Clyde and Rani awaken one morning, to discover that everyone on Earth has mysteriously vanished, even Sarah Jane and Mr. Smith. Whilst exploring the deserted London, they encounter a boy named Gavin, who's just as confused as they are.
Eventually, the force behind the disappearance of the human race make themselves known, a pair of cyclopic robots, one red and one yellow, began to chase the three teens through the deserted streets.
Tropes
- Adam and Eve Plot: Clyde attempts to invoke this trope. Rani isn't so keen.
- Bad Bedroom, Bad Life: Clyde notes that Gavin's room is extremely spartan for a typical teenage boy, and it's implied his aunt and uncle are neglectful (if not worse) towards him. Certainly, the fact Gavin's willing to jump ship the minute he learns he's an alien without a goodbye is telling.
- Continuity Nod:
- Gavin wears a Bio damper, to hide his identity.
- Clyde theorises that he and Rani are the only native humans remaining on Earth because they were grounded by Judoon law in "Prisoner of the Judoon".
- In justifying his claim of authority, Clyde notes that he has known Sarah Jane longer, having met her in "Revenge of the Slitheen" whereas Rani did not join the group until "The Day of the Clown".
- Cyber Cyclops: Both of the robots.
- Delayed Reaction: When Clyde first suggests he and Rani are like Adam and Eve, Rani nods, before what he's said sinks in and her eyes dart back to him.
- Expy: The robots are very similar to the Roboidz from Mission: 2110, who are of a similar shape and also come in red and yellow.
- Foreshadowing: Gavin makes Rani a lady. In the following serial, "Lost in Time", she is continually addressed as Lady Rani in the court of Queen Jane, having been mistaken for a newly summoned lady-in-waiting.
- Fun with Homophones: A momentary lapse in communications relying on British pronunciation, when it sounds like the robots are saying "give us the sun and air". After a moment Rani realises they're saying "give us the son and heir".
- Half-Human Hybrids: Gavin.
- Interspecies Romance: Gavin's father is the king of a distant planet, and he's the only heir.
- The Last Man Heard a Knock...: Done literally when Rani wakes up and finds out she's alone, she checks the neighboring houses for other people with no luck. As she's searching for a working TV signal, there's a knock on the front door...which turns out to be her best friend Clyde. Played closer to the spirit of the trope later, when they run across a stranger who was also left behind, then a pair of killer robots... Rani and Clyde are still on the planet because the Judoon grounded them earlier in the series, and said stranger is the reason everyone but him got moved off the planet.
- No Endor Holocaust: Discussed and averted. After almost all humans are briefly taken away, Clyde and Rani notice that the streets are surprisingly clean and unwrecked. This was deliberate on the part of the aliens; they phase-shifted all the moving vehicles away along with the people so that there would be no crashes, leaving behind only the parked ones.
- Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: The robots are just searching for their planet's heir, and decided to do so in a particularly stupid and counterproductive fashion thanks to their programming.
- Orphan's Plot Trinket: Gavin's only memento of his dead parents is a ring, which turns out to be a bio-damper.
- Secret Legacy: The robot twins are actually a search party, sent to track down the long lost heir of a distant planet, who happens to be Gavin.
- Sherlock Scan: Clyde performs one on Gavin's house.
- Ship Tease: The decision to draw more attention to the attraction between Clyde and Rani is once again highlighted and would likely have been more prevalent in future stories if the series hadn't come to an end prematurely due to Elisabeth Sladen's death in 2011. While other stories tended to highlight the character relationship in an ironic and comedic context, this serial is one of the few opportunities for it to be prevalently featured and explored narratively.
- Take That!: Clyde would have glad to have anyone for company if he was alone, even Chris Moyles. When learning that the robots are after the son and heir, he tells them they can have Prince Charles, and Camilla too if they like.
- Un-Paused: Everyone on Earth is shunted into a sub-dimension while the robots search for their target, and once they're restored go back to what they're doing. Rani's dad does notice the sudden hour and a half shift, but the masquerade keeps going.
