Haircut: The Eighth Doctor has now sheared his locks down from the romantic poet look to a staunch, less messy military-minded hairstyle.
- Insistent Terminology: Molly keeps calling the TARDIS a Tardy box.
- Interrupted Suicide: Straxus tries one but finds someone has installed drones to prevent this.
- Meaningful Name: O'Sullivan. "Dark-eyed".
- Mind-Control Device: Used on a dolphin.
- Mood Whiplash: Shortly after trying to get the Daleks to kill him, the Doctor takes Molly to a vacation planet to frolick with the space dolphins.
- Running Gag: Eight losing his shirt.
-
Throw It In!: The "Gallifrey? Is that in Ireland?" Running Gag wasn't in the script. - Stable Time Loop: Subverted. The Doctor appears to have contacted Sally at some point in his future, with money and precise instructions, but the Doctor doubts it was really him.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Happens to a scientist working with Kotris, he is exterminated.
