History JustForFun / InspectorSpacetime

** The 30th anniversary in 1992: "Dimensioned in Space." The fourth Inspector calls out for help from an undisclosed location as all living actors who played the Inspector over the previous decades reprise their roles to defeat a plot that threatens all of space itself. While this was the very last episode of the Classic series that BTV was able to afford and had to stop the series at that point, it is nonetheless hailed as a great episode by both fans and critics thanks to the surprising crossover with the popular comedy ''Are You Being Served?'', the comedians bringing new energy and unexpected chemistry with the IS cast. The limited role of the Fourth Inspector was done so at the actor's own request as he feared his presence may overshadow the other Inspectors, which his HamAndCheese performance did so anyway.

* WholePlotReference: ''Journey Of The Blessed'' has the Inspector board a spaceship made to look like the earth cruise liner Poseidon, but it instead replicates the entire plot of the movie ''{{Titanic}}''.

* {{Spinoff}}: ''Tin Corpse'' after Captain James Haggard takes control of the devastated Tin Corpse Institute left vacant by the war between Blorgons and Circuit-Chaps.

** In the episode ''The Lions Roar In Luxor'' we find that the Sphinx itself is a giant Snarling Lion.

* AffectionateParody: The charity special ''The Malediction of Deadly Doom'', an online comedy special with the Inspector portrayed by RickyGervais[[note]]A CastingGag towards Steve Carell's Eight Inspector[[/note]] who goes through multiple regenerations including HughLaurie.

* [[PerceptionFilter Observation Screen]]: TropeNamer; however the new showrunner, Phil Redmond, is not a fan of the earlier episodes and has vowed to reduce or eliminate its use, criticizing it as a HandWave.

* [[PerceptionFilter Observation Screen]]: TropeNamer; however the new showrunner, Stefan Toffat, is not a fan of the earlier episodes and has vowed to reduce or eliminate its use, criticizing it as a HandWave.

** "Between you and me, change isn't always right. It can be sorely, ''sorely'' bungled. I'm utterly fed up with this face, d'you hear me!? [[DeathSeeker The faster I forget it, the better]]. I suspect I'll come to rue the days when the Inspector was I!" [[spoiler: The Eleventh Inspector]]
*** [[spoiler: ''(Angie Lake suddenly appears)'' Tidy Gent? ''([[ArmorPiercingSlap slap]])'' '''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis GOOD.]]''' ''([[ArmorPiercingSlap slap]])'' '''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis DAY!]]''' ''(The Inspector realizes he's only imagined Angie there, loses his temper and chucks his bowler hat to the ground, spending his last moments stamping on it in an epic tantrum)'']]

The Inspector's Associates provide something unique to the cast with each new addition, such as classic favourites the maths and English teachers Irma and Bart, the [[BraveScot Gaelic swordsman]] Aiden, the late Jeffrey, the [[NubileSavage barbarian princess]] Reena, fellow Infinity Knight Lunda, [[TeenGenius the genius]] Yosif, the [[RobotBuddy automatomcat]] FE-Line, and the long-runner Mary Sue.[[note]] There are a few forgettable ones, though, like the utterly nondescript Benjamin.[[/note]] More recent Associates include [[NaiveEverygirl Lily Taylor]], [[ChivalrousPervert Captain James Haggard]], the MagnificentBastard Yorke, Constable Wigglesworth, Angelica "Angie" Lake, and Rory Williams [[note]]The same character would later appear in That Ripoff.[[/note]]. The 2012 fiftieth-anniversary season has introduced the Eleventh Inspector's newest Associate: [[FakeGuestStar "temporary" constable]] Geneva Stilton.

* [[TheNthDoctor The Nth Inspector]]: TropeNamer. The Inspector has had many actors over the years, due to his ability to undergo metamorphosis. This new blood every few seasons allows the show to stay quite fresh. Notable fan favourites are Bernard Fox and his endlessly elaborate tea-breaks, Marius Goring with his silly ascot and taste for wine gums, and the more recent Ninth and Tenth Inspectors, Mark Williams and Daniel Landlord. The least popular are Steve Carell and Stephen Fry.

* TitleDrop: This has always been favourite rhetorical device of the programme's writers, e.g.:

* TrademarkFavouriteFood:

* AbandonedArea: Favoured by the BTV's budget-conscious producers during the classic series in order to hold down the costs of casting extras and constructing elaborate sets, notably the [[GhostCity lost city of Izzomun]] in "Funeral of the Blorgons", the [[GhostPlanet dark matter world]] in "The Three Inspectors", and the Circuit-Chap–infested [[SinisterSubway Paris Métro]] in "The Revolution".

* FairPlayWhodunnit: A staple of the Second Inspector's investigations, particularly the innumerable locked room mystery settings (which were favoured for [[BottleEpisode budgetary reasons]]). For example, the Inspector deduced the murders of the chrono-scientists in "The Cube in Time" were perpetrated by [[spoiler: the base's high-tech laboratory equipment and kitchen appliances, which the Circuit-Chaps had modified into lethal conscripts of the Digifleet, after assorted evidence excluded all the human and alien suspects]].

* DancePartyEnding: In an ironic conclusion to the tragic outbreak of Choreokinesis--a disease that makes its victims dance compulsively--that killed fan-favourite [[spoiler: Gerte]], the Inspector felt it best to celebrate the discovery of the disease's antidote with a dance party.

* MalevolentArchitecture: Numerous examples: The [[NoOSHACompliance unbelievably hazardous]] scrapyard in "[[DurableDeathTrap Retirement Home of the Circuit-Chaps]]", which is actually [[spoiler:a booby-trapped NightmarishFactory to [[MechanicalEvolution prototype their successors]]]]; the [[AIIsACrapshoot rogue AI-controlled]] "[[CouncilEstate Perdition High-rise]]"; the interior of the Infinite Cyclorama; the [[MobileMaze labyrinthine housing scheme]] in "[[ComeOutComeOutWhereverYouAre Seek]]"; the Welsh AbandonedMine in "[[MineralMacGuffin The Turquoise Terror]]".

** The 50th anniversary in 2012: "The Night of the Inspector" unites the Inspector's four most recent incarnations; and "The Golden Jubilee" 2012 Christmas Special sees them encounter [[HistoricalDomainCharacter historical personages]] like [[QueenVicky Queen Victoria]] and [[BadassNative Black Elk]] (in the suspenseful 1887 storyline during her 50th anniversary) and celebrities like Music/TomJones and [[DragQueen Dame Edna Everage]] (in the comic 2002 one during [[HMTheQueen Elizabeth II's]]).

* TheReptilians: The Eocenes, Ocean Demons, Serpentians, and Venusian Sulphur Soldiers. Also, [[spoiler: [[HMTheQueen Queen Elizabeth II]] in the episode "The Humans of Westminster" ([[HMTheQueen HMQ]] is not a fan)]].

* TakeThat: When the 60s-era Inspector exclaims, "We can go anywhere, at any time, in the universe! {''{{Beat}}''} But it'll probably be London during the Blitz.", the joke is a dig at the ''Series/DoctorWho'' fan complaint that although the Doctor can go anywhere, at any time, in the universe, he keeps revisiting [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS1E9TheEmptyChild Great]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS1E10TheDoctorDances Britain's]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E03VictoryOfTheDaleks Finest]] [[Recap/DoctorWho2011CSTheDoctorTheWidowAndTheWardrobe Hour]].

The origin of this landmark television show requires detailed examination.[[note]] In reality, ''Inspector Spacetime'' is a recurring gag/homage to ''Series/DoctorWho'' made by ''Series/{{Community}}'', which first appeared in its season 3 premiere, Recap/CommunityS3E01Biology101, and has been regularly referred to in later episodes. But that doesn't mean we can't have our own fun with it![[/note]]

* FanworkBan: At least in the case of [[ScrewedByTheLawyers a Sony lawyer's phone call demanding production cancellation]] of ''Community'' actor Travis Richey's proposed ''Inspector Spacetime'' web series. In the tradition of ''[[CaptainErsatz The Stranger]]'' substituting for ''Doctor Who'', he [[SerialNumbersFiledOff removed all direct references and reworked it]] as ''The Untitled Web Series About A Space Traveler Who Can Also Travel Through Time''.

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[[re*direct:JustForFun/InspectorSpacetime]]

[[quoteright:250:[[http://ameba.bigcartel.com/product/inspector-spacetime-poster http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/inspector_5860.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:250:The Lunatic With a Booth]]

->''"When you look out at the skies at night, what do you see? Starlight. From millions of stars. And that's just the light that's arrived here at one point in time. You can see every star, every planet, in one point of time, and never get the full picture. So really, the question isn't where... but when."''
-->--The Eleventh Inspector

''Inspector Spacetime'' is a British sci-fi series that has been on the air since 1962 and has gained a worldwide following. It's long since established its niche as a cult classic.

The Inspector is an alien from a faraway planet who has come to Earth to rescue us from dangers across space and time. He travels the universe in his snug [[CoolShip Model X7 Dimensioniser]] time booth[[hottip:*: mistakenly called a DARSIT in the very first episode, a famous case of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness]], which takes the form of a red telephone box. (Fans nicknamed it, simply, the "Booth".) The X7 is famously "just a little too small on the inside," adjusting its interior dimensions to almost, but not quite, comfortably accommodate its occupants. Even when the Inspector is alone, it retains its cosily cramped atmosphere. This is often alluded to as the reason that friendships formed in the Booth are the closest one ever makes. Even so, as the Inspector says, "There's always room for one more."

The Inspector often recruits Associates, most notably Constable Reginald Wigglesworth (Reggie). He has also amassed a RoguesGallery of villains over the years that includes the Blorgons[[hottip:*: a.k.a. the Blogons]], the Digifleet, and the Sergeant. [[ImpossiblyCoolWeapon Optic Pocketknife]] in hand, he will investigate the horrors of the universe.

The Inspector is the last of the Infinity Knights, the race of people who lived on his home planet of Kayaclasch. They once policed the universe with their advanced spacetime technological inventions, such as the time booths, but grew arrogant and corrupt in their twilight. They perished in the catastrophic [[GreatOffscreenWar Time Wave]], and the Inspector is the [[LastOfHisKind lone survivor]]... [[ThereIsAnother or is he]]??

Now, to ease his solitude and pass on his knowledge, the Inspector brings Associates along for adventures as he travels the universe, inspecting the roots of all its mysteries. He is a man who must often make tough decisions to meet his ends. Like all Infinity Knights, the Inspector was born without a heart, which explains his tendency to be cruel at times. His personal quest for a "substitute" for this organ has so far been unsuccessful since duty and danger always come first. Still set on this goal, he often takes on Associates who are similarly searching for something or looking to improve themselves. [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Except Jeffrey]]. [[ButtMonkey Everyone hates Jeffrey]].

The Inspector's Associates provide something unique to the cast with each new addition, such as classic favourites the maths and English teachers Irma and Bart, the [[BraveScot Gaelic swordsman]] Aiden, the late Jeffrey, the [[NubileSavage barbarian princess]] Reena, fellow Infinity Knight Lunda, [[TeenGenius the genius]] Yosif, the [[RobotBuddy automatomcat]] FE-Line, and the long-runner Mary Sue. (There are a few forgettable ones, though, like the utterly nondescript Benjamin.) More recent Associates include Lily Taylor, Captain James Haggard, the MagnificentBastard Yorke, Constable Wigglesworth, Angelica "Angie" Lake, and Rory Williams. The 2012 fiftieth-anniversary season has introduced the Eleventh Inspector's newest Associate: [[FakeGuestStar "temporary" constable]] Geneva Stilton.

The programme grew into a LongRunner despite ExecutiveMeddling from producer British Television and distributor Boogatron Media, not to mention [[NoBudget chronic underfunding]], [[LoadsAndLoadsOfWriters inconsistent script quality]], [[MissingEpisode archival carelessness amounting to sabotage]], [[WhatCouldHaveBeen perversely wasted potential]], and numerous other problems best left for [[Trivia/InspectorSpacetime another discussion]]. Eleven actors have taken on the iconic role of the Inspector so far, alongside literally dozens of Associates, in an [[Characters/InspectorSpacetime ever-expanding cast]]. The sheer AMOUNT of canon there is to go through might cause some ArchivePanic, but it's well worth the hours you'll spend with it.[[hottip:*: In all seriousness, though, there is already an effort in motion to write actual episodes of this series [[http://inspectorspacetime.proboards.com/index.cgi found here]]

A SpinOff series, ''Peacemist: Nicer Post'', began airing in 2005. It stars Captain James Haggard and is [[LighterAndSofter significantly more family friendly]] than the current Inspector Spacetime.

A second spin-off series, ''The Mary Sue Predicaments''--[[DarkerAndEdgier far edgier and more thoughtful than its precursors]]--was recently cut short by the death of the lead actress.

A children's FE-Line series [[InNameOnly named simply ''FE-Line'']], produced by an unrelated Japanese television company, has been running for the past three years, and yes, that is where those strange vids of [[HumongousMecha Giant FE-Line]] came from.

Other facets of the vast ''Inspector Spacetime'' media empire include [[ComicBook/InspectorSpacetime American, British, and Japanese comic books]], two different animated adaptations (one Eastern, one Western), novels, radio dramas, and [[VideoGame/InspectorSpacetime video games]].

Not to be confused with a [[Series/DoctorWho far less popular imitator.]]

It has a recap page [[Recap/InspectorSpacetime here.]]

The origin of this landmark television show requires detailed examination.[[hottip:*: In reality, ''Inspector Spacetime'' is a recurring gag/homage to ''Series/DoctorWho'' made by ''Series/{{Community}}'', which first appeared in its season 3 premiere, Recap/CommunityS3E01Biology101, and has been regularly referred to in later episodes. But that doesn't mean we can't have our own fun with it!]]


----

!!This show provides examples of:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:In-Universe Tropes]]

* AbandonedArea: Favoured by the BTV's budget-conscious producers during the classic series in order to hold down the costs of casting extras and constructing elaborate sets, notably the [[GhostCity lost city of Izzomun]] in "Funeral of the Blorgons", the [[GhostPlanet dark matter world]] in "The Three Inspectors", and the Circuit-Chap–infested [[SinisterSubway Paris Métro]] in "The Revolution".
* AbortedArc: Several in the Seventh Inspector era, first thanks to the dumbing down of the scripts, then the programme's cancellation in 1988. The Instructor plotline in particular was LeftHanging with many questions unanswered.
* AbsurdlyYouthfulMother: Following a drunken one-night stand astride the Interstellar Date Line, Angie is now several centuries younger than the resulting daughter, [[spoiler:Brooke.]]
** Until TheReveal that [[spoiler:Brooke is actually Angie's grandmother, and the real baby was whisked off to be sold to a sweatshop orbiting Neptune. The trope still stands, though, because Brooke is still fifteen minutes and thirty-two seconds younger than her granddaughter.]]
* TheAce: The Fourth Inspector in his appearance in the Sixth-era serial "The Only Inspector".
* AchillesHeel: In "The Crime Sports" we learn that the Dimensioniser ''isn't'' invulnerable after all. (At least when facing [[spoiler: other Infinity Knights]]...)
** The Circuit-Chaps are invincible except when exposed to lead dust, which clogs their condensers. When confronted by it, they exclaim, "Get the lead out!"
*** In later serials this weakness is exaggerated to the point where in 1976's "Blood and Servos", the Inspector is able to rout the Circuit-Chaps by reading the [[FictionalDocument ''Encyclopaedia Cosmosica'']] entry for "lead" to them. [[hottip:*: Although the FictionalDocument in question ''was'' strongly hinted to have powers beyond being a mere reference work.]]
* ActionGirl:
** Old-school Associate Theodora "Dynamo" [=McRae=]. She once beat up a Blorgon with a [[ImprobableWeaponUser hockey stick]]. She [[PGExplosives blew up things with dynamite]]. A ''[[MadBomber lot]].''
** JunglePrincess Reena also qualifies.
** Brooke most certainly counts as this.
* ActorAllusion:
** This is not the first time Ellen [=McLain=] (the voice of Cabin in "The Inspector's Ex") has played a cheerful, friendly [[spoiler: [[GLaDOS psychopath who wants to destroy you.]]]]
** The Sixth Inspector era had the RunningGag of Graham Chapman's various Creator/MontyPython co-workers popping up in brief, appropriately bizarre, cameos. The most infamous by far was Creator/MichaelPalin playing [[Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian Pontius Pilate]] again.
*** Not to mention Chapman's imitation of a [[Creator/MontyPython "pepperpot"]] when first metamorphosing in the Fifth Inspector's dress.
* TheAdventureContinues: [[spoiler: Irma and Bert]] cheerfully go off to explore a far-future Earth when they part ways with the Inspector. They never appeared on the show again, but a couple of Expanded Universe novels were written about their escapades.
* AffablyEvil:
** The Sergeant, although a classic [[DirtyCop "bent copper"]], remains perpetually cheerful despite the Inspector constantly foiling his schemes, which he which he passes off as [[WorthyOpponent cordial rivalry]].
** Ms. Patch is a little old lady who drinks tea, knits and...plans to kill the Inspector with her minions, the Quiet Men.
** The [[InexplicablyAwesome Orange Warden]]. [[SurrealHumor Sometimes]].
* AlasPoorScrappy: Jeffrey was generally loathed throughout fandom until [[spoiler: his heroic sacrifice.]]
* AlienGeometries: the incomprehensible geometries of Mathsville, where [[BiggerOnTheInside larger objects appear to fit within smaller ones]]; the Inspector and Angie's [[{{Two-DSpace}} loss of their third dimension]] in "Squared".
* AlienInvasion: Mainly Type Two, particularly during the Fourth Inspector's forced reassignment to 1970s Earth when any given serial's [[MonsterOfTheWeek mysterious malefactor]] would turn out to be secretly conspiring with an extraterrestrial invasion, one the Sergeant's schemes, or both.
* [[AliensInCardiff Aliens in Wylf-y-Fwddoch]]: The TropeNamer. The Welsh hamlet of Wylf-y-Fwyddoch, population 109, is the site of multiple rips in the fabric of spacetime, allowing anything that runs on chrono-spacial flux energy (like the time booths) to recharge its batteries there. (Also, it's a fair bit cheaper to film in the Welsh countryside than in London.) ''Peacemist'' is almost exclusively set in this location.
* AlmightyJanitor: Cabin, the X7's holographic in-flight waitress [[spoiler: who turns out to be psychopathic and takes over the X7.]]
* AlwaysABiggerFish: An entire Blorgon [[TheBattlestar Battlehub]] gets [[EnemyRisingBehind suddenly]], casually devoured by [[spoiler: the Infinite Cyclorama]].
* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Pretty much the whole point of the Time Deviants. While they look and act human, they're actually [[AxCrazy soulless psychopaths]] who feed off of chaos and destruction. [[spoiler: Yorke]]'s self-control from [[HeelFaceTurn the time he started travelling with the Tenth Inspector]] to the time he saved a fleet of Blorgons from the Time Wave is impressive.
* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: Subverted in "The Doomsday Scenario", where [[spoiler: the Inspector deliberately leaves Lunda at the mercy of the Horrible Horde. She survives... but plots revenge.]]
* AmericansAreCowboys: Veneziana is a classic example of this trope... sort of. She is from Newer South Wales, a rather bizarre 24th century Earth colony which mashes together the best/worst of the cultures of the [[LandDownUnder Australian outback]] and [[EverythingIsBigInTexas Texas]]. She is introduced lassoing Circuit-Chaps while wearing a [[NiceHat bushranger hat]] and spurs. Subverted when it's revealed she's afraid of horses.
* AnachronicOrder: The episode "Morton's Fork" jumps around wildly in both time and space when revealing the long history of the Eleventh Inspector's bowler hat. (And thanks to the aforementioned Fork, there are some jumps ''[[FlashSideways sideways]]'' as well.)
* AndIMustScream: The BigBad of "Five Inspectors, One Time Booth" feature-length episode gets his [[LaserGuidedKarma just desserts]] for seeking out the secret of Sassafrass' immortality when he is turned into a [[TheCakeIsALie stale Simnel cake]].
* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler: Jeffrey.]] The Inspector's reaction is a TearJerker.
* AnyoneRememberPogs: The Inspector and his Associates having to cram themselves inside the Booth was intended to capitalize on the fad of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonebooth_stuffing Telephone Box Stuffing]], which had just arrived the UK in 1959. Now the ridiculousness is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] with the characters' catch phrase "I thought it would be bigger on the inside!"
* ArcWords:
** [[spoiler:GOOD LAMB GOOD LAMB GOOD LAMB]]
** You've been a [[spoiler:Naughty Monkey]].
** Season Two had [[spoiler: the Peacemist Corporation.]]
** Season Three had [[spoiler: Elect Anglo!]], signalling the return of [[spoiler:the Sergeant.]]
** "The wasps are reappearing!"
** [[spoiler: QUIET WILL RISE.]]
** [[spoiler: Ring Ring Goes the Bell, until the Inspector snuffs it.]]
* ArchEnemy
** [[ClassicVillain The Sergeant]]: The Third Inspector specifically considers himself to be the Sergeant's nemesis.
** In addition, each Inspector attracts a special adversary:
*** The First Inspector: [[TheTrickster The Tinker]]
*** The Second Inspector: The Circuit-Chap Commander 0LD-BN
*** The Third Inspector: [[spoiler: The [[DarkIsEvil Dark-Matter]] Inspector]]
*** The Fourth Inspector: [[MadScientist Vosrda]], the Blorgons' creator
*** The Fifth Inspector: [[TooFunnyToBeEvil The Orange Warden]]
*** The Sixth Inspector: Vosrda[[hottip:*:technically, his fourth-generation clone]] and the Indictor
*** The Seventh Inspector: [[RivalTurnedEvil The Maharini]]
*** The Eighth Inspector: Aleph[[hottip:*:in the Great Ending audio plays]]
*** The Ninth Inspector: [[PuppeteerParasite Wabe Gimble-Gyre Tove]]
*** The Tenth Inspector: [[spoiler: [[ChronicVillainy Yorke]]]]
*** The Eleventh Inspector: The Cacophony
* ArmouredClosetGay: Almost the whole of steadfast, manly military man Captain James Haggard's story arc is his inspiring journey as he tries to come to terms with his own [[AnythingThatMoves pansexuality]]. It's heartbreaking to watch him struggle with his internalized homophobia, but the writers pull it off brilliantly.
* {{Badass}}:
** Brooke. She killed one of the Quiet People with a [[DropTheHammer big hammer]]. And that [[UnrelatedEffects destroyed part of the universe]].
** Without a doubt, Rory Williams, to the point that most villains surrender or [[YourHeadASplode explode]] upon seeing him.
* BadassLongcoat: The Inspector's signature Mackintosh coat, a constant costume piece throughout his incarnations' otherwise [[LimitedWardrobe distinctive tastes in clothes]].
* BeardOfEvil: The Sergeant's fabulous moustache. It has to be seen to be believed. No, it's not fake.
* BerserkButton: The Eleventh Inspector's bowler should not be messed with.
** Also the Third Inspector in regards to wasting tea, especially [[BeverageSpill spilling it]].
* BigBad:
** The Blorgons.
** The Quiet Men, maybe Ms. Patch too.
** The Orange Warden, in Season 16's "Bolt of Space" story arc.
* BigDumbObject / {{Bizarrchitecture}}: The Infinite Cyclorama in both of its appearances.
* BigNo: The Inspector at [[spoiler: Jeffrey]]'s death.
** Used more humorously when the Fifth Inspector learns [[spoiler: The Infinity Knights have made her High Chief Commissioner.]]
* BigfootSasquatchAndYeti: The Second Inspector encountered Skunk Apes while investigating [[LavaAddsAwesome odd volcanic activity]] in "The Adorable Lavamen."
* BiggerOnTheInside: Notably averted. The writers are creative enough to write around their limitations and avoid such a ridiculous concept with the Dimensionisers. Played with, of course, with the Booth's famous "Always space for one more!" capacity. No one's sure how this works, but Infinity Knights know it's more sensible than [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum the alternative]].
* BizarreAlienBiology: Despite looking near identical to humans, the Infinity Knights have many physiological differences, most notably the fact they have no hearts. (Hence the old ''Inspector Spacetime'' fan joke: "Why did the Infinity Knights newspaper fail? Poor circulation.")
* TheBlank: The identity theft victims in "[[FaceStealer The De-Faced Doppelgängers]]" and the Cyber-Optimized Police androids from "The Five Inspectors, One Time Booth". Also, as [[LatexPerfection uncovered]] in the climax of "Mindscrew", [[spoiler:Benjamin]].
* BlatantLies: The Sixth-Inspector serial "The Only Inspector" features guest appearances by the Third, Fourth and Fifth Inspectors. WordOfGod states that this was a deliberate riff/TakeThat aimed at the Third Inspector serial "The Three Inspectors", which featured Bernard Fox in (technically) three different roles.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The TropeNamer, after the inscrutable actions of the Blue ("good") and Orange ("evil") Wardens. In the so-called "Orange Warden Trilogy" comprising "Mawdrone Alive", "Genesis", and "The Dark Ages", it's impossible to say what the Warden's [[HiddenAgendaVillain enigmatic plan]] for the Fifth Inspector is, only that it's probably malevolent. ([[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext Probably]].)
* [[BowtiesAreCool Bowler Hats Are Neat]]
* BreakTheCutie: Angie, originally a source of slapstick humour, goes through this when [[spoiler:the Sergeant succeeds in ripping her planet apart.]] It causes her to [[TookALevelInBadass take a level in badass]].
* BrilliantButLazy:
** Yosif was the Inspector's most intelligent Associate, sometimes even beating him at problem solving, but most of Yosif's ideas were not recognised due to his apathy. The Third Inspector tended towards this as well, leading to the fan-snark that their era on the show was one long tea-break punctuated with the [[EarthShatteringKaboom occasional planet blowing up]].
** It could be argued that the Sixth Inspector also fit this trope. Especially towards the end of his run, when he spends a lot of time [[AFoolForAClient orchestrating/reacting to events]] from his Defendant's Cube during the "Internal Investigation of the Inspector".
* BrownNote: The Inspector quickly learned that the Cacophony couldn't be drowned out with sound. It only made them stronger. "The Cacophony WILL find you."
* [[BBCQuarry BTV Quarry]]: The earlier serials take place on planets such as "Rockterrainia", but after the programme's budget got beefed up, this has mostly been averted.
* BuddyCopShow: Quite a few of the flashbacks of the Inspector's and the Sergeant's early days.
* TheBusCameBack: The very first Associate, Susannah Overseer, was abruptly and mysteriously "reassigned" by her and the Inspector's then-unnamed civilization after only a few serials and replaced with the far more popular duo of Irma and Bart. (The real-life reason was that the character simply wasn't working as well as hoped; Irma and Bart served as much better [[TheWatson Watsons]].) She came back for a brief but significant cameo in "The Crime Sports" and was never seen again. Although [[spoiler: there were subtle hints that she shares ''some'' sort of connection to The Instructor.]]
* BusmansHoliday: The Third Inspector's quasi-retirement consisted chiefly of excursions across space and time in which he ''[[CoincidenceMagnet coincidentally]]'' arrived on distant worlds conveniently when plots against [[EarthIsTheCentreOfTheUniverse Earth]] were being hatched, despite the Infinity Knight high command's request he limit his involvement with his old planetary precinct after the events of "The Crime Sports".
* ButtMonkey: Jeffrey.
* CanonForeigner: [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters Many additional Associates]] created for the Great Ending Productions Inspector Spacetime audio plays.
* CanonImmigrant:
** Inverted here. After his stint as Rory Williams on ''Inspector Spacetime'', Arthur Darvill came back to play ''the same character'' in [[Series/DoctorWho another show.]]
** Funny thing is, that [[Series/DoctorWho other show]] has yet to explain Rory's immortality. But ''we'' already know the reason since we watched him here in ''Inspector Spacetime''!
* TheCastShowoff: The various actors who have played the Inspector often possess additional talents they're happy to show off.
** While ChristopherLee's commando training with the [[{{SOE}} Special Operations Executive]] added an element of authenticity to the Second Inspector's fight scenes, his proudest personal accomplishment on the programme was displaying his operatic baritone by singing ''[[Theatre/TheMarriageOfFigaro Non più andrai]]'' to Aiden before the climactic battle in "The Sulphur Soldiers".
** Graham Chapman, a prominent member of the Dangerous Sports Club, convinced the director of "Spacewhip" to include a chase sequence involving the Inspector "orbing"—downhill-racing in a 3m-diameter lightweight plastic sphere-within-a-sphere.
** SteveCarell's ability to [[BurpingContest burp the entire alphabet]] figures twice in his one broadcast performance as the Eighth Inspector. ("I never thought when I learned to do that at age 13 it would pay off with a MadeForTVMovie," Carell bragged.)
* CastingAShadow: A scifi-ish version of this appears at one point in "The Gloom of Aquanus".
* CatchPhrase:
** Ten often cried out, ''"¡Arriba!"'' as he charged into action.
** "I now don a [[DashinglyDapperDerby bowler]]. Bowlers are neat."
** "The question is not where, but ''when''."
** "ERADICATE! ERADICAAAAAAAATE!"
** "You will be modified."
** "THE RISE! OF! [[LargeHam THE CYMBALS!]]"
** "We must [[ReversePolarity normalize the alignment of the electron stream]]!"
** "Oi, wot's all this, then?" was the only catchphrase for the First Inspector. Fitting, as his character was more of an inspector than most of the others.
** "Hi, honey!"
** "Want a wine jelly?"
** "By Jove, Inspector, that just might work!"
** "Always room for one more!"
* CavemenVsAstronautsDebate: Subverted in "[[AllCavemenWereNeanderthals Cavemen]] on a [[FlyingSaucer UFO]]" when the Inspector settles a heated argument between Angie and Geneva over whether AncientAstronauts abducted Neanderthals to crew their spaceships: He takes the squabbling Associates to an example of one exploring Bode's Galaxy in the 35th millennium BCE.
* [[ChangedMyJumper Changed My Hat]]: TropeNamer. The Eleventh Inspector often changes his bowler hat's colour, thinking it a cunning disguise.
* ChaseScene: Often for the finale, following [[TheSummation the obligatory summation scene]], the Inspector has to pursue the story's unmasked malefactor(s)—typically down {{EndlessCorridor}}s.
** In the first, and greatest, of the programme's many chase sequences, "The Marathon Pursuit" has the Inspector tracking Blorgons over time and space, including Virginia's Roanoke colony in 1590, London's Crystal Palace in 1936, and a [[TheWildWest Wild West]] railway heist[[hottip:*: actually the film set of the 1903 {{Western}} ''TheGreatTrainRobbery'']], until he finally apprehends them on the [[SingleBiomePlanet swamp planet Mucidus]] in the third millennium CE.
* ChasteHero: The Inspector, although it's been a RunningGag over the decades to have him strongly hint that he's been in several tumultuous marriages, and has numerous children.
** And WordOfGod says that he and Lunda did in fact have sex, but that Infinity Knights don't go about the whole process in quite the same way that humans do. Whether she [[spoiler: was pregnant with his child when she committed her final HeroicSacrifice and left the Universe with the Bolt of Space]] is less canonical.
* ChivalrousPervert: The easily-flustered, sexually conservative Captain James Haggard.
* ClassicalMovieVampire: Count Morbus (played by Vladek Sheybal) from the Fourth Inspector serial "Terror at Tooth Point" and "Vampires From Space!". (It should be noted that in the latter serial [[spoiler: he is ''not'' one of the eponymous entities but helps the Inspector fight them.]])
* CluelessMystery: The notoriously bad scripts for the Seventh Inspector's "back to basics" time-travelling investigations drew much criticism for withheld clues, last-minute culprits, and massive explosions covering up plot holes. The worst example occurs in "Bronze Friends" where the Inspector doesn't so much figure out how the Circuit-Chaps could have {{Blackmail}}ed Isambard Kingdom Brunel into modifying the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship with self-awareness as how he can [[StuffBlowingUp blow it up]].
* ClusterFBomb: From the first season finale of ''The Mary Sue Predicaments'', while Mary Sue flies a nuclear bomb toward the Blorgon flagship:
--> '''Blorgon Prince:''' We have infiltrated all of Earth's governments, poisoned your air, and captured your friends. Even now our fleet surrounds your pathetic world, ready to destroy it at my signal. What do you say to that?
--> '''Mary Sue:''' [[spoiler: Fuck you.]] [[spoiler:''Fuck you.'']] [[spoiler:'''Fuck you!''']] [[spoiler:'''''FUUUCK YOUUU!''''']] (explosion)
* CobwebOfDisuse: The desolate ruins on Antebelis Gamma in "The Sphere of Strands"; by the time the Inspector comes back for "Return to the Sphere of Strands", the whole planet has become a CobwebJungle, which contrasts nicely with the sterile and polished [[spoiler: Infinity Knight Tribunal Chamber]].
* ConspicuousTrenchcoat: Mysterious figures in high-collared trench coats started popping up in the background during the Third Inspector's last series. [[spoiler:They were finally revealed to be the Infinity Knights' InternalAffairs Watchdogs, sent by the high command to monitor the Inspector's unorthodox approach to his mysterious mission.]]
* CosmicPlayThing: Many of the Associates. For this reason the Associates are nicknamed [[FanNickname "Soccers"]] by the fans. It's partly a shortening of "associate" and partly because they tend to get kicked about a fair bit.
* CreatorCameo: If some [[InnocentBystander luckless extra]] appears on-screen just long enough to meet some [[DeathByCameo grisly demise]], chances are it's either the director of the series in question, or the show's current Executive Producer.
* CreepyCrossdresser: Some would argue that the Sergeant dabbles in this during the [[MadeForTVMovie TV movie]] ''Inspector Spacetime''.
* CuteKitten: "The Kittens" ''attempts'' to subvert this trope, with the titular creatures as the supposedly terrifying MonstersOfTheWeek.
* DancePartyEnding: In an ironic conclusion to the tragic outbreak of Choreokinesis--a disease that makes its victims dance compulsively--that killed fan-favourite [[spoiler: Gerte]], the Inspector felt it best to celebrate the discovery of the disease's antidote with a dance party.
* DanceSensation: Pamela Highwater (the second Petula) was a professional go-go dancer by trade. She performed "Do the Inspector" on ''TopOfThePops'', and her single got as high as #27 on the UK Top Singles chart.
* DaysOfFuturePast: Sometimes it was easier for BTV's overextended production department to refit existing costumes and sets from their historical dramas to create futures that looked extra-retro.
** The 23rd-century interstellar frontier in "Gunfight at the Proxima Centauri Corral" is a textbook SpaceWestern, down to the villainous Tabulator's maser-derringer.
** After the collapse of the [[TheFederation Terran Federation]] in the third millennium CE, the linked serials "The Dark Ages" and "The Queen's Angels" take place in a FeudalFuture.
* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler: Maura]], who the Inspector offered to let travel with him simply so she could realise this fact. When she finally does it is truly heartbreaking.
* DepravedBisexual: Textbook case with Mary Sue although it is taken to extremes in her spin-off ''The Mary Sue Predicaments'' that fans often complain about.
* DiscontinuityNod: In the 2011 [[UsefulNotes/ComicRelief Red Nose Day]] special "Spacetime", one of the "Alterninspectors" from parallel realities is seen using his Optic Pocketknife as a grappling hook, climbing up the side of a tall building, then pausing to chat with ''TopGear'' host Jeremy Clarkson through an open window. It's a reference to the infamously unauthorised Batarang-wielding Inspector from the 1973 film ''5 Kudretli Adamlar'' ("Turkish Blacula").
* DistractedByTheSexy: Associate Petula was a frequent cause of this, sometimes deliberately [[WeNeedADistraction when her go-go dance routines were used to distract guards]], sometimes by simply walking past.
* TheDitz: One popular fan-name for the Fifth Inspector and her associates Thorough Visor and Veneziana was "The Three Ditzes", though the Inspector was much more clever than she acted, and the two associates were also more clever than they themselves realised.
* DoAnythingRobot: FE-Line; one common fan theory/joke is that she was originally a jumbo-sized Optic Pocketknife which had ears, a tail, whiskers and Prehensile Articulated Walking Struts bolted onto it.
* DoesntLikeGuns: Averted until Season 23, when BTV banned protagonists from using firearms. The Sixth Inspector (and all inspectors previous) occasionally carried [[RevolversAreJustBetter his trademark Webley revolver]] in a shoulder holster. The Sixth Inspector liked his pistol so much he would often use it to open Orangina bottles.
* DomesticAbuse: Implied with The Sergeant and Lucio, the ([[ObfuscatingStupidity suspiciously competent]]) shoe-shine boy he married in Vegas [[spoiler:while posing as Henry Anglo]]. Lucio has the last laugh, however, [[spoiler: when he cleans out "Anglo's" ill-gotten re-election fund and is last seen literally sailing off into the sunset on a yacht.]]
* TheDreaded: Averted, gradually, in the classic series. As the programme continued and the Inspector became less intimidating over his incarnations, his [[MysteriousPast enigmatic reputation]] soon lost its ambiguous aura of menace. By the 80s, especially with the [[FailureKnight misadventure-prone]] Sixth Inspector and the [[InspectorOblivious often-clueless]] Seventh, any villain recognizing who this strange individual calling himself "the Inspector" ''actually was'' immediately had to [[UnEvilLaugh chuckle]].
** After the events of the Time Wave, however, the Inspector's reputation as a dangerous foe received a [[TookALevelInBadass significant boost]]. In the new series, he's prone to [[BadassBoast re-emphasizing this]] in case anyone's forgotten.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first few serials with Susannah Overseer. As indicated by her name, she was evidently the Inspector's assigned auditor, or even ''boss'', holding some sort of vaguely-defined "decommission" threat over him as he solves "History Crimes" (see immediately below.) Both of them being (as-yet-unnamed) Infinity Knights also resulted in a lot of painfully clunky AsYouKnow dialogue. The show didn't really find its groove until Susannah was abruptly "recalled" and [[TheWatson Irma Rong and Bart Gilbert]] enthusiastically burst onto the scene.
** And, of course, the Dimensioniser being called a "DARSIT" a few times in the first serial. The Fourth Inspector [[{{Retcon}} later explains]] that "darsit" is an [[PardonMyKlingon Infinity Knight swear word.]]
** In the first episode of ''Peacemist,'' the titular organization is variously referred to as the Peacemist Institute, the Peacemist Ministry, the Peacemist Agency, the Peacemist Corporation, and, on one memorable occasion, the Meatspice Institute. This was mostly sorted out by the second episode, although throughout the rest of the first season a sign above Captain James' desk read "Peacemist Institupe."
* EdutainmentShow: Hard as it is to believe in retrospect, this programme was conceived as serious family edutainment. Stories set in the past were supposed to teach children history, with The Inspector solving historical crimes, such as in the serial "[[RichardOfGloucester The Two Princes' Murder]]". The ones set in the future or on other planets were intended to teach science, but the Blorgons' unanticipated massive popularity quickly changed the emphasis of the show to science fiction.
* EldritchAbomination: The core or power-source of The Infinite Cyclorama is implied to be be one of these.
** And done far more explicitly in "The God Spire".
* EmperorScientist: Vosrda, creator of the Blorgons, becomes this. Or at least [[spoiler: ends up ruling one of three competing Blorgon factions following an EnemyCivilWar.]]
* EnemyCivilWar: Following the events of Sixth Inspector serial "The Corporation of the Blorgons", the Blorgon [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny Commonwealth of Sentients]] got broken into ''three'' competing factions, all of which figured in the next season's mammoth "Internal Investigation of the Inspector". Sadly, the Seventh Inspector's "Forgetting of the Blorgons" was a hideously apt title, as the Commonwealth was depicted as being (re)unified with absolutely no explanation as to what happened.
* EnemyMine: The Inspector and [[spoiler:Count Morbus]] during "Vampires From Space!"
* EverybodyLives: The Fifth Inspector's final serial "The Hills of Androgyny", where the Inspector saves the [[MarySuetopia eponymous paradise]] from [[GreenAesop environmental destruction]] without a single death. Except her own. And of course, she recovered.
* [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Everyone Calls Him Inspector]]: To this day, the Inspector's true name is unknown. However, rumours say his nickname was Pi Lambda.
* EvilCounterpart: This happens frequently when a character's positrons are negatized, resulting in an anti-version of the being affected. Constable Reggie once described the Anti-Inspector as having a "[[BeardOfEvil funny moustache]]" and being "[[IHaveYouNowMyPretty kinda rape-y]]".
* EvilFormerFriend:
** The Inspector and the Sergeant
** [[spoiler: Yorke.]] Although how much of a friend he was is up for debate.
* EvilTwin: Was there ''ever'' a character in this show that didn't have at least one of these? One even turned up for FE-Line. The zenith (or nadir) was probably the serial "The Triplicate Catastrophe", with "The Three Inspectors" running a close second.
* TheExoticDetective: Detectives don't come any more exotic than a literally heartless time-travelling alien solving mysteries across the universe.
* ExpandedUniverse:
** The line of books that largely involve the Eighth Inspector travelling around with AmateurSleuth and GreatDetective Fitzwilliam Fort.
** Not to mention the audio dramas by Great Ending Productions.
** Let's not forget the [[ComicBook/InspectorSpacetime comic book series of the Tenth and Eleventh Inspectors published by CCC (Creation and Concept Comics) Publications.]]
** In the early '70s, ArchieComics bought the rights to do an ''IS'' comic under its Red Circle Comics imprint for American audiences. Their writers quickly went [[CerebusSyndrome off]] [[DenserAndWackier the]] [[DarkerAndEdgier rails]], however, and the comic was cancelled in 1979 ([[CutShort cutting short]] an arc in which the Twenty-Second Inspector was travelling to before the Big Bang to codify the universe's laws of time and space).
* EyepatchOfPower: [[PirateGirl Cap'n Helios]] in "[[CometOfDoom The Buccaneer Comet]]".
* FairPlayWhodunnit: A staple of the Second Inspector's investigations, particularly the innumerable locked room mystery settings (which were favoured for [[BottleEpisode budgetary reasons]]). For example, the Inspector deduced the murders of the chrono-scientists in "The Cube in Time" were perpetrated by [[spoiler: the base's high-tech laboratory equipment and kitchen appliances, which the Circuit-Chaps had modified into lethal conscripts of the Digifleet, after assorted evidence excluded all the human and alien suspects]].
* FamousLastWords:
** "It's all right, Inspector. No one will miss me." [[spoiler: Jeffrey]]
** "Ha ha! Once again... Barbartron... TRIUMPHS!" [[spoiler: King Sonacry]]
** "Oi, wot's all this, th—" [[spoiler: The First Inspector.]]
** "[[TheStoic So be it.]]" [[spoiler: The Second Inspector.]]
** "Time for one last cup of—no? Ah well..." [[spoiler: The Third Inspector.]]
** "Ah. ''Now I'' understand. If I could have just ''[[RetroactivePreparation prepared]]...''" [[spoiler: The Fourth Inspector.]]
** "I think maybe things will be back to normal now." [[spoiler: The Fifth Inspector.]]
** "I intend to stage a [[StronglyWordedLetter formal complaint]]!" [[spoiler: The Sixth Inspector]]
** "Right on [[ClockKing schedule]]." [[spoiler: The Seventh Inspector]]
** "This has been a [[ThisIsGonnaSuck simply terrible day]]." [[spoiler: The Ninth Inspector]]
** "I'm ready to go. ''¡ARRIBA!''" [[spoiler: The Tenth Inspector]]
* FanDisservice: The outfits sported by King Sonacry and The Indictor are the most legendary examples.
* FantasticFightingStyle:
** The Third Inspector knows Jovian Jujitsu, but while he [[IKnowKarate threatens to use it]] habitually, he [[LetsGetDangerous very rarely does so]].
** Constable Reggie is trained in [[WireFu zero-gravity martial arts]].
* FictionalDocument: The Inspector occasionally would read from/quote/consult the ''Encyclopedia Cosmosica''. There was evidently a plan to do a serial centred on this rather mysterious work, but like so much else, it got scrapped during the Seventh Inspector's run.
** It's widely believed that the EC inspired Douglas Adams to do a little radio play titled ''TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' even as he worked on scripts for ''Inspector Spacetime'''s [[Series/DoctorWho ripoff]].
** While the Inspector no doubt ''wishes'' that it was the EC, the phonebook that comes as part of the Booth's current form is, in fact, a (very) battered and out-of-date copy of the phonebook for the Sprint Street neighbourhood where the Booth picked up its current form.
* TheFilmOfTheSeries:
** The 1964 ''Inspector Spacetime vs. the Blorgons'' and its 1965 sequel ''Blorgons--Extortion Earth 2150'', starring ChristopherLee as "Inspector Spacetime" (instead of simply "The Inspector"). Unusually, these Films of the Series were made while the original was still in production. They adapted the first and second Blorgon stories but also changed the overall premise of the series, most notably by making the Inspector half human and introducing the first quasi-official spelling of Blorgon without the "r". They most definitely take place in an AlternateContinuity, as opposed to the broader canon fans refer to as [[{{Whoniverse}} the Inspectrum]].
** Later there was the TV movie ''Inspector Spacetime'', which didn't adhere to the same continuity as the first two films, although it references them in a few throw away lines.
** Many Inspector Spacetime movies have wound up languishing in DevelopmentHell, such as one where he was to face '''THE DEVIL HIMSELF.'''
* FlamingSword: A memorable part of the official regalia of the King [[spoiler: or Queen]] of Barbartron IV.
* FlyingCar: The Fourth Inspector temporarily used one after the Infinity Knights grounded him on Earth. Spacetime fans called it "The S.E.T." (Spacetime Express Tram) or just "The Tram".
* FollowTheLeader: In 1963, TheBBC tried to duplicate the success of ''Inspector Spacetime'' with [[Series/DoctorWho another, less-inspired show]].
* FourIsDeath: Literally. The Fourth Inspector has left behind a higher body count than any of the other Inspectors, even modern ones.
* FriendlyEnemy: The Sergeant. Especially since that he and the Inspector were once friends as cadets at the Kayaclaschian Police-Time Academy.
* FunWithAcronyms: The acronyms of the Infinity Knights' various organizations all mirror ones from the UK police: CID—Chronospatial Inquiry Division; HMIC—The Horological Ministry's Investigative Command; SCD—Supratemporal Constabulary Department.
* FutileHandReach: [[spoiler: Fiona Finch]] does this shortly before becoming a Snarling Lion in the DownerEnding of "Stare". Snarling Lions reproduce by transferring their DNA through a viral bite, and the person bitten [[VirusVictimSymptoms gradually becomes a Lion]]. It's very rare (usually they just destroy and consume), but if someone manages to evade them for long enough, the Lions will attempt to convert them.
* FutureMeScaresMe: The Inspector is horrified by the prospect of incarnating as the Indictor, said by himself and the Infinity Knights to be a future incarnation of the Inspector.
** Subverted in the charity special "Space Crunch": It turns out that the Fifth Inspector isn't [[ValuesDissonance scared]] of the [[ScaryBlackMan Tenth Inspector]], but rather of the Tenth Inspector's ''elbow'', which hovers dangerously close to her face in their exceptionally cramped, intersected Dimensionisers' interiors.
* GambitPileup: The whole glorious elephantine spectacle that was "Internal Investigation of the Inspector" season/plot-arc. The Infinity Knight high command, ''three'' factions of Blorgons, the Circuit-Chaps, the Sergeant, the Indictor, the Instructor, the Blue and Orange Wardens... Maddeningly, it all got [[ExecutiveMeddling swept under the carpet]] when the Seventh Inspector era started.
* GenderBender: Many hardcore Inspector Spacetime fans don't even know this trope applies to the Inspector's popular 1960s Associate Petula (played by the luscious Pamela Highwater). During the Second Inspector's first series, a script was written at the instance of ratings-conscious BTV executives that featured a visit to the planet [[HotterAndSexier Femulon-VII]] where the Inspector's current Associate Peter (Roy Higginbotham) was transformed into Petula. Miss Highwater was signed to play Petula, and scripts heavily emphasized Petula's sex appeal... an awkward development given Higginbotham's unprecedented "pay AND play" contract. The serial detailing Petula's transformation is now [[MissingEpisode missing]], and Petula's masculine origin was only obliquely hinted at a few times afterwards.
* GenerationShips: Examples include those in "The Hulk", "Afterworld", and "Brouhaha on Beeb".
* GigglingVillain: [[spoiler: Yorke.]] Brrrrr.
* GoodIsNotNice / GoodIsNotSoft: The Inspector tends to exemplify one or the other of these.
* GoToAlias: "Joe Bloggs"[[hottip:*: or "Joan", for the Fifth Insector]] for the classic series Inspectors; "John Doe" for the Eighth; "Fred Bloggs" for the new series.
* GravityMaster: The one of the powers of the summoner of "The Infinite Cyclorama".
* TheGump: Popping up on the periphery of major events in Earth's history is practically the Inspector's avocation, as well as a [[HistoricalInJoke source of amusement]] for the programme's writers.
** In 1390, the Tenth Inspector investigated the highway robbery and assault of Creator/GeoffreyChaucer ("The Chaucer Puzzle").
** In 1483, the First Inspector examined and unofficially acquitted Richard III ("The Two Princes' Murder").
** In 1851, the Ninth Inspector teamed up with Metropolitan Police Inspector Charles Frederick Field to rescue their author friend Creator/CharlesDickens from the underworld den "Rats' Castle" ("The Riotous Living").
** In 1882, the First Inspector negotiated the surrender and arrest of Alexander Franklin "Frank" James ("The Desperadoes").
** In 1911, the Fourth Inspector exonerated Pablo Picasso in the theft of Louvre's most famous painting ("The Mona Lisa Caper").
** In 1913, the Seventh Inspector discovered that... well... see directly below ("The Mask of the Maharani").
* [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy Gustav Holst Was An Alien Spy]]: The Trope Namer. Also, of course, a CreditsGag: "I liked that tune!" "Yes, I expect we'll be hearing it again."
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Count Morbus]]. [[EnemyMine Sort of]].
* HeroicBSOD: The Inspector after [[spoiler: Jeffrey dies.]]
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Jeffrey]]
** Also [[spoiler: King Sonacry of Barbartron IV.]]
** And [[spoiler:Infinity Knight Lunda]], who not only [[spoiler: "died" twice]] but ended up [[spoiler: carrying the Bolt of Space on a [[PutOnABus one-way trip]] to another dimension.]]
** Subverted with [[spoiler: Captain Jack/The Good Lamb]].
** And of course, happens [[spoiler: more than once]] with [[spoiler:The Inspector himself]], the most spectacularly in "The Worst Ally".
* HighDiveEscape: The Sergeant, regularly, but [[spoiler: Count Morbus]] pulls off a particularly spectacular one at the end of "Terror At Tooth Point".
* HistoricalPersonPunchline: The writers enjoy occasionally introducing surreptitious historical cameos to keep viewers on their toes.
** In "The Legend Locators", when NikolaTesla's time-travel experiment goes awry, the Inspector and his Associates must rescue his friend and lab partner, Samuel—who is stranded in fifth-century Britain, where a warlord called [[KingArthur Rigotamos]] has forcibly enlisted him as court magician. Once freed, [[Creator/MarkTwain Sam]] tells them that their adventure has provided him with the inspiration for his [[AConnecticutYankeeInKingArthursCourt next novel]].
** In "Space-Break", the Inspector reveals that "the separation between past, present, and future is only an illusion, although a convincing one" to a young German stowaway on the Dimensioniser he calls "[[UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein Bertie]]".
* HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct: Brilliantly subverted in "Let's Kill Hitler." When Aidan strangles der Führer with his bare hands, the Inspector is alternately furious with him and terrified of the awful world they'll find when they return to the early 21st century. In fact, they find [[spoiler: millions of lives were saved because there was no Holocaust; World War II and the Cold War never happened, ushering in an unprecedented era of peace on Earth; and an undivided Germany became a beacon of tolerance and diversity, a shining example for all nations.]]
-->'''Aidan''': [[spoiler: EverybodyLives, Inspector, just this once, everybody lives!]]
-->'''Angie''': [[spoiler: Except Hitler.]]
-->'''Aidan''': [[spoiler: Well, yeah. Not Hitler.]]
* HollywoodScience: The science behind the Entanglement timeline is often criticized for its improbability, but writers dismissed these attacks in the third edition of the ''Inspector Spacetime'' companion book. Two words: [[QuantumMechanicsCanDoAnything Quantum Superpositioning]].
* HopeBringer:
** Oftentimes the Inspector's role, especially in the new series.
** Subverted in the episode "Twilight", where [[spoiler: instead of banding together under the Inspector's kindness and wit, the humans on the broken down train try to sacrifice him to the "singing crystal" in the hopes that they would be spared.]]
* HotScientist: Too many examples to count, of both genders, though the Wisewench of Barbartron IV is probably one of the high points, especially when compared to the FanDisservice displayed by her monarch-employer.
* HumanAliens:
** Preferred by the budget-conscious BTV producers and lampshaded by the frustrated writers ("But you look Kayaclaschian." "Well, you look human.").
** While the Infinity Knights look human throughout their appearances in the series, the [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness implication]] by the First Inspector and Susannah Overseer in "A Timeless Man" is that their outward manifestations have been selected for undercover work on Earth.
* HumanoidAbomination: The Blue and Orange Wardens.
* HumiliationConga: At the end of "Anger of the Inspector" [[spoiler:the Inspector forces the Hemo Clan to undergo horrendous punishments. For instance Hemo Daddy spends the rest of time in the form of a Mexican luchador's underpants. The punishments of the rest of the Haemo Clan are [[NightmareFuel too horrible to mention]].]]
* ImMrFuturePopCultureReference: Averted in the new series after the writers realised that this occasional habit of classic Inspectors now makes them seem that much more dated in reruns. For example, the First Inspector addresses Richard III as "[[Radio/TheGoonShow you silly twisted boy]]", and the Third Inspector sings a few of his own verses to the #1 chart-topper "[[ToTheFutureAndBeyond In the Year 2525]]" by OneHitWonder duo Zager and Evans at the climax of "Abaddon".
* TheInspectorIsComing: In a few stories for the new series, the Inspector will have sent [[StableTimeLoop advance notice]] of his impending arrival [[YouAlreadyChangedThePast from the future]] to save time. An unintended consequence is consternation and confusion when word leaks out of the mysterious authority figure, e.g. the fussing tour guides of the Module Alpha artificial satellite in "The Creation of Earth".
* [[ImmuneToBullets Insusceptible to Handcuffs]]: TropeNamer. The MonsterOfTheWeek cannot be apprehended with conventional police gear--at least not until the Inspector modifies them. "Just once, I'd like to encounter an extraterrestrial miscreant that wasn't insusceptible to handcuffs!" the Superintendent would typically complain during his adventures with the Fourth Inspector.
* IronicNurseryTune:
--> "Ring ring, goes the bell/
--> One day we all must quit/
--> Ring ring, goes the bell/
--> Till the Inspector [[spoiler: snuffs it]]"
* JokerImmunity: No matter how often the Blorgons are completely annihilated, they always manage to come back somehow. Once, the Inspector [[PunctuatedForEmphasis emphatically]] declared that the Blorgons were "''entirely'' DESTORYED! Every! Single! Last! One! Of! Them! Including ''all'' [[OffscreenVillainDarkMatter the secret ones that were hiding]]. They were ALL erased from time itself, they've ''never'' existed, and they will ''never'' exist ''ever'' again! [[AC: Never, never, never, never, NEVER!!!]]" Until next season.
* JumpedAtTheCall: First Inspector Associates Irma and Bart are classic examples, eagerly going off with the Inspector when offered the chance.
* JunglePrincess: Reena is a literal example.
* KarmaHoudini: The Sergeant. Although the Inspector repeatedly foiled his schemes with the Blorgons, Eocenes, Orcons, and Venusian Sulphur Soldiers (to name only a few), he could never amass conclusive evidence of the Sergeant's involvement in their conspiracies or disprove his nemesis's elaborate alibis. [[spoiler: Until their climactic final confrontation on Kayaclasch in the serial "The Lethal Murderer".]]
** Also Count Morbus, although he wasn't exactly a villain in his last appearance.
* KnightTemplar: The Inspector, in his darker moments at least.
* LargeHam:
** '''BrianBlessed''' made three appearances on the show, as Reena's father, Sonacry, King of Barbartron IV, Ruler of the Twelve Moons, Defender of the Outer Belts ([[RunningGag and so on and so on]]). And naturally [[spoiler: in his last appearance he makes his [[HeroicSacrifice HEROIC SACRIFICE]].]]
** Neg!Rory in the Terror of the Negaverse novel. Every word he speaks after his first line is in all caps. "I AM NOT A MERE COPY! I! AM! ME! AND NONE OF YOU WILL TAKE THAT!"
* {{Leitmotif}}: The Inspector is of course linked with Holst's ''Jupiter'', while if the same composer's ''Mars'' [[OhCrap starts to play]]... here come the Blorgons.
* LighterAndSofter: BTV hired a fledgling author named Creator/TerryPratchett to lighten the tone of the Fourth Inspector's later adventures. He has since criticized the new series for its overuse of [[http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/tvandradioblog/2010/may/04/terry-pratchett-ludicrous-doctor-who "that wonderful element 'makeitupasyougalongeum'"]] but confesses he finds it compulsively watchable.
** Also applies to the Fifth Inspector's run, which further cranked back the body-count.
* LightningGun: One of the Circuit-Chaps' trademark weapons; on one memorable occasion it is laboriously powered by a hand-crank.
* LongRunner: Easily beating out that [[Series/DoctorWho other show]] as longest-running sci-fi series of all time.
* LoveTranscendsSpacetime: The Inspector and Brooke Rhapsody, obviously.
* MadeForTVMovie: The [[TheNineties 90s]] Anglo-American collaboration ''Inspector Spacetime'' starring [[http://buzznet-00.vo.llnwd.net/media/jj1/2008/07/hathaway-phone/anne-hathaway-phone-booth-07.jpg Steve Carell as The Eighth Inspector and Anne Hathaway as his Associate, Charity Galloway]] during the British programme's extended hiatus. Although its canonicity is established, its awkward plot, loose characterization, and [[HamAndCheese over-the-top acting]], and make it something [[FanonDiscontinuity fans prefer to forget]].
** Except maybe, [[TheScrappy ironically]], Creator/StephenFry's brief farewell performance as the Seventh Inspector.
** Doesn't help that they cast ChristianSlater as The Sergeant.
* MadeOfExplodium: The TropeNamer, with the reoccurring "villain" the Exploding Rock made of this substance.
* MagicTool: Averted with the Optic Pocketknife. As the iconic weapon of the Time Police, the Inspector considers it bad form to use it as anything other than a weapon, despite its many functions. He also uses it only in the direst circumstances, so it's always significant when an episode features it at all--and he at least makes the effort to [[TechnicalPacifist incapacitate rather than kill.]]
* MalevolentArchitecture: Numerous examples: The [[NoOSHACompliance unbelievably hazardous]] junkyard in "Retirement Home of the Circuit-Chaps", which is actually [[spoiler:a booby-trapped NightmarishFactory to [[MechanicalEvolution prototype their successors]]]]; the [[AIIsACrapshoot rogue AI-controlled]] "Perdition High-rise"; the [[MobileMaze labyrinthian housing scheme]] in "The Seeker in the Scheme"; the interior of the Infinite Cyclorama.
* MayDecemberRomance: The Inspector and his beloved, Brooke Rhapsody, meet at [[TimeTravelRomance the middle of their romance and then go backwards]]. However, Brooke takes meticulous notes and documents everything so the Inspector knows exactly what's going on at whatever point in life he meets her.
* MeaningfulName: An extremely common trope throughout the series:
** Doctor Yahe [[spoiler: stands for "'''Y'''ou '''A'''lways '''H'''ave '''E'''nemies", signaling the return of the Sergeant.]]
** FE-Line, besides the obvious cat pun, has another meaning. 'Fe' is he symbol for iron, from which the robot is primarily made of.
** In the serial "The Talons of Asox", Serge A Tenth [[spoiler: is an anagrammed alias used by the Sergeant]].
** In the serial "The Space Creature", Agent Sether [[spoiler: is another anagrammed alias used by the Sergeant]].
** In the serial "Space-Break", the Tang Seer [[spoiler: is yet another anagrammed alias used by the Sergeant]].
* MegaNeko: Giant FE-Line, from the spin-off series.
* {{Meganekko}}: Maura Dewitt
* MemeticOutfit: The Infinity Knights' official uniform was a distinctive high-collared trench coat-like garment, but the Inspector always livens up his emblematic Mac in each incarnation with special touches, especially his taste in hats.
** The First Inspector's beret.
** The Second Inspector wore Wellingtons and played the ocarina.
** The Third Inspector's top hat.
** The Fourth Inspector was known for wearing ostentatiously coloured knee socks.
** The Fifth Inspector had a penchant for ampersands and a truly terrible hat.
** The Fifth Inspector's carrot hatpin counts as well.
** The Sixth Inspector was known for his unexpectedly sombre and dark attire.
** The Seventh Inspector had an outfit adorned with exclamation points.
** The Ninth Inspector who always dressed quite dashingly and extravagantly. He loathed all things casual, especially leather.
** The Tenth Inspector was never without [[SpecsOfAwesome his prized coke-bottle glasses]], tight jeans, and various nerdy T-shirts.
** So far, the Eleventh Inspector and his bowler hats.
* MidBattleTeaBreak: Literally. The Third Inspector would employ his [[SpotOfTea legendary love of tea]]—"It's always teatime somewhere in the universe."—as an excuse to extract himself and his Associates from sticky situations.
* MindRape: What some would consider Mona's ultimate fate.
* MirrorUniverse: In "The Worst Ally", the finale of the "Internal Investigation of the Inspector" plot-arc and Graham Chapman's final appearance on the show, the Inspector was banished by the Infinity Knight leadership[[hottip:*: Yes, yes, this is a massive simplification. The Sergent was involved. And the Indictor. And the Instructor. And almost certainly the Blue and Orange Wardens. More of the era's trademarked weirdness...]] to another universe where the Blorgons desperately oppose the [[TheEmpire evil Terran Empire]]. He ended up [[spoiler: killing himself so that the explosive renewal process would overload the Terran High Citadel's main reactor, ripping a "dimensional gap" large enough to send him hurtling back home.]] (With the bonus that [[spoiler: his new incarnation could not be tried again for the same "crimes".]]) One last time, the Sixth Inspector succeeded by failing.
* MissedHimByThatMuch: The teaser for the Sixth-Inspector serial "The Only Inspector" featured the current Inspector and Jeffery in the foreground trying (with their usual lack of success) to keep the Exploding Rock from exploding again, while in the far background the Third Inspector and Mary-Sue re-create one of the [[BeverageSpill tea-spilling scenes]] from "[[PrehistoricMonster Incursion of the Mastodons]]." Neither pair ever notices the other.
* MistakenForGranite: The Snarling Lions from the critically acclaimed episode "Stare". These creatures are taken as statues at first by the episode's protagonist, Fiona Finch, but the Inspector soon warns her that they are intergalactic monsters that feed on continuum particles and that if she looks at any of them directly, they will [[spoiler: suddenly become aware of her and wipe her from existence so they can eat on the energy the universe uses when repairing a minor gap in spacetime.]] The Inspector once described them as [[spoiler: time mosquitoes]].
* MistakenForSpecialGuest: The Inspector's air of authority often results in this confusion when he and his Associates appear unexpectedly.
-->'''London Bobby:''' Stop! Are you authorized for that?
-->'''Second Inspector:''' Me? I'm authorized for everything!
* {{Mockbuster}}: The Inspector appeared in the completely unauthorized 1973 Turkish film ''5 Kudretli Adamlar'' (lit. ''5 Mighty Guys'', aka "Turkish Blacula"). The film featured the Inspector teaming up with Film/{{Blacula}}, ElSanto, and advertising {{Mascot}} Mister Clean to defeat an extremely violent and sadistic version of {{Tintin}}. The Inspector, wildly out of character throughout, wields a leftover Batarang prop from the 1966 ''Series/{{Batman}}'' instead of his Optic Pocketknife.
* MoralGuardians: Christine Blackhall's Civic Eyes and Ears Council launched a public campaign against the programme during the Fourth Inspector's reassignment to Exo-Pol in the mid-70s, complaining about its sci-fi treatment of violent crime in contemporary London and its generally [[DarkerAndEdgier darker shift in tone]]. The [[LiteralCliffHanger cliffhanger scene]] of the Sergeant stamping on the Inspector's fingers as he dangled from the edge of the Infinity Knights' Omnium Watchtower in "The Lethal Murderer" was singled out by Blackhall as, notoriously, "teatime terrorism for tykes".
* MsFanservice: Many of the Inspector's Associates might qualify.
** This is go-go dancing Associate Petula's entire reason for being.
** Reena of the famous day-glo FurBikini.
** Averted in Angie's first appearance, where she arrives dressed as a Catholic [[SexyPriest priest]]. Led to some viewer complaints that she was letting the side down somewhat, but they were mostly pacified by the official explanation that Angie was just on her way to a Tarts and Vicars party.
* MuppetCameo: For the serial "Mindscrew", the [[JimHenson Jim Henson Company]] was specially commissioned to produce an [[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_EirmiLOQjB4/SmHZu_jWuYI/AAAAAAAAGHo/B5ImhxVIMeA/s400/IMG_9397.JPG Inspector Muppet]] for the scene in which the Sixth Inspector is transformed into a blue-furred monster. Despite the serial's classic status, some fans still complain that they [[DidNotDoTheResearch both got the colour of the X7 wrong and used an American-style phone booth]].
* MusicalEpisode: "A Spacetime Musical".
* MyFutureSelfAndMe: The various incarnations of the Inspector have had their interactions over the decades. "The Three Inspectors" has the Third Inspector meeting a not-too-distant future version of himself (along with their dark-matter duplicate).
* NaiveEverygirl: Lily
* NamingYourColonyWorld: Newer South Wales and Androgyny are two of the more memorable examples. The fact that the latter name proved to be ''spectacularly'' inappropriate was immediately lampshaded by the Fifth Inspector and her Associates upon their arrival there.
* NiceHat: A trademark of the series, although averted by the... thing... the Fifth Inspector sported on her head. The Fifth Inspector was the only female Inspector in the series and also one of the most fashion-challenged ones to date.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: And the award goes to Captain Haggard in his introductory episode "The Cambiare Machine". [[spoiler: He unseals the [[SealedEvilInACan Void Seed container]] Inspector and Lily were chasing. The results are... [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone not pretty]].]]
* NiceShoes: Associate Petula's white go-go boots.
* NietzscheWannabe: In the classic series' early adventures, the First Inspector could be utterly ruthless in his defence of [[YouCantFightFate established causality]] against time-travelling interference and heartlessly indifferent to contemporary criminality. In "The Incas", he declares that he "want{s} nothing to be different, not in the future, not in the past, not in all eternity"—even if Francisco Pizarro absconds with every bit of Peru's gold while he stands by. Gradually averted as the Inspector [[CharacterDevelopment grew more explicitly and conventionally heroic]].
** The Second Inspector softened his [[TheAntiNihilist philosophic outlook]] somewhat and became more of a KnightInSourArmor.
** By the new series, the Inspector is always ready to ScrewDestiny just to rescue a CatUpATree.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: The Seventh Inspector, more than once.
* NoSenseOfDirection: Infamously, Angie Lake. In "See No Evil", she not only gets lost in the woods in an attempt to avoid the Lions, she also manages to fall into a cavern.
* NobodyPoops: There have been literally decades of [[ToiletHumor fan jokes]] about the Booth's complete lack of facilities. Conversely, some fans have [[EpilepticTrees speculated that secret reason]] the Inspector brings along Associates on his travels is that the Booth is in fact powered by various forms of human waste. Also jokes about the installed (but useless) phonebook's true purpose being a source of toilet paper.
* NonHumanSidekick: FE-Line travelled with the First, Second, Fourth, and Tenth Inspectors, as well as starring in the Associate spin-off, ''The Mary Sue Adventures''. Hilarity often ensues when Associates misread her collar as "fee-line", and the Inspector can't figure out who they're referring to. The proper pronunciation is [[spoiler:Iron Line]].
* NonIndicativeName: A fair number of the episode titles appear to have been beamed in from some bizarre alternate dimension.
* [[TheNthDoctor The Nth Inspector]]: TropeNamer. The Inspector has had many actors over the years, due to his ability to undergo metamorphosis. This new blood every few seasons allows the show to stay quite fresh. Notable fan favourites are Bernard Fox and his endlessly elaborate tea-breaks, Marius Goring with his silly ascot and taste for wine jellies, and the more recent Ninth and Tenth Inspectors, Mark Williams and Daniel Landlord. The least popular are Steve Carell and Stephen Fry.
* [[PerceptionFilter Observation Screen]]: TropeNamer; however the new showrunner, Stefan Toffat, is not a fan of the earlier episodes and has vowed to reduce or eliminate its use, criticizing it as a HandWave.
* OmnicidalManiac: the Blorgons. Their CatchPhrase, "ERADICATE!", pretty much gives it away.
* TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: The Infinity Knights, as well as their (possible) minion the Instructor.
* OneSteveLimit: Averted; the Inspector has had two otherwise-unrelated Associates named Aiden.
** Not to mention the fact that two consecutive actors playing the Inspector were ''named'' "Steve."
* PlanetOfHats: A literal example in "Morton's Fork", which [[ADayInTheLimelight in part focused on the backstory]] of the Eleventh Inspector's bowler hat.
* PoorMansSubstitute:
** The character of the Inspector was, arguably, inspired by the mysterious Inspector Goole from J. B. Priestley's 1945 play ''AnInspectorCalls'', which was adapted for the BBC in 1954 by {{Quatermass}} creator NigelKneale, but veteran actor Leslie French quickly established the role as his own with his portrayal of the patronising, cantankerous, but deeply moral First Inspector.
** In a trippy Second Inspector serial, Hamish Wilson's character Aiden is temporarily replaced by some bit actor from ''Emergency – Ward 10'' named Frazer Hines.
* PoorlyDisguisedPilot: "Community Above the Atmosphere", which eventually led to the moderately successful [[Series/{{Community}} series]]. Ironically, the resulting programme took so long to actually air, is so different in tone and focus, and makes such few and fleeting references to its originator, it's not generally included in the list of spin-offs above.
* ProductPlacement: The serial "Space-Break", which featured the character the Tang Seer, also featured a ''lot'' of people quaffing and extolling the virtues of a brightly-coloured "astronaut" beverage (that failed to penetrate the UK market).
* TheQuest: "The Bolt of Space" arc, in which over the course of half a dozen serials the Inspector searched for pieces of the titular MacGuffin, which was [[spoiler:either [[CosmicKeystone a part of the Cosmic Portal Lock or the Fourth Dimensional Coupling]], depending on whether one believed the Blue Warden or the Orange Warden]].
* RaygunGothic: Intentionally invoked more than once in the sets of the Seventh Inspector's episodes, particularly with the Circuit-Chaps in "Bronze Friends". Whether this was another failing of the era or one of its few high points remains a point of contention among fans.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Mimmek, one of the Fifth Inspector's Associates, was originally going to be a shape-shifting robot alien. However, the [[SpecialEffectFailure mechanical prop kept breaking down]], so he was hastily rewritten as "Mimmek the Invisible". Oddly enough, this has caused him to be (supposedly) one of the longest-running Associates, as WordOfGod says he's still travelling with the Inspector, but he's "just been very shy lately".
** A sadder example is Graham Chapman's early departure from the series due to his growing health problems.
* RealSongThemeTune: Originally the programme used GustavHolst's "[[StandardSnippet Jupiter]]", then quite [[HypeBacklash controversially]] [[ReplacedTheThemeTune switched]] to a version of "Kashmir" by Music/LedZeppelin.
** At least until Season 16, when [[spoiler: the Sergeant successfully rewrote time, preventing Jimmy Page from ever existing, and "Jupiter" [[CreditsGag became the theme]] again. The [[ExecutiveMeddling real-life reason]] for the switch back was that paying for the rights was [[PublicDomainSoundtrack costing too much money.]]]]
* RecycledInSpace: The classic and new series have done this with everything from [[SpacePirates pirates]] ("The Buccaneer Comet") and [[SantaClaus Father Christmas]] ("The 1981 Inspector Spacetime Holiday Special") to [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]] ("Vampires From Space!") and [[HornyVikings vikings]] ("The Space Viking").
** ChristopherLee famously played the Second Inspector as "SherlockHolmes [[RecycledInSpace In Space]]".
* TheReptilians: The Eocenes, Ocean Demons, Serpentians, and Sulphur Soldiers. Also, [[spoiler: Queen Elizabeth II in the episode "The Humans of Westminster" ([[HMTheQueen HMQ]] is not a fan)]].
* RiddleForTheAges: Often at the end of a serial, after the Inspector has revealed how he had solved the plot's central mystery, his Associates ask, "But why/how/what [[[PlotHole whatever]]]?" The Inspector always answers "[[NoTimeToExplain I'll explain later]]," implying a CliffHanger, but in the subsequent story, the anticipated explanation is preempted by the next adventure.
* RoguesGallery: BTV has dubbed the Inspector's "The Circus of Creatures", a nickname derived from the title of a Third Inspector serial that featured cameos from all the major antagonists up to that point, from the Blorgons and Circuit-Chaps to the Sulphur Soldiers and the Crütonnes.
* RomanticFalseLead: SpikeMilligan is this for Joanna, until she decides she [[NoSenseOfHumour doesn't like]] '' Radio/TheGoonShow'', and promptly dumps him for [[BiTheWay Minnie]].
* RunningGag: Every time a new Inspector takes over, the X7 starts making some strange ''new'' sound upon its arrival anywhere, which the new Inspector invariably considers to be the [[MostWonderfulSound Most Wonderful.]] Associate and fan reactions have tended to be more mixed.
** Having the Third Inspector make a cameo appearance, invariably involving tea-drinking, at some point during the run of [[MyFutureSelfAndMe each of his successors]].
* SamusIsAGirl: In the later serials of the Third Inspector's run, we learn that Yosif is actually a girl.
* SayMyName: At the end of "The Previous Inspector", once the Detective and the Chief Inspector have been compelled to return the Tenth Inspector's powers when his innocence is established, he takes particular delight in this. When the Eleventh Inspector recruits Constable Wigglesworth as a regular Associate, the Inspector [[CallBack reminds him]] about this to prove his identity—and afterwards at [[RunningGag every opportunity]].
* ScaryDogmaticAliens: Inspector Spacetime is simply stuffed with them.
** [[DirtyCommunists Aliens as Communists]]: The creepily cheerful Circuit-Chaps are determined to foment the [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters Second Industrial Revolution]] by modifying machinery everywhere and view the destruction of organic life as merely a means to an end for the great mechanical uprising.
** [[PlanetLooters Aliens as Conquistadores]]: The universe-prowling [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Nasor Ants]] will steal anything and everything that isn't nailed down on a planet since it's their cultural and genetic imperative. "The Theft of Space" was their most ambitious caper.
** [[TheFundamentalist Aliens as Fundamentalists]]: The Intelligent Designers of "Spectre Night" are convinced their [[AppliedPhlebotinum DNA-diviner]] can reveal a [[DanBrowned gnostic message hidden in the genetic code]] of the kidnapped descendants of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck.
** [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Aliens as Nazis]]: The CEEC's objections to the overt fascistic overtones of the Blorgon Commonwealth of Sentients may have been behind that plot development's abandonment.
* ScreamingWoman: Most of the female Associates and some of the male ones.
* SelfFulfillingProphecy: The attempt(s) to prevent the re-summoning of the eponymous artifact in "The Return of the Infinite Cyclorama".
* SequelHook: The serial "Sphere of the Strands" ended with one, which was finally followed up on ''ten years'' and two Inspectors later, with the Third Inspector's final serial "Return to the Sphere of Strands". Might also qualify as a BrickJoke, although the Inspector had nothing to laugh about.
* SherlockScan: Mostly averted. When commencing a new investigation, the Inspector prefers to seek out a [[MrExposition well-informed local]] to explain what's going on rather than overplay his [[ExpositionIntuition uncanny powers of deduction]].
* ShooOutTheClowns: Irma and Bert are arguably an example; the arrival of the rather dour Second Inspector saw them replaced as Associates by the sword-wielding Aiden.
* ShoutOut:
** The Inspector's use of the Optic Pocketknife (in the Red Nose Day special "Spacetime") to make a "Bat-Climb" is a shout out to both ''Series/{{Batman}}'' and ''5 Kudretli Adamlar'' ("Turkish Blacula").
** Abed and Troy dress up as the Inspector and Constable Wigglesworth for Halloween in the "Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps" episode of ''Series/{{Community}}''.
* ShrinkingViolet: Mona Virtue.
* SpaceWhale: In the serial, "Brouhaha on Beeb" the Inspector and Jeffrey are trapped on a spacefaring, living vessel, on the scale of a blue whale. The serial also serves as a ThrillerOnTheExpress, as they solve a mystery on a moving, closed vehicle. And of course, it's a jab at That Other Show, since "Beeb" [[spoiler: turns out to be the name of the creature.]]
* SpinOff:
** ''Peacemist: Nicer Post'' and ''The Mary Sue Predicaments''.
** ''FE-Line'', though its canonicity is debated.
* StarfishLanguage: The Theremen speak in high-pitched electronic squeals and squeaks.
* StraightGay: Gwaednerth Smith, [[spoiler:Captain James' love interest and eventual husband/partner/companion.]]
* StrangeSyntaxSpeaker: In the TV Movie, the Circuit-Chaps speak in [[GratuitousIambicPentameter unrhymed iambic pentameter]].
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: [[spoiler: The Seventh Inspector]] in the made-for-TV movie.
* SufficientlyAdvancedAlien:
** The Blue and Orange Wardens are the programme's most prominent example. At one point the Inspector speculates these two might even be "[[PowersThatBe The universe arguing with itself.]]"
** The Oddities from "Oddly Out of Place" qualify as well.
* SuperSenses: Averted. Although other characters credit him with everything from mind-reading powers and psychic abilities to x-ray vision and ultra-frequency hearing, the Inspector's apparently [[LivingLieDetector superhuman perspicacity]] is really due to his brilliant ratiocination.
* [[DaChief The Superintendent]]: TropeNamer Head of Exo-Pol's London Branch, the [[OldFashionedCopper old-fashioned]] Irvine Leith initially appeared as a ReasonableAuthorityFigure, but after a few stories, he began to embody this trope, as repeated exposure to extraterrestrial miscreants, as well the Fourth Inspector's mercurial personality, [[CharacterDevelopment frustrated him considerably]].
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Early on BTV tried to replicate the Blorgon fad several times, never successfully. Most notable were the [[TinCanRobot Leptons]] in the Second Inspector's adventure "The Servitors", as well as the massive [[UnnecessarilyCreepyRobot Crütonnes]] in the Second Inspector's serial of the same name and the cuter [[CuteMachines Chavvies]] in the First Inspector's "Solar System 16".
* SwirlyEnergyThingy: The Centripetus storyline involved [[WhenThingsSpinScienceHappens nefariously controlled ceiling fans]] that emitted a still unknown, but harmful type of energy.
* TakeThat: The show occasionally takes playful jabs at [[Series/DoctorWho its rival]], although when that show first premiered, many viewers criticized the Inspector's sudden and numerous diatribes about the "thieves and lowlifes at Westminster" (where the BBC's Broadcasting House is coincidentally located) as being as a case of WriterOnBoard.
** The "[[HotDad cool]]" leather coat and black t-shirt outfit of The Detective (played by NeilGaiman) and the [[TheDandy dandified]] velvet smoking jacket and lace cuffs ensemble of the Chief Inspector (played by AlanMoore) were obviously intended as [[http://neil-gaiman.tumblr.com/post/13741396287/as-i-said-on-twitter-this-was-obviously-from-the take-offs]] on the fashion statements by the Ninth and Third incarnations of the Inspector's [[Series/DoctorWho opposite number]].
* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler: The Inspector]] blows up the AlternateUniverse Terran Empire's High Citadel in "The Worst Ally".
* TheTeamWannabe: In the Neil Gaiman-scripted special episode "The Previous Inspector", it is revealed that the Detective and the Chief Inspector are [[spoiler: not actually Infinity Knights but are really [[AscendedFanboy time-travelling admirers]] of the now-vanished Kayaclaschians and are attempting to assume their role, down to adopting [[{{Cosplay}} their dress sense]].]] Their appearance foreshadows [[spoiler: the brief return of the Inspector-obsessed Infinity Knights to erase his [[CanonDiscontinuity chronological contradictions]] in "The Last Minutes".]]
* TheTeaser: A hallmark of the show from the very beginning. During the Sixth Inspector's run, like everything else, these got ''really'' weird.
** For example, "The Mask of the Maharani" begins with a minute and forty seconds of a close-up of the Inspector staring into the camera and whispering a plot summary of the story. In Latin. Backwards.
* TechnicalPacifist: The Inspector often claims to be one.
--> '''The Fourth Inspector:''' Technically, Constable, it was the ''blood loss'' that killed him, not my Optic Pocketknife, although I see how you could be confused.
* [[YouMeanXmas Time Day]]: As the Eleventh Inspector explains in 2011's ChristmasEpisode, "The 1981 Inspector Spacetime Holiday Special", it's a universal tradition for life forms to give each other "a gift at the end of each orbital cycle." So really, Time Day isn't a question of when but where.
* TimePolice: Literally, this was the function of the Infinity Knights before their society continued to expand and they slacked on their duties. Their arrogance eventually [[spoiler: led to the Time Wave that destroyed the Inspector's civilization and most of the Blorgons.]]
* TitleDrop: This has always been favourite rhetorical device of the programme's writers, e.g. Constable Wigglesworth: "So you see, Detective and Chief Inspector, this evidence proves conclusively that the person before you was framed by ''The Previous Inspector''!"
* TomatoInTheMirror: The Constable and the poison pineapples. Doubles as a huge TearJerker.
* TownWithADarkSecret: As seen in ''Peacemist,'' Wylf-y-Fwyddoch is home to at least eight different dimensional rips, five buried alien spaceships, a meteor capable of reanimating the dead, and a very suspicious flock of [[spoiler:telepathic]] sheep. Although it's not ''too'' dark; owing to the family-friendly nature of the show, Haggard generally resolves problems by inviting the demons/aliens/undead/sheep/whatever over for a pint of ale, shepherd’s pie, and a folk song.
* TrademarkFavouriteFood:
** The Eleventh Inspector loves custard creams and coffee.
** The Fourth Inspector carried a bag of wine jellies in his coat, which he'd offer to others.
* {{Tsundere}}: Brooke isn't sure she loves the Inspector or wants to throttle him.
* UnexplainedRecovery: The Sergeant, beginning with his apparent death in [[spoiler:"The Lethal Murderer"]], has successfully, if inexplicably, come back after: dissolving due to an [[PuffOfLogic algebraic proof he did not exist]] in [[spoiler:"Mathsville"]], vanishing in his sabotaged Dimensioniser in [[spoiler:"Space-Break"]], drowning in a liquid planetoid in [[spoiler:"Moon of Water"]], and undergoing public execution by the Infinity Knights in the backstory to [[spoiler:the 1992 TV movie]].
* UniquenessDecay: In the early years, the audience knew almost nothing about the Inspector's origins. It would be six years into the series before the "Infinity Knights" were introduced in the serial "The Crime Sports". The Inspector did not return to his home planet of Kayaclasch until the 1975 serial "The Lethal Murderer", but in the following decade, such serials as "The Theft of Space" (1977) and the multi-part "Internal Investigation of the Inspector" (1985) revealed more and more about the autocratic, devious, and occasionally corrupt Kayaclaschians. Many fans complained that so much information about the Infinity Knights had diluted their sense of mystery. One of the objectives of the new series under David Russell was to [[RetGone erase them from the continuity]] after the events of the Time Wave.
* UnreliableNarrator: The episode Morton's Fork. "Hello there! I will now tell you a whole ''slew'' of simply ''massive'' [[LiesToChildren lies]]!"
* TheUsualAdversaries: The Blorgons. In the new ''Inspector Spacetime'', they now show up at least once in every series.
** Lampshaded in the [[MilestoneCelebration 50th-anniversary series première]], "Nothing But Blorgons".
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Beloved candidate for Prime Minister, Henry Anglo, until the end of Series 3 when [[spoiler: he reveals to everyone that he is actually The Sergeant.]]
* TheVoice: The Operator has never visibly appeared in any Inspector Spacetime media.
* TheWatson: the Inspector's many Associates, most recently the Temporary Constable Geneva. His recent Associates in the new seasons also include:
** Angelica "Angie" Lake
** Rory Williams
** Mona Virtue
** Yorke
** Joanna Martin
** Captain James Haggard
** Minnie Smythe
** Lily Taylor
** Mary Sue Brown made a cameo return on the new seasons, bringing with her the lovable FE-Line
* WaybackTrip: The Eleventh Inspector's ChristmasEpisode, in which he and Constable Reggie travel back to [[TheEighties 1981]] in order to save Time Day from the Blorgons. Conceived as the new series's [[InternalHomage hat tip]] to the classic serials, it wound up featuring such [[YeGoodeOldeDays badly misplaced nostalgia]], [[StockFootage inappropriate reused footage]], [[HairMetal awful musical numbers]], and [[{{Zeerust}} terrible "futuristic" special effects]] that it drew record hate mail from both fan camps.
* WeirdMoon / WeirdSun: Both are {{PlotPoint}}s, thanks to ArtisticLicenseAstronomy, in "The Obvious World".
* WeNeedADistraction: Associate Petula's go-go dancing was often a triple threat, used to distract guards, fill air time, and provide ParentService (though not so much the latter when she was played by Roy Higginbotham.)
* WeaksauceWeakness: The Blorgons' infamous inability to swim. Their problem gets solved when [[spoiler: the Orange Warden]] [[DiabolusExMachina pops up]] and bestows on them an upgrade [[AffablyEvil jocularly referred to]] as "a powerboating licence."
* WhamEpisode: "The Corporation of the Blorgons". [[spoiler: The Orange Warden returns and gives the Blorgons their "powerboating licence", removing one of the race's major weaknesses. The Blorgon Commonwealth of Sentients collapses into three hostile factions. And then Jeffery dies.]]
* WhamLine: There has been plenty over the years:
** [[spoiler: Yorke: Human? Is that what you think I am, Inspector?]]
** For the Anglo arc: "Remember your roots, Inspector, remember those ages past when you had so many adventures. They seem gone now, forgotten. So many things have been forgotten. [[ForeShadowing Old enemies,]] old planets, [[spoiler: even an old friend....]]"
** "It's time you finally woke up."
** The final lines of Series 6: "You've done so much: you've shattered the Time Cube, defeated the Blorgons countless times; you are the Scourge of Space, the Warrior of the Ten System, the Mythic Man. The daft Inspector travelling in space and time in his little red phone box...[[spoiler: and you thought it was all real?]] No, no, no, my boy. You haven't been seeing the whole picture in so long. [[spoiler: I'm contacting the mainframe and telling them to jolt you out of the hypersleep. Your reinvitigouration will be triggered artificially. You've been asleep too long, muttering in your sleep. It's time you finally woke up.]] [[ArcWords It's time for quiet, time to rise."]]
** [[spoiler: "Maura, I didn't save you."]]
** [[spoiler: We want you to kill the Inspector, Brooke.]]
* WhatYearIsThis: Averted. The Seventh Inspector [[RunningGag typically announces]] he and Jeffery have arrived in a particular year only to be quickly corrected by a local.
* WhiteVoidRoom: One is featured at the end of "The Gloom of Aquanus".
* [[WhoWatchesTheWatchmen Who Inspects the Inspector]]: The Infinity Knights' high command has on occasion taken exception to the Inspector's methods of performing his mission and conducted their own inquiries into them. Their interventions suggest that their impartiality may be suspect, however.
** At the end of "Return to the Sphere of Strands", the Inspector successfully defended himself against their most serious criticisms, but [[spoiler: he was nevertheless transferred to 1970s Earth as a Time Police Liaison with Exo-Pol, effectively exiling him, and required to metamorphose into the Fourth Inspector.]]
** "The Internal Investigation of the Inspector" arc, obviously. By the end, the proceedings had gotten a [[KangarooCourt bit silly]], but that might have been the [[CourtroomAntic Inspector's plan]] all along.
* WhoWearsShortShorts:
** Thorough Visor wears short shorts! This also led to some [[HoYay questionable moments]] between Visor and the Inspector when crammed in the Booth together. Of course back in that era it was all just joking, unlike the famous kiss the Inspector gave Capt. James when the latter [[spoiler: volunteered for a suicide mission on the Inspector's behalf.]]
*** [[spoiler: It's okay, James survived.]] But the kiss [[spoiler: and subsequent separation from the Inspector]] helped James come to terms with his own pansexuality, though the creators revealed that [[WordofGod nothing actually happened between him and the Inspector.]]
** What, no mention of Robbie [=McMillan=]? His [[ManInAKilt kilt]] was at ''least'' a handspan too short!
** Kenny, the robot-obsessed youngster in the ''FE-Line'' spin-off series, is never seen without them.
** The Indictor ([[FanDisservice ...*shudder*]]), according to [[DeletedScene the few seconds of deleted footage]] that showed him from the waist down with his [[OminousOperaCape cloak]] open.
* WholesomeCrossdresser: [[spoiler: Yosif]]'s sex wasn't revealed until a season after her introduction (though she states that the only reason she crossdresses is because it's easier to be a man).
* [[TimeyWimeyBall Wibble Wobble Time Thing]]: TropeNamer.
* WorldOfSilence: Tacitropolis. To be banished there is crueller than the Inspector thinks any sentient deserves.
* TheXOfY: The traditional method of creating titles for Inspector Spacetime adventures. Just mix and match from Column A and Column B with "of" or "of the".
** Column A: Age, Case, Claws, Circus, Creation, Colony, Day, Deserts, End, First, Foot, Funeral, Gloom, Humans, Identity, Incursion, Intersection, Investigation, Journey, Mask, Megaliths, Mind, Moon, Party, Persistence, Planet, Power, Rage, Reappearance, Reign, Return, Robots, Saviour, Sphere, Sins, Son, Spell, Theft, Tip, Tusks, Underground, Visage, World, Ziggurats
** Column B: Aquanos, Asox, Blorgons, Circuit-Chaps, Circuits, Cobra, Creatures, Death, Deep, Doom, Earth, Forever, Good, Infinity Knights, Inspector, Life, Line, Living, Maharani, Mastodons, Midgar, Memory, Nede, Nightmare, Parallels, Pigator, Plasma, Quiet, Ruin, Shennong, Space, Strands, Sun, Terror, Time, Venice, Venus, Villainy, Water, Westminster, World, Zorl
* [[YouWillBeBeethoven You Will Be Gustav Holst]]: While investigating [[WhichMe unauthorized timeline versions]] of [[HistoricalDomainCharacter famous historical figures]] in "The Time Bootleggers", the Second Inspector must impersonate, variously, the [[AncientEgypt Pharaoh Ramesses the Great]], [[GayParee Georges Seurat]], and [[RasputinTheMadMonk Grigori Rasputin]] in order to preserve continuity.
** In the new series, the Inspector heavily implies that following the Time Wave, he has had to do this again with other notable personages.
* {{Zeerust}}: As a 50-year-old programme often taking place in the decades and centuries to come, ''Inspector Spacetime'' inevitably has to deal with dated futuristic designs and failed historical and technological predictions. This also causes [[ZeerustCanon continuity issues]], such as the Circuit-Chaps having access to more advanced machinery during the Paris techno-riots of "The Revolution" (1967) than in "The Lost Asteroid" (1965), despite the former story taking place over a decade before the latter.
** Lampshaded with the Circuit-Chaps' original quasi-Victorian design, which subsequently was remodelled several times to emphasize its "retro-futurism".

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fandom-Related Tropes]]

* AffectionateParody: Very much so. Fans use IS as both a way to poke fun at ''Series/DoctorWho'' and to celebrate what they love about it.
* BizarroUniverse: Many things the fans come up with parallel, contrast, or subvert ''Series/DoctorWho'' in some way.
* BreakoutCharacter: The Inspector was just a ''Series/DoctorWho'' parody, now he's developing his own canon and universe. Notable in that a) The [[FanNickname Inspectrum]] is actually taking a few steps to differentiate it from ''Doctor Who'', and b) the 26 second parody aired less than a week before any of this started materializing.
* FanworkBan: At least in the case of [[ScrewedByTheLawyers NBC and Sony lawyers' cease and desist notice]] to halt ''Community'' actor Travis Richey's proposed ''Inspector Spacetime'' web series. In the tradition of [[CaptainErsatz ''The Stranger'']] substituting for ''Doctor Who'', he has [[SerialNumbersFiledOff removed all direct references and reworked it]] as ''The Untitled Web Series About A Space Traveler Who Can Also Travel Through Time''.
* ShowWithinAShow: ''Inspector Spacetime'', within ''Series/{{Community}}''.
* SpiritualSuccessor: to "[[http://web.archive.org/web/19990203054134/http://dcs.ex.ac.uk/%7Edma/ProfX/ Professor X]]", a ShowWithinAShow briefly seen in the Virgin New Adventures, which promptly generated parallel Professors, companions, episodes, and so forth.
** Also, ''Dr. Lazer Rage'' starring ChristopherEccleston, a ShowWithinAShow on ''TheSarahSilvermanProgram'' (which DanHarmon co-created).
* ThrowItIn: Basically how all of canon is created in the Inspector Spacetime continuum. ''Series/DoctorWho'', both the classic and the new series, is the preferred source of pastiche/parody for the ''Inspector Spacetime'' television programme, but its ExpandedUniverse is a free-for-all. ''Series/{{Community}}'' sets the tone for the sense of humour. Anything goes that hasn't already been established.
[[/folder]]
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[[redirect:Main/InspectorSpacetime]]

[[quoteright:250:[[http://ameba.bigcartel.com/product/inspector-spacetime-poster http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/inspector_5860.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:250:The Lunatic With a BOOTH]]

->''"When you look out at the skies at night, what do you see? Starlight. From millions of stars. And that's just the light that's arrived here at one point in time. You can see every star, every planet, in one point of time, and never get the full picture. So really, the question isn't where...but when."''
-->--The Eleventh Inspector

''Inspector Spacetime'' is a British sci-fi series that has been on the air since 1962 and has gained a worldwide following. It's long since established its niche as a cult classic.

The Inspector is an alien from a faraway planet who has come to Earth to rescue us from dangers across space and time. He travels the universe in his snug BOOTH[[hottip:*: mistakenly called a DARSIT in the very first episode, a famous case of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness]], which takes the form of a red telephone box. The BOOTH is famously "just a little too small on the inside," adjusting its interior dimensions to almost, but not quite, comfortably accommodate its occupants. Even when the Inspector is alone the BOOTH retains its cozily cramped atmosphere. This is often alluded to as the reason that friendships formed in the BOOTH are the closest one ever makes. Even so, as the Inspector says, "There's always space for one more."

The Inspector often recruits Associates, most notably Constable Reginald Wigglesworth (Reggie). He has also amassed a rogues gallery of villains over the years that includes the Blorgons[[hottip:*: a.k.a. the Blogons]], the Digifleet, and the Sergeant. Optic Pocketknife in hand, he will investigate the horrors of the universe.

The Inspector is the last of the Infinity Knights, the race of people who lived on his home planet of Kayaclasch. They once policed the universe with their advanced space-time technological inventions, such as the BOOTH, but grew arrogant and corrupt in their twilight. They were destroyed by their war with the Blorgons, and the Inspector is the lone survivor... or is he?

Now, to ease his solitude and pass on his knowledge, the Inspector brings Associates along for adventures as he travels the universe, inspecting the roots of all its mysteries. He is a man who must often make tough decisions to meet his ends. Like all Infinity Knights, the Inspector was born without a heart, which explains his tendency to be cruel at times. His personal quest for a 'substitute' for this organ has so far been unsuccessful since duty and danger always come first. Still set on this goal, he often takes on Associates who are similarly searching for something or looking to improve themselves. [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Except Jeffrey]]. [[ButtMonkey Everyone hates Jeffrey]].

The Inspector's Associates provide something unique to the cast with each new addition, such as classic favorites the math and English teachers Irma and Bart, the [[BraveScot Gaelic swordsman]] Aiden, the late Jeffrey, the [[NubileSavage barbarian princess]] Reena, fellow Infinity Knight Lunda, [[BrilliantButLazy the genius]] Yosif, and the long-runner Mary Sue. (There are a few forgettable ones, though, like the utterly nondescript Benjamin.) More recent Associates include Lily Taylor, Captain James Haggard, the MagnificentBastard Yorke, Constable Wigglesworth, Angelica "Angie" Lake, and Rory Williams.

A long runner that might cause some ArchivePanic with the sheer AMOUNT of canon there is to go through, but it's well worth the hours you'll spend watching it.[[hottip:*:In all seriousness, though, there is already an effort in motion to write actual episodes of this series [[http://inspectorspacetime.proboards.com/index.cgi found here]]]]

A SpinOff series, ''Peacemist: Nicer Post'', began airing in 2005. It stars Captain James Haggard and is significantly more family friendly than the current Inspector Spacetime.

A second spin-off series, ''The Mary Sue Predicaments''--far edgier and more thoughtful than its precursors--was recently cut short by the death of the lead actress.

A children's FE-Line series named simply ''FE-Line'', produced by an unrelated Japanese television company, has been running for the past three years, and yes, that is where those strange vids of Giant FE-Line came from.

Other facets of the vast ''Inspector Spacetime'' media empire include [[ComicBook/InspectorSpacetime American, British, and Japanese comic books]], two different animated adaptations (one Eastern, one Western), novels, radio dramas, and [[VideoGame/InspectorSpacetime video games]].

Not to be confused with a [[Series/DoctorWho far less popular imitator.]]

It has a recap page [[Recap/InspectorSpacetime here.]]

A detailed examination of the origin of this landmark television show[[hottip:*:In reality, ''Inspector Spacetime'' is a recurring gag/homage to ''[[Series/DoctorWho Doctor Who]]'' made by '' Series/{{Community}}'' which first appeared in its [[Recap/CommunityS3E01Biology101 season 3 premiere]] and has been occasionally referred to in later episodes. But that doesn't mean we can't have our own fun with it!]].
----

!!This show provides examples of:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:In-Universe Tropes]]

* AbandonedArea: Favored by the BTV's budget-conscious producers during the classic series in order to hold down the costs of casting extras and constructing elaborate sets, notably the [[GhostCity lost city of Izzomun]] in "Funeral of the Blorgons", the [[GhostPlanet dark matter world]] in "The Three Inspectors", and the Circuit-Chap–infested [[SinisterSubway Paris Métro]] in "The Revolution".
* AbortedArc: Several in the Seventh Inspector era, first thanks to the dumbing down of the scripts, then the programme's cancellation in 1988. The Instructor plotline in particular was left hanging with many questions unanswered.
* AbsurdlyYouthfulMother: Following a drunken one-night stand astride the Interstellar Date Line, Angie is now several centuries younger than the resulting daughter, [[spoiler:Brooke.]]
** Until TheReveal that [[spoiler: Brooke is actually Angie's grandmother, and the real baby was whisked off to be sold to a sweatshop orbiting Neptune. The trope still stands, though, because Brooke is still fifteen minutes and thirty-two seconds younger than her granddaughter.]]
* AchillesHeel: In "The Crime Sports" we learn that the BOOTH ''isn't'' invulnerable after all. (At least when facing [[spoiler: other Infinity Knights]]...)
** The Circuit-Chaps are invincible except when exposed to lead dust, which clogs their condensers. When confronted by it, they exclaim, "Get the lead out!"
*** In later episodes--like 1976's "Blood and Servos"--this weakness is exaggerated to the point where the Inspector is able to rout the Circuit-Chaps by reading the ''[[FictionalDocument Encyclopedia Cosmosica]]'' entry for "lead" to them.
* ActionGirl:
** Old-school Associate Theodora "Dynamo" [=McRae=]. She once beat up a Blorgon with a hockey stick. She blew up things with dynamite. A ''lot.''
** JunglePrincess Reena also qualifies.
** Brooke most certainly counts as this.
* ActorAllusion:
** This is not the first time Ellen [=McLain=] (the voice of Cabin in "The Inspector's Ex") has played a cheerful, friendly [[spoiler: [[GLaDOS psychopath who wants to destroy you.]]]]
** The Sixth Inspector era had the RunningGag of Graham Chapman's various MontyPython co-workers popping up in brief, appropriately bizarre, cameos. The most infamous by far was MichaelPalin playing [[LifeOfBrian Pontius Pilate]] again.
*** Not to mention Chapman's imitation of a [[MontyPython "pepperpot"]] when first regenerating in the Fifth Inspector's dress.
* TheAdventureContinues: [[spoiler: Irma and Bert]] cheerfully go off to explore a far-future Earth when they part ways with the Inspector. They never appeared on the show again, but a couple of Expanded Universe novels were written about their escapades.
* AffablyEvil:
** The Sergeant, although a classic [[DirtyCop "bent copper"]], remains perpetually cheerful despite the Inspector constantly foiling his schemes, which he passes off as friendly competition.
** Ms Patch is a little old lady who drinks tea, knits and...plans to kill the Inspector with her minions, the Quiet Men.
* AlienInvasion: Mainly Type Two, particularly during the Fourth Inspector's forced reassignment to 1970s Earth when any given episode's [[{{MonsterOfTheWeek}} mysterious malefactor]] would turn out to be secretly conspiring with an extraterrestrial invasion, one the Sergeant's schemes, or both.
* [[AliensInCardiff Aliens in Wylf-y-Fwddoch]]: The trope namer. The Welsh hamlet of Wylf-y-Fwyddoch, population 109, is the site of multiple rips in the fabric of spacetime, allowing anything that runs on chrono-spacial flux energy (like the BOOTH) to recharge its batteries there. (Also, it's a fair bit cheaper to film in the Welsh countryside than in London.) ''Peacemist'' is almost exclusively set in this location.
* AlmightyJanitor: Cabin, the BOOTH's holographic in-flight waitress [[spoiler: who turns out to be psychopathic and takes over the BOOTH.]]
* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Pretty much the whole point of the Time Deviants. While they look and act human, they're actually soulless psychopaths who feed off of chaos and destruction. The fact that Yorke was able to keep this behavior in check from the time he started traveling with the Tenth Inspector to the time he saved a fleet of Blorgons from the Time Wave is impressive.
* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: Subverted in "The Doomsday Scenario", where [[spoiler: the Inspector deliberately leaves Lunda at the mercy of the Horrible Horde. She survives... but plots revenge.]]
* AmericansAreCowboys: Caroline Decker is a classic example of this trope--the Inspector's American Associate[[hottip:*: though not his ''first'' American Associate, as often erroneously assumed. Expat Mary Sue Brown and Charity Galloway preceded her]] was introduced lassoing the Circuit-Chaps in Corpus Christi, Texas, while wearing a cowboy hat and spurs. Subverted when we found out she's afraid of horses.
* AndIMustScream: The BigBad of ''The Five Inspectors'' feature-length episode gets his just desserts for seeking out the secret of Sassafrass' immortality when he is turned into a stale loaf of bread.
* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler: Jeffrey.]] The Inspector's reaction is a TearJerker.
* AnyoneRememberPogs: The Inspector and his Associates having to cram themselves inside the BOOTH was intended to capitalize on the fad of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonebooth_stuffing Telephone Box Stuffing]], which had just arrived the UK in 1959. Now the ridiculousness is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] with the characters' catch phrase "I thought it would be bigger on the inside!"
* ArcWords:
** [[spoiler:GOOD LAMB GOOD LAMB GOOD LAMB]]
** You've been a [[spoiler:Naughty Monkey]].
** Season Two had [[spoiler: the Peacemist Corporation.]]
** Season Three had [[spoiler: Elect Anglo!]], signaling the return of [[spoiler:the Sergeant.]]
** "The wasps are reappearing!"
** [[spoiler: QUIET WILL RISE.]]
** [[spoiler: Ring Ring Goes the Bell, until the Inspector snuffs it.]]
* ArmouredClosetGay: Almost the whole of steadfast, manly military man Captain James Haggard's story arc is his inspiring journey as he tries to come to terms with his own pansexuality. It's heartbreaking to watch him struggle with his internalized homophobia, but the writers pull it off brilliantly.
* AttractiveBentGender: Both invoked and strongly averted in the infamous "Peter/Petula" episodes. When Associate Peter was transformed into Petula, the plan was for the beautiful Pamela Highwater to take over the role right away, with Peter's actor, Roy Higginbotham, released from his contract. Unfortunately, no one had noticed that Higginbotham's contract had a heretofore unprecedented "pay AND play" clause. This required BTV not only to pay him for the entire series, but also that he ''actually appear'' in all episodes. The vivid contrast between the "[[HelloNurse sex kitten]]" Petula described in the script and Mr. Higginbotham in a miniskirt ([[http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/7072/ugliestgirlunled.jpg seen here]] in a rare production still) led many to believe that these not merely [[MissingEpisode went missing]], but were intentionally destroyed for the good of all mankind.
* {{Badass}}:
** Brooke. She killed one of the Quiet People with a big hammer. And that destroyed part of the universe.
** Without a doubt, Rory Williams, to the point that most villains surrender or explode upon seeing him.
* BadassLongcoat: The Inspector's signature Mackintosh coat, a constant costume piece throughout his incarnations' otherwise varying tastes in clothes.
* BBCQuarry: The earlier episodes take place on planets such as "Rockterrainia", but after the programme's budget got beefed up, this has mostly been averted.
* BeardOfEvil: The Sergeant's fabulous mustache. It has to be seen to be believed. No, it's not fake.
* BerserkButton: The Eleventh Inspector's bowler should not be messed with.
* BeyondTheImpossible: Brooke ''disintegrated a Blorgon'' with her laser gun and broke a hole in the universe with her giant hammer.
* BigBad:
** The Blorgons.
** The Quiet Men, maybe Ms. Patch too.
** The Orange Warden, during the "Bolt of Space" story arc in Season 16.
* BigfootSasquatchAndYeti: The Second Inspector encountered Skunk Apes while investigating odd volcanic activity in "The Adorable Lavamen."
* BigNo: The Inspector at [[spoiler: Jeffrey's]] death.
* BiggerOnTheInside: Notably averted. The writers are creative enough to write around their limitations and avoid such a ridiculous concept with the BOOTH. Played with, of course, with the BOOTH's famous "Always space for one more!" capacity. No one's sure how this works, but Infinity Knights know it's more sensible than the alternative.
* BizarreAlienBiology: Despite looking near identical to humans, the Infinity Knights have many physiological differences, most notably the fact they have no hearts. (Hence the old ''Inspector Spacetime'' fan joke: "Why did the Infinity Knights newspaper fail? Poor circulation.")
* TheBlank: The indentity theft victims in "[[FaceStealer The De-Faced Doppelgängers]]" and the Cyber-Optimized Police androids from "The Five Inspectors, One Booth". Also, as it [[LatexPerfection turns out]] in the climax of "Mindscrew", [[spoiler:Benjamin]].
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The TropeNamer, after the inscrutable actions of the Blue ("good") and Orange ("evil") Wardens. In the so-called "Orange Warden Trilogy" comprising "Mawdrone Alive", "Genesis", and "The Dark Ages", it's impossible to say what the Warden's [[HiddenAgendaVillain enigmatic plan]] for the Fifth Inspector is, only that it's probably malevolent ([[YourMileageMayVary possibly]]).
* [[BowtiesAreCool Bowler Hats Are Neat]]
* BreakTheCutie: Angie, originally a source of slapstick humor, goes through this when [[spoiler:the Sergeant succeeds in ripping her planet apart.]] It causes her to [[TookALevelInBadass take a level in badass]].
* BrilliantButLazy:
** Yosif was the Inspector's most intelligent companion, sometimes even beating him at problem solving, but most of Yosif's ideas were not recognized due to his apathy. The Third Inspector tended towards this as well, leading to the fan-snark that their era on the show was one long tea-break punctuated with the occasional planet being blown up.
** It could be argued that the Sixth Inspector also fit this trope. Especially towards the end of his run, when he spends a lot of time orchestrating/reacting to events from his Defendant's Cube during the Internal Investigation of the Inspector.
* BrownNote: The Inspector quickly learned that the Cacophony couldn't be drowned out with sound. It only made them stronger. "The Cacophony WILL find you."
* BuddyCopShow: Quite a few of the flashbacks of the Inspector's and the Sergeant's early days.
* TheBusCameBack: The very first Associate, Susannah Overseer, was abruptly and mysteriously "reassigned" by her and the Inspector's then-unnamed civilization after only a few episodes and replaced with the far more popular duo of Irma and Bart. (The real-life reason was that the character simply wasn't working as well as hoped; Irma and Bart served as much better [[TheWatson Watsons]].) She came back for a brief but significant cameo in "The Crime Sports" and was never seen again. Although [[spoiler: there were subtle hints that she shares ''some'' sort of connection to The Instructor.]]
* BusmansHoliday: The Third Inspector's quasi-retirement consisted chiefly of excursions across space and time in which he ''[[CoincidenceMagnet coincidentally]]'' arrived on distant worlds conveniently when plots against [[EarthIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse Earth]] were being hatched, despite the Infinity Knight high command's request he limit his involvement with his old planetary precinct after the events of "The Crime Sports".
* ButtMonkey: Jeffrey.
* CanonForeigner: [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters Many additional Associates]] created for the Great Ending Productions InspectorSpacetime audio plays.
* CanonImmigrant:
** Inverted here. After his stint as Rory Williams on ''Inspector Spacetime'', Arthur Darvill came back to play ''the same character'' in [[Series/DoctorWho another show.]]
** Funny thing is, that [[Series/DoctorWho other show]] has yet to explain Rory's immortality. But ''we'' already know the reason since we watched him here in ''Inspector Spacetime''!
* CastIncest: The actor who played Inspector Spacetime's son in said episode is Landlord's real life father (ItMakesSenseInContext) and is now in a real life relationship with the Fifth Inspector's actress.
* CatchPhrase:
** Ten often cried out, ''"¡Arriba!"'' as he charged into action.
** "I presently don a [[DashinglyDapperDerby bowler]]. Bowlers are neat."
** "The question is not where, but ''when''."
** "ERADICATE! ERADICAAAAAAAATE!"
** "You will be modified."
** "THE RISE! OF! [[LargeHam THE CYMBALS!]]"
** "We must [[ReversePolarity normalize the alignment of the electron stream]]!"
** "Oi, wot's all this, then?" was the only catchphrase for the First Inspector. Fitting, as his character was more of an inspector than most of the others.
** "Hi, honey!"
** "Want a wine jelly?"
** "By Jove, Inspector, that just might work!"
** "Always space for one more!"
* [[ChangedMyJumper Changed My Hat]]: TropeNamer. The Eleventh Inspector often changes his bowler hat's colour, thinking it a cunning disguise.
* ChivalrousPervert: The easily-flustered, sexually conservative Captain James Haggard.
* ClassicalMovieVampire: Count Morbus (played by Vladek Sheybal) from the Fourth Inspector episodes "Terror at Tooth Point" and "Vampires From Space!". (It should be noted that in the latter episode [[spoiler: he is ''not'' one of the eponymous entities, but helps the Inspector fight them.]])
* CluelessMystery: The notoriously bad scripts for the Seventh Inspector's "back to basics" time-travelling investigations following the weirdness of the Sixth's drew much criticism for withheld clues, last-minute culprits, and explosions covering up plot holes. The worst example occurs in "Bronze Friends" where the Inspector doesn't so much figure out how the Circuit-Chaps could have blackmailed [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy Isambard Kingdom Brunel]] into modifying the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship with self-awareness as how he can [[StuffBlowingUp blow it up]].
* ClusterFBomb: From the first season finale of ''The Mary Sue Predicaments'', while Mary Sue flies a nuclear bomb toward the Blorgon flagship:
--> '''Blorgon Prince:''' We have infiltrated all of Earth's governments, poisoned your air, and captured your friends. Even now our fleet surrounds your pathetic world, ready to destroy it at my signal. What do you say to that?
--> '''Mary Sue:''' [[spoiler: Fuck you.]] [[spoiler:''Fuck you.'']] [[spoiler:'''Fuck you!''']] [[spoiler:'''''FUUUCK YOUUU!''''']] (explosion)
* CobwebOfDisuse: The desolate ruins on Antebelis Gamma in "The Sphere of Strands"; by the time the Inspector comes back for "Return to the Sphere of Strands", the whole planet has become a CobwebJungle, which contrasts nicely with the sterile and polished [[spoiler: Infinity Knight Tribunal Chamber]].
* ConspicuousTrenchcoat: Mysterious figures in high-collared trench coats started popping up in the background during the Third Inspector's last series. [[spoiler:They were finally revealed to be the Infinity Knights' [[{{InternalAffairs}} Internal Affairs]] Watchdogs, sent by the high command to monitor the Inspector's unorthodox approach to his mysterious mission.]]
* CreepyCrossdresser: Some would argue that the Sergeant dabbles in this during the [[MadeForTVMovie 1992 TV movie]] ''Inspector Spacetime''.
* CosmicPlayThing: Many of the Associates. For this reason the Associates are nicknamed [[FanNickname "Soccers"]] by the fans. It's partly a shortening of "associate" and partly because they tend to get kicked about a fair bit.
* CuteKitten: "The Kittens" ''attempts'' to subvert this trope, with the titular creatures as the supposedly terrifying MonstersOfTheWeek.
* DancePartyEnding: In an ironic conclusion to the tragic outbreak of Choreokinesis--a disease that makes its victims dance compulsively--that killed fan-favorite [[spoiler: Gerte]], the Inspector felt it best to celebrate the discovery of the disease's antidote with a dance party.
* DanceSensation: Pamela Highwater (the second Petula) was a professional go-go dancer by trade. She performed "Do the Inspector" on ''TopOfThePops'', and her single got as high as #27 on the UK Top Singles chart.
* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler: Maura]], who the Inspector offered to let travel with him simply so she could realize this fact. When she finally does it is truly heartbreaking.
* DepravedBisexual: Textbook case with Mary Sue although it is taken to extremes that fans often complain about in her spin-off ''The Mary Sue Predicaments''.
* DiscontinuityNod: In the 2011 Red Nose Day Special "Spacetime", one of the "Alterninspectors" from parallel realities is seen using his Optic Pocketknife as a grappling hook, climbing up the side of a tall building, then pausing to chat with ''TopGear'' host Jeremy Clarkson through an open window. It's a reference to the infamously unauthorised Batarang-wielding Inspector from the 1973 film ''5 Kudretli Adamlar'' ("Turkish Blacula").
* DistractedByTheSexy: Associate Petula was a frequent cause of this, sometimes deliberately [[WeNeedADistraction when her go-go dance routines were used to distract guards]], sometimes by simply walking past.
* DoesntLikeGuns: Averted until season 23, when the BBC banned protagonists from using firearms. The Sixth Inspector (and all inspectors previous) occasionally carried his trademark Webley revolver in a shoulder holster. The Sixth Inspector liked his pistol so much he would often use it to open Orangina bottles.
* DomesticAbuse: Implied with The Sergeant and Lucio, the ([[ObfuscatingStupidity suspiciously competent]]) shoe-shine boy he married in Vegas [[spoiler:while posing as Henry Anglo]]. Lucio has the last laugh, however, [[spoiler: when he cleans out "Anglo's" ill-gotten re-election fund and is last seen literally sailing off into the sunset on a yacht.]]
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first few episodes with Susannah Overseer. As indicated by her name, she was evidently the Inspector's assigned auditor, or even ''boss'', holding some sort of vaguely-defined "decommission" threat over him as he solves "History Crimes" (see immediately below.) Both of them being (as-yet-unnamed) Infinity Knights also resulted in a lot of painfully clunky AsYouKnow dialogue. The show didn't really find its groove until Susannah was abruptly "recalled" and [[TheWatson Irma Rong and Bart Gilbert]] enthusiastically burst onto the scene.
** And, of course, the BOOTH being called a "DARSIT" a few times in the first episode. [[{{Retcon}} A Fourth Inspector episode explains that "darsit" is an]] [[PardonMyKlingon Infinity Knight swear word.]]
** In the first episode of ''Peacemist,'' the titular organization is variously referred to as the Peacemist Institute, the Peacemist Ministry, the Peacemist Agency, and, on one memorable occasion, the Meatspice Institute. This was mostly sorted out by the second episode, although throughout the rest of the first season a sign above Captain James' desk read "Peacemist Institupe."
* EdutainmentShow: Hard as it is to believe in retrospect, this programme was conceived as serious family edutainment. Stories set in the past were supposed to teach children history, with The Inspector solving historical crimes, such as in the episode "[[RichardOfGloucester The Two Princes' Murder]]". The ones set in the future or on other planets were intended to teach science, but the Blorgons' unanticipated massive popularity quickly changed the emphasis of the show to science fiction.
* EnemyCivilWar: Following the events of Sixth Inspector episode "The Corporation of the Blorgons", the Blorgon [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny Commonwealth of Sentients]] got broken into ''three'' competing factions, all of which figured in the next season's mammoth "Internal Investigation of the Inspector". Sadly, the Seventh Inspector's "Forgetting of the Blorgons" was a hideously apt title, as the Commonwealth was depicted as being (re)unified with absolutely no explanation as to what happened.
* [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Everyone Calls Him Inspector]]: To this day, the Inspector's true name is unknown. However, rumours say his nickname was Pi Lambda.
* EnforcedMethodActing: Rumor has it that actress Carla May Studebaker was encouraged by the producer to take a cocktail of tranquilizers to help her get into the dreamy, otherworldly, aloof character of Susannah Overseer. This also made her challenging to work with--she was famous for falling asleep in the middle of scenes--which may have contributed to the character being [[PutOnABus written out of the show.]]
* EvilCounterpart: This happens frequently when a character's positrons are negatized, resulting in an anti-version of the being affected. Constable Reggie once described the Anti-Inspector as having a "[[BeardOfEvil funny mustache]]" and being "[[IHaveYouNowMyPretty kinda rape-y]]".
* EvilFormerFriend:
** The Inspector and the Sergeant
** [[spoiler: Yorke.]] Although how much of a friend he was is up for debate.
* EvilTwin: Was there ''ever'' a character in this show that didn't have at least one of these? One even turned up for FE-Line. The zenith (or nadir) was probably the episode "The Triplicate Catastrophe".
* ExecutiveMeddling:
** In the 1960s, Owen Pantwhistle, BTV's Vice President, Dramatic Television and Puppetry, was responsible for several bizarre decisions, including the idea for the monsters in Third Inspector episode "The Kittens". Due to a traumatic childhood experience that he refuses to talk about to this day, Pantwhistle insisted that the titular kittens would become the show's most terrifying monsters. Instead, the episode proved to be an extremely effective NightmareRetardant and is widely hailed as [[CuteKitten the cutest episode]] of ''Inspector Spacetime'' ever.
** In 1966, Pantwhistle decided the show needed more sex appeal and instructed the producers to add a sexy female Associate for the remaining episodes of the series. The resultant contrived transformation of the Associate Peter into Petula drew protests from media watchdogs the [[MoralGuardians Civic Eyes and Ears Council]].
** In the 1970s, after the CEEC's public campaign against the Fourth Inspector's [[DarkerAndEdgier grimmer atmosphere]], BTV reassigned then-producer Heathcliff Phillips to the adult police drama [[{{TheSweeney}} ''The Flying Squad'']] and ordered his replacement to return to the [[LighterAndSofter lighter space adventures of earlier series]] and to find a new head writer.
** Following the strangeness of the Chapman era, the producers attempted to make the scripts "less weird" and simply made them horrible instead.
** Sean Pantwhistle, the successor to his father, Owen, on the 1992 TV movie, issued an order to "inject some [[PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy hip-hop urban flavour]]" into the relaunch, specifically mandating that the Inspector rap. While the younger Pantwhistle's increasingly odd demands and tense sixteen-hour standoff with the Metropolitan Police are the stuff of legends, the tie-in "Inspector Jamz" compilation album helped promote the careers of The Criminal Minds and The Brotherhood.
* TheExoticDetective: Detectives don't come any more exotic than a time-travelling, literally heartless alien solving mysteries across the universe.
* ExpandedUniverse:
** The line of books that largely involve the Eighth Inspector traveling around with AmateurSleuth and GreatDetective Fitzwilliam Fort.
** Not to mention the audio dramas by Great Ending Productions.
** Let's not forget the [[ComicBook/InspectorSpacetime comic book series of the Tenth and Eleventh Inspectors published by CCC (Creation and Concept Comics) Publications.]]
** In the early '70s, ArchieComics bought the rights to do an ''IS'' comic under its Red Circle Comics imprint for American audiences. Their writers quickly went [[CerebusSyndrome off]] [[DenserAndWackier the]] [[DarkerAndEdgier rails]], however, and the comic was canceled in 1979 ([[CutShort cutting short]] an arc in which the Twenty-Second Inspector was travelling to before the Big Bang to codify the universe's laws of time and space).
* FairPlayWhodunnit: A staple of the Second Inspector's investigations, particularly the innumerable locked room mystery settings (which were favored for [[BottleEpisode budgetary reasons]]). For example, the Inspector deduced the murders of the chrono-scientists in "The Cube in Time" were perpetrated by [[spoiler: the base's high-tech kitchen appliances, which the Circuit-Chaps had modified into lethal conscripts of the Digifleet, after assorted evidence excluded all the human and alien suspects]].
* FamousLastWords:
** "It's all right, Inspector. No one will miss me." [[spoiler: Jeffrey]]
** "Oi, wot's all this, th—" [[spoiler: The First Inspector.]]
** "[[TheStoic So be it.]]" [[spoiler: The Second Inspector.]]
** "Time for one last cup of—no? Ah well..." [[spoiler: The Third Inspector.]]
** "Ah. ''Now'' I understand. If I could have just ''[[RetroactivePreparation prepared]]...''" [[spoiler: The Fourth Inspector.]]
** "I think maybe things will be back to normal now." [[spoiler: The Fifth Inspector.]]
** "I intend to stage a [[StronglyWordedLetter formal complaint]]!" [[spoiler: The Sixth Inspector]]
** "Right on [[ClockKing schedule]]." [[spoiler: The Seventh Inspector]]
** "This has been a [[ThisIsGonnaSuck simply terrible day]]." [[spoiler: The Ninth Inspector]]
** "I'm ready to go. ARRIBA!" [[spoiler: The Tenth Inspector]]
* FanDisservice: The outfits sported by King Sonacry and The Indictor are the most legendary examples.
* FictionalDocument: The Inspector occasionally would read from/quote/consult the ''Encyclopedia Cosmosica''. There was evidently a plan to do an episode centered on this rather mysterious work, but like so much else, it got scrapped during the Seventh Inspector's run.
** It's widely believed that the EC inspired Douglas Adams to do a little radio play titled ''TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' even as he worked on scripts for ''Inspector Spacetime'''s [[Series/DoctorWho ripoff]].
** While the Inspector no doubt ''wishes'' that it was the EC, the phonebook that comes as part of the BOOTH's current form is, in fact, a (very) battered and out-of-date copy of the phonebook for the Sprint Street neighborhood where the BOOTH picked up its current form.
* TheFilmOfTheSeries:
** The 1964 ''Inspector Spacetime vs. the Blorgons'' and its 1965 sequel ''Blorgons--Extortion Earth 2150'', starring [[ChristopherLee Christopher Lee]] as "Inspector Spacetime" (instead of simply "The Inspector"). Unusually, these Films of the Series were made while the original was still in production. They adapted the first and second Blorgon stories but also changed the overall premise of the series, most notably by making the Inspector half human and introducing the first quasi-official spelling of Blorgon without the "r". They most definitely take place in an [[AlternateContinuity Alternate Continuity]], as opposed to the broader canon fans refer to as [[{{Whoniverse}} the Inspectrum]].
** Later there was the 1992 TV movie ''Inspector Spacetime'', which didn't adhere to the same continuity as the first two films, although it references them in a few throw away lines.
** Many Inspector Spacetime movies have wound up languishing in DevelopmentHell, such as one where he was to face '''THE DEVIL HIMSELF.'''
* FlyingCar: The Fourth Inspector temporarily used one after the Infinity Knights grounded him on Earth. Spacetime fans called it "The S.E.T." (Spacetime Express Trolley) or just "The Trolley".
* FoeYay: Averted. There is nothing implied about the relationship between the Inspector and the Sergeant.
* FollowTheLeader: In 1963, BBC tried to duplicate the success of ''Inspector Spacetime'' with [[Series/DoctorWho another, less-inspired show]].
* FourIsDeath: Literally. The Fourth Inspector has left behind a higher body count than any of the other Inspectors, even modern ones.
* FriendlyEnemy: The Sergeant. Especially since that he and the Inspector were once friends as cadets at the Kayaclaschian Police-Time Academy.
* FunWithAcronyms: While the BOOTH's definition has never been pinned down[[hottip:*: Box Of Oscillating Temporal Harmonics? Booth Operated Over Trans-Hyperspace? Bosonic Omnibus Of "The Heat"? Only the Inspector knows, and he likes to make his Associates guess.]], the acronyms of the Infinity Knights' various organizations all mirror ones from the UK police: CID—Chronospatial Inquiry Division; HMIC—The Hyperspatial Ministry's Investigative Command; SCD—Supratemporal Constabulary Department.
* FutileHandReach: [[spoiler: Fiona Finch]] does this shortly before becoming a Snarling Lion in the DownerEnding of "Stare". Snarling Lions reproduce by biting and transferring their DNA through a bite. The bite reacts like a virus, and the person bitten becomes a Lion. It's very rare (usually they just destroy and consume) but if someone manages to evade them for long enough, the Lions will attempt to convert them.
* FutureMeScaresMe: The Inspector is horrified by the prospect of incarnating as the Indictor, said by himself and the Infinity Knights to be a future incarnation of the Inspector.
** Subverted in the charity special "Space Crunch": It turns out that the Fifth Inspector isn't [[ValuesDissonance scared]] of the [[ScaryBlackMan Tenth Inspector]], but rather of the Tenth Inspector's ''elbow'', which hovers dangerously close to her face in their exceptionally cramped, intersected BOOTH interiors.
* GambitPileup: The whole glorious elephantine spectacle that was "Internal Investigation of the Inspector" season/plot-arc. The Infinity Knight high command, ''three'' factions of Blorgons, the Circuit-Chaps, the Sergeant, the Indictor, the Instructor, the Blue and Orange Wardens... Maddeningly, it all got [[ExecutiveMeddling swept under the carpet]] when the Seventh Inspector era started.
* GenderBender: Many hardcore Inspector Spacetime fans don't even know this trope applies to the Inspector's popular 1960s Associate Petula (played by the luscious Pamela Highwater). During the Second Inspector's first series, a script was written at the instance of ratings-conscious BTV executives that featured a visit to the planet [[HotterAndSexier Femulon-VII]] where the Inspector's current Associate Peter (Roy Higginbotham) was transformed into Petula. Miss Highwater was signed to play Petula, and scripts heavily emphasized Petula's sex appeal... an awkward development given Higginbotham's unprecedented "pay AND play" contract. The episodes detailing Petula's transformation are now [[MissingEpisode missing]], and Petula's masculine origin was only obliquely hinted at a few times afterwards.
* GigglingVillain: Yorke. Brrrrr.
* TheGump: Popping up on the periphery of major events in Earth's history is practically the Inspector's avocation, as well as a [[HistoricalInJoke source of amusement]] for the programme's writers.
** In 1390, the Tenth Inspector investigated the highway robbery and assault of GeoffreyChaucer ("The Chaucer Puzzle").
** In 1483, the First Inspector examined and unofficially acquitted Richard III ("The Two Princes' Murder").
** In 1851, the Ninth Inspector teamed up with Metropolitan Police Inspector Charles Frederick Field and his author friend CharlesDickens to raid the underworld den "Rats' Castle" ("The Riotous Living").
** In 1882, the First Inspector negotiated the surrender and arrest of Alexander Franklin "Frank" James ("The Desperadoes").
** In 1911, the Fourth Inspector exonerated Pablo Picasso in the theft of Louvre's most famous painting ("The Mona Lisa Caper").
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Count Morbus]]. Sort of.
* HeroicBSOD: The Inspector after [[spoiler: Jeffrey dies.]]
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Jeffrey]]
** Also [[spoiler: King Sonacry of Barbartron IV.]]
** And [[spoiler:Infinity Knight Lunda]], who not only [[spoiler: "died" twice]] but ended up [[spoiler: carrying the Bolt in Space on a [[PutOnABus one-way trip]] to another dimension.]]
** Subverted with [[spoiler: Captain Jack/The Good Lamb]].
** And of course, happens [[spoiler: more than once]] with [[spoiler:The Inspector himself]], the most spectacularly in "The Worst Ally".
* HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct: Brilliantly subverted in "Let's Kill Hitler." When Aidan strangles der Führer with his bare hands, the Inspector is alternately furious with him and terrified of the awful world they'll find when they return to the early 21st century. In fact, they find [[spoiler: millions of lives were saved because there was no Holocaust; World War II and the Cold War never happened, ushering in an unprecedented era of peace on Earth; and an undivided Germany became a beacon of tolerance and diversity, a shining example for all nations.]]
-->'''Aidan''': [[spoiler: EverybodyLives, Inspector, just this once, everybody lives!]]
-->'''Angie''': [[spoiler: Except Hitler.]]
-->'''Aidan''': [[spoiler: Well, yeah. Not Hitler.]]
* HollywoodScience: The science behind The Entanglement timeline is often criticized for its improbability, but writers dismissed these attacks in the third edition of the ''Inspector Spacetime'' companion book. Two words: Quantum Superpositioning.
* HopeBringer:
** Oftentimes the Inspector's role, especially in the new series.
** Subverted in the episode "Twilight", where [[spoiler: instead of banding together under the Inspector's kindness and wit, the humans on the broken down train try to sacrifice him to the "singing crystal" in the hopes that they would be spared.]]
* HumiliationConga: At the end of "Anger of the Inspector" [[spoiler:the Inspector forces the Hemo Clan to undergo horrendous punishments. For instance Hemo Daddy spends the rest of time in the form of a Mexican luchador's underpants. The punishments of the rest of the Hemo Clan are [[NightmareFuel too horrible to mention]].]]
* TheInspectorIsComing: In various stories for the new series, the Inspector will occasionally have sent [[StableTimeLoop advance notice]] of his impending arrival [[YouAlreadyChangedThePast from the future]] in order to save the trouble of introducing himself and convincing a [[MrExposition well-informed local]] to explain what's going on (rather than overplay the Inspector's [[ExpositionIntuition uncanny powers of deduction]]). The unintended consequence, however, is the mild panic and confusion when word leaks out of the mysterious authority figure, e.g. the flustered tour guides of the Module Alpha artificial satellite in "The Creation of Earth".
* [[ImmuneToBullets Insusceptible to Handcuffs]]: TropeNamer. The MonsterOfTheWeek cannot be apprehended with conventional police gear--at least not until the Inspector modifies them. "Just once, I'd like to encounter an extraterrestrial miscreant that wasn't insusceptible to handcuffs!" the Superintendent would typically complain during his adventures with the Fourth Inspector.
* IronicNurseryTune:
--> "Ring ring, goes the bell/
--> One day we all must quit/
--> Ring ring, goes the bell/
--> Till the Inspector [[spoiler: snuffs it]]"
* JokerImmunity: No matter how often the Blorgons are completely annihilated, they always manage to come back somehow. Once, the Inspector emphatically declared that the Blorgons were "entirely destroyed, every single last one of them, including all the secret ones that were hiding. They were all erased from time itself, they've never existed, and they will never exist ever again. Never, never, never, never, never." Until next season.
* JumpedAtTheCall: First Inspector Associates Irma and Bart are classic examples, eagerly going off with the Inspector when offered the chance.
* JunglePrincess: Reena is a literal example.
* KarmaHoudini: The Sergeant. Although the Inspector repeatedly foiled his schemes with the Blorgons, Eocenes, Orcons, and Venusian Sulphur Soldiers (to name only a few), he could never amass conclusive evidence of the Sergeant's involvement in their conspiracies or disprove his nemesis's elaborate alibis. [[spoiler: Until their climactic final confrontation on Kayaclasch in the episode "The Lethal Murderer". The Sergeant [[IGotBetter got better]].]]
* KnightTemplar: The Inspector, in his darker moments at least.
* LargeHam:
** '''[[BrianBlessed Brian Blessed]]''' made three appearances on the show, as Reena's father, Sonacry, King of Barbartron IV, Ruler of the Twelve Moons, Defender of the Outer Belts ([[RunningGag and so on and so on]]). And naturally [[spoiler: in his last appearance he makes his [[HeroicSacrifice HEROIC SACRIFICE]].]]
** Neg!Rory in the Terror of the Negaverse novel. Every word he speaks after his first line is in all caps. "I AM NOT A MERE COPY! I! AM! ME! AND NONE OF YOU WILL TAKE THAT!"
* LighterAndSofter: BTV hired a fledgling author named TerryPratchett to lighten the tone of the Fourth Inspector's later adventures. He has since criticized the new series for its overuse of [[http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/tvandradioblog/2010/may/04/terry-pratchett-ludicrous-doctor-who "that wonderful element 'makeitupasyougalongeum'"]] but confesses he finds it compulsively watchable.
* LongRunner: Easily beating out that [[Series/DoctorWho other show]] as longest-running sci-fi series of all time.
* MadeForTVMovie: The Anglo-American collaboration ''Inspector Spacetime'' (1992) starring [[http://buzznet-00.vo.llnwd.net/media/jj1/2008/07/hathaway-phone/anne-hathaway-phone-booth-07.jpg Steve Carrell as The Eighth Inspector and Anne Hathaway as his Associate, Charity Galloway]] during the British programme's extended hiatus. Although its canonicity is established, its awkward plot, over-the-top acting, and loose characterization make it something [[FanonDiscontinuity fans prefer to forget]].
* MagicTool: Averted with the Optic Pocketknife. As the iconic weapon of the Time Police, the Inspector considers it bad form to use it as anything other than a weapon, despite its many functions. He also uses it only in the direst circumstances, so it's always significant when an episode features it at all--and he at least makes the effort to [[TechnicalPacifist maim rather than kill.]]
* MayDecemberRomance: The Inspector and his beloved, Brooke Rhapsody, meet at the middle of their romance and then go backwards. However, Brooke takes meticulous notes and documents everything so the Inspector knows exactly what's going on at whatever point in life he meets her.
* MeaningfulName: An extremely common trope throughout the series:
** Doctor Yahe [[spoiler: stands for "'''Y'''ou '''A'''lways '''H'''ave '''E'''nemies", signaling the return of the Sergeant.]]
** FE-Line, besides the obvious cat pun, has another meaning. 'Fe' is he symbol for iron, from which the robot is primarily made of.
** In the episode "The Talons of Asox", Serge A Tenth [[spoiler: is an anagrammed alias used by the Sergeant]].
** In the episode "The Space Creature", Agent Sether [[spoiler: is another anagrammed alias used by the Sergeant]].
** In the episode "Space Swim", the Tang Seer [[spoiler: is yet another anagrammed alias used by the Sergeant]].
* {{Meganekko}}: Maura Dewitt
* MegaNeko: Giant FE-Line, from the spin-off series.
* MemeticOutfit: The Infinity Knights' official uniform was a distinctive high-collared trench coat-like garment, but the Inspector always livens up his emblematic Mac in each incarnation with special touches, especially his taste in hats.
** The First Inspector's beret.
** The Second Inspector wore Wellingtons and played the ocarina.
** The Third Inspector's top hat.
** The Fourth Inspector was known for wearing ostentatiously colored knee socks.
** The Fifth Inspector had a penchant for ampersands and a truly terrible hat.
** The Fifth Inspector's carrot hatpin counts as well.
** The Sixth Inspector was known for his unexpectedly somber and dark attire.
** The Seventh Inspector had an outfit adorned with exclamation points.
** The Ninth Inspector who always dressed quite dashingly and extravagantly. He loathed all things casual, especially leather.
** The Tenth Inspector was never without his prized coke-bottle glasses, tight jeans, and various nerdy T-shirts.
** So far, the Eleventh Inspector and his bowler hats.
* MidBattleTeaBreak: Literally. The Third Inspector would employ his [[SpotOfTea legendary love of tea]]—"It's always teatime somewhere in the universe."—as an excuse to extract himself and his Associates from sticky situations.
* MindRape: What some would consider Mona's ultimate fate.
* MirrorUniverse: In "The Worst Ally", the finale of the "Internal Investigation of the Inspector" plot-arc and Graham Chapman's final appearance on the show, the Inspector was banished by the Infinity Knight leadership [[hottip:*: Yes, yes, this is a massive simplification. The Sergent was involved. And the Indictor. And the Instructor. And [[AbortedArc very likely]] the Blue and Orange Wardens. More of the era's trademarked weirdness..]] to another universe where the Blorgons desperately oppose the evil Terran Empire. He ended up [[spoiler: killing himself so that the explosive renewal process would overload the Terran High Citadel's main reactor, ripping a "dimensional gap" large enough to send him hurtling back home.]] (With the bonus that [[spoiler: his new incarnation could not be tried again for the same "crimes".]]) One last time, the Sixth Inspector succeeded by failing.
* MissFanservice: Many of the Inspector's Associates might qualify.
** This is go-go dancing Associate Petula's entire reason for being.
** Reena of the famous [[{{FurBikini}} day-glo fur bikini]].
** Averted in Angie's first appearance, where she arrives dressed as a Catholic priest. Led to some viewer complaints that she was letting the side down somewhat, but they were mostly pacified by the official explanation that Angie was just on her way to a Tarts and Vicars party.
* MissingEpisode: Numerous examples over the show's long history:
** In the 1960s, like the BBC during the same period, BTV had a habit of reusing videotapes to save money. This is why so many 1962-1968 episodes of ''Inspector Spacetime'' are missing.[[hottip:*:The tapes were used to record episodes of the long-running quiz show ''Is It Buoyant?'', of which a 100% complete archive now exists.]]
** Several episodes were lost when the master tapes fell down a well in a freak bowling accident, including parts of "Solar System 16", "Journey to the Familiar," and "The Story Creators". Later, the ''same'' freak accident befell tapes of the infamous "Peter/Petula" episodes (see GenderBender, above), leading some fans to theorize that the episodes were, in fact, "pushed".
** "Ashata" was left incomplete after a thunderstorm and resulting fire destroyed [[TrashTheSet all the sets]]. The episode was never completed or aired, though a few scenes did appear in the ClipShow episode "Memories of Tomorrow". The rumor that one of BTV's police dramas opportunistically used the sets to depict an arson investigation is sadly just that.
*** Steve Carrell's Inspector would feature in a remake for radio years later, alongside Maureen O'Brien as Susannah Overseer.
** "The 1981 Inspector Spacetime Holiday Special": After its broadcast's critical reception, the creator took a hammer and smashed all copies at BTV studios, though this did not prevent his knighthood being revoked.
** "The Missing Episode" from ''The Mary Sue Predicaments'' is not an example, as it never really existed. It was "made" both as a tie-in for the CosmicRetcon crossover arc between ''IS'' and ''Peacemist'' and because every single extra showed up [[UnusualEuphemism tired and emotional]] on the sole day of filming. However, the [[EpisodeCodeNumber production numbers]] and DVD releases for Season One include a spot for the episode, and [[EasterEgg if you click on the episode title]], [[spoiler: a motionless image of a Snarling Lion slowly creeps into the screen]].
* MistakenForGranite: The Snarling Lions from the critically acclaimed episode "Stare". These creatures are taken as statues at first by the episode's protagonist, Fiona Finch, but the Inspector soon warns her that they are intergalactic monsters that feed on continuum particles and that if she looks at any of them directly, they will [[spoiler: suddenly become aware of her and wipe her from existence so they can eat on the energy the universe uses when repairing a minor gap in space-time.]] The Inspector once described them as [[spoiler: time mosquitoes]].
* MistakenForSpecialGuest: The Inspector's air of authority often results in this confusion when he and his Associates appear unexpectedly.
-->'''London Bobby:''' Stop! Are you authorized for that?
-->'''Second Inspector:''' Me? I'm authorized for everything!
* {{Mockbuster}}: The Inspector appeared in the completely unauthorized 1973 Turkish film ''5 Kudretli Adamlar'' (lit. ''5 Mighty Guys'', aka "Turkish Blacula"). The film featured the Inspector teaming up with Film/{{Blacula}}, ElSanto, and advertising {{Mascot}} Mister Clean to defeat, of all people, an extremely violent and sadistic version of {{Tintin}}. The Inspector, wildly out of character throughout, wields a leftover Batarang prop from the 1966 ''{{Series/Batman}}'' instead of his famous Optic Pocketknife.
* MoralGuardians: Christine Blackhall's Civic Eyes and Ears Council launched a public campaign against the programme during the Fourth Inspector's reassignment to Exo-Pol in the mid-70s, complaining about its sci-fi treatment of violent crime in contemporary London and its generally [[DarkerAndEdgier darker shift in tone]]. The [[{{LiteralCliffHanger}} cliffhanger scene]] of the Sergeant stamping on the Inspector's fingers as he dangled from the edge of the Infinity Knights' Omnium Watchtower in "The Lethal Murderer" was singled out by Blackhall as, notoriously, "teatime terrorism for tykes".
* MuppetCameo: For the episode "Mindscrew", the [[{{Jim Henson}} Jim Henson Company]] was specially commissioned to produce an [[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_EirmiLOQjB4/SmHZu_jWuYI/AAAAAAAAGHo/B5ImhxVIMeA/s400/IMG_9397.JPG Inspector muppet]] for the scene in which the Sixth Inspector is transformed into a blue-furred monster. Despite the episode's classic status, some fans still complain that they [[DidNotDoTheResearch both got the color of the BOOTH wrong and used an American-style phone booth]].
* MusicalEpisode: "A Spacetime Musical".
* NaiveEverygirl: Lily
* NiceHat: A trademark of the series, although brutally averted by the... thing... the Fifth Inspector sported on her head. The Fifth Inspector was the only female Inspector in the series and also one of the most fashion-challenged ones to date.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: And the award goes to Captain Haggard in his introductory episode "The Cambiare Machine". [[spoiler: He unseals the Void Seed container Inspector and Lily were chasing. The results are... not pretty.]]
* NiceShoes: Associate Petula's white go-go boots.
* NobodyPoops: There have been literally decades of jokes about the BOOTH's complete lack of facilities. Conversely, it has also been "speculated" that real reason the Inspector brings humans along on his travels is that the BOOTH is in fact powered by various forms of human waste. Also jokes about the BOOTH's resident (and otherwise useless) phonebook's true purpose being a source of toilet paper.
* NoSenseOfDirection: Infamously, Angie Lake. In "See No Evil", she not only gets lost in the woods in an attempt to avoid the Lions, she also manages to fall into a cavern.
* NonHumanSidekick: Robot cat named FE-Line. FE-Line traveled with the First, Second, Fourth, and Tenth Inspectors, as well as starring in the Associate spin-off, ''The Mary Sue Adventures''. Hilarity often ensues when Associates misread his collar as "fee-line", and the Inspector can't figure out who they're referring to. The proper pronunciation is [[spoiler:Iron Line]].
* NoveltyDecay: In the early years, the audience knew almost nothing about the Inspector's origins. It would be six years into the series before the "Infinity Knights" were introduced in the episode "The Crime Sports". The Inspector did not return to his home planet of Kayaclasch until the 1975 episode "The Lethal Murderer", but in the following decade, such episodes as "The Theft of Space" (1977) and the multi-part "Internal Investigation of the Inspector" (1985) revealed more and more about the autocratic, devious, and occasionally corrupt Kayaclaschians. Many fans complained that so much information about the Infinity Knights had diluted their sense of mystery. One of the objectives of the new series under David Russell was to erase them from the continuity after the events of the so-called "Time Wave".
* [[TheNthDoctor The Nth Inspector]]: TropeNamer. The Inspector has had many actors over the years, due to his ability to undergo metamorphosis. This new blood every few seasons allows the show to stay quite fresh. Notable fan favorites are Bernard Fox and his endlessly elaborate tea-breaks, Marius Goring with his silly ascot and taste for gummi bears, and the more recent Ninth and Tenth Inspectors, Mark Williams and Daniel Landlord. The least popular are Steve Carrell and Stephen Fry.
* OmnicidalManiac: the Blorgons. Their CatchPhrase, "ERADICATE!", pretty much gives it away.
* TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: The Infinity Knights, as well as their (possible) minion the Instructor.
* OneSteveLimit: Averted; the Inspector has had two otherwise-unrelated Associates named Aiden.
** Not to mention the fact that two consecutive actors playing the Inspector were ''named'' "Steve."
* [[PerceptionFilter Observation Screen]]: TropeNamer; however the new showrunner, Stefan Toffat, is not a fan of the older episodes and has vowed to reduce or eliminate its use, criticizing it as a HandWave.
* PlanetOfHats: A literal example in ''Morton's Fork'', which [[ADayInTheLimelight in part focused on the backstory]] of the Eleventh Inspector's bowler hat.
* PoorMansSubstitute:
** The character of the Inspector was, arguably, inspired by the mysterious Inspector Goole from J. B. Priestley's 1945 play [[AnInspectorCalls An Inspector Calls]], which was adapted for the BBC in 1954 by [[{{Quatermass}} Halvermass]] creator [[NigelKneale Noel Kneate]], but veteran actor Leslie French quickly established the role as his own with his portrayal of the patronising, cantankerous, but deeply moral First Inspector.
** In a trippy Second Inspector episode, Hammish Wilson's character Aiden is temporarily replaced by some actor named Frazer Hines.
* PoorlyDisguisedPilot: "Communality Above the Atmosphere", which eventually led to the moderately successful [[{{Community}} series]] of the same name. Ironically, the resulting program took so long to actually air, is so different in tone and focus, and makes such few and fleeting references to its originator, it's not generally included in the list of spin-offs above.
* PrisonerOfZendaExit: The Sergeant, regularly, but [[spoiler: Count Morbus]] pulls off a particularly spectacular one at the end of ''Terror At Tooth Point.''
* TheProblemWithPenIsland: In the early years of the World Wide Web, the inspectorspacetime.com URL was owned by Ukrainian marathoner Irina Nikolaevna Spector and used to host her pace time calculator programs. Ms. Spector finally sold the URL to BTV in 2009 when she added social networking features to her site. Adding the ability for users to post their own pace times, she then moved the "I.N. Spector's Pace Time" page to its current location at pacetimesexchange.com.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Mimmek, one of the Fifth Inspector's Associates, was originally going to be a shape-shifting robot alien. However, the mechanical prop kept breaking down, so he was hastily rewritten as "Mimmek the Invisible". Oddly enough, this has caused him to be (supposedly) one of the longest-running Associates, as WordOfGod says he's still traveling with the Inspector, but he's "just been very shy lately".
** A sadder example is Graham Chapman's early departure from the series due to his growing health problems.
* RealSongThemeTune: Originally the program used GustavHolst's "[[StandardSnippet Jupiter]]", then quite [[RuinedFOREVER controversially]] switched to a version of "Kashmir", by LedZeppelin.
** At least until season 16, when [[spoiler: the Sergeant successfully rewrote time, preventing Jimmy Page from ever existing, and "Jupiter" [[CreditsGag became the theme]] again. The [[ExecutiveMeddling real-life reason]] for the switch back was that paying for the rights was [[PublicDomainSoundtrack costing too much money.]]]]
* TheReptilians: The Eocenes, Ocean Demons, Serpentians, and Sulphur Soldiers. Also, [[spoiler: Queen Elizabeth II in the episode "The Humans of Westminster" ([[HMTheQueen HMQ]] is not a fan)]].
* RiddleForTheAges: Often at the end of an episode, after the Inspector has revealed how he had solved the plot's central mystery, his Associates ask, "But why/how/what [[[PlotHole whatever]]]?" The Inspector always answers "[[NoTimeToExplain I'll explain later]]," implying a CliffHanger, but in the subsequent episode, the anticipated explanation is preempted by the next adventure.
* RomanticFalseLead: SpikeMilligan is this for Joanna, until she decides she [[NoSenseOfHumor doesn't like]] ''TheGoonShow'', and promptly dumps him for [[BiTheWay Minnie]].
* RunningGag: Having the Third Inspector make a cameo appearance, invariably involving tea-drinking, at some point during the run of [[MyFutureSelfAndMe each of his successors]].
* SamusIsAGirl: In the later episodes of the Third Inspector's run, we learn that Yosif is actually a girl.
* SayMyName: At the end of "The Previous Inspector", once the Detective and the Chief Inspector have been compelled to return the Tenth Inspector's powers when his innocence is established, he takes particular delight in this. When the Eleventh Inspector recruits Constable Wigglesworth as a regular Associate, the Inspector [[CallBack reminds him]] about this to prove his identity—and afterwards at [[RunningGag every opportunity]].
* ScaryDogmaticAliens: Inspector Spacetime is simply stuffed with them.
** [[DirtyCommunists Aliens as Communists]]: The creepily cheerful Circuit-Chaps are determined to foment the [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters Second Industrial Revolution]] by modifying machinery everywhere and view the destruction of organic life as merely a means to an end for the great mechanical uprising.
** [[PlanetLooters Aliens as Conquistadores]]: The universe-prowling [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Nasor Ants]] will steal anything and everything that isn't nailed down on a planet since it's their cultural and genetic imperative. "The Theft of Space" was their most ambitious caper.
** [[TheFundamentalist Aliens as Fundamentalists]]: The Intelligent Designers of "Spectre Night" are convinced their [[AppliedPhlebotinum DNA-diviner]] can reveal a [[DanBrowned gnostic message hidden in the genetic code]] of the kidnapped descendants of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck.
** [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Aliens as Nazis]]: The CEEC's objections to the overt fascistic overtones of the Blorgon Commonwealth of Sentients may have been behind that plot development's abandonment.
* ScreamingWoman: Most of the female Associates and some of the male ones.
* SequelHook: The episode "Sphere of the Strands" ended with one, which was finally followed up on ''ten years'' and two Inspectors later, with the Third Inspector's final episode "Return to the Sphere of Strands". Might also qualify as a BrickJoke, although the Inspector had nothing to laugh about.
* ShooOutTheClowns: Irma and Bert are arguably an example; the arrival of the rather dour Second Inspector saw them replaced as Associates by the sword-wielding Aiden.
* ShoutOut:
** When the Inspector is asked his age, he responds that he is "[[DragonBallZ Over 9000.]]" This might jokingly refer to AkiraToriyama's brief involvement with the ''[[ComicBook/InspectorSpacetime Bold Reality Investigator 4]]'' manga.
** The Inspector's use of the Optic Pocketknife (in the Red Nose Day special "Spacetime") to make a "Bat-Climb" is a shout out to both ''{{Series/Batman}}'' and ''5 Kudretli Adamlar'' ("Turkish Blacula").
** Abed and Troy dress up as the Inspector and Constable Wigglesworth for Halloween in the "Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps" episode of ''{{Community}}''.
* ShrinkingViolet: Mona Virtue.
* SpaceWhale: In the episode, "Brouhaha on Beeb" the Inspector and Jeffrey are trapped on a spacefaring, living vessel, on the scale of a blue whale. The episode also serves as a ThrillerOnTheExpress, as they solve a mystery on a moving, closed vehicle. And of course, it's a jab at That Other Show, since "Beeb" [[spoiler: turns out to be the name of the creature.]]
* SpinOff:
** ''Peacemist: Nicer Post'' and ''The Mary Sue Predicaments''.
** ''FE-Line'', though its canonicity is debated.
* StraightGay: Gwaednerth Smith, [[spoiler:Captain James' love interest and eventual husband/partner/companion.]]
* [[{{DaChief}} The Superintendent]]: TropeNamer Head of Exo-Pol's London Branch, the [[{{OldFashionedCopper}} old-fashioned]] Irvine Leith initially appeared as a ReasonableAuthorityFigure, but after a few episodes, he began to embody this trope, as repeated exposure to extraterrestrial miscreants, as well the Fourth Inspector's mercurial personality, [[{{CharacterDevelopment}} frustrated him considerably]].
* StarfishLanguage: The Theremen speak in high-pitched electronic squeals and squeaks.
* StrangeSyntaxSpeaker: The Circuit-Chaps' sentences are unrhymed iambic pentameter.
* SufficientlyAdvancedAlien:
** The Blue and Orange Wardens are the programme's most prominent example. At one point the Inspector comments these two just might be "The universe arguing with itself."
** The Oddities from "Oddly Out of Place" qualify as well.
* SwirlyEnergyThingy: The Centripetus storyline involved nefariously controlled ceiling fans that emitted a still unknown, but harmful type of energy.
* TakeThat: The show occasionally takes playful jabs at [[Series/DoctorWho its rival]], although when that show first premiered, many viewers criticized the Inspector's sudden and numerous diatribes about the "thieves and lowlifes at Westminster" (where the BBC's Broadcasting House is coincidentally located) as being as a case of WriterOnBoard.
** The "[[HotDad cool]]" leather coat and black t-shirt outfit of The Detective (played by NeilGaiman) and the [[TheDandy dandified]] velvet smoking jacket and lace cuffs ensemble of the Chief Inspector (played by AlanMoore) were obviously intended as [[http://neil-gaiman.tumblr.com/post/13741396287/as-i-said-on-twitter-this-was-obviously-from-the take-offs]] on the fashion statements by the Ninth and Third incarnations of the Inspector's [[Series/DoctorWho opposite number]].
* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler: The Inspector]] blows up the AlternateUniverse Terran Empire's High Citadel in "The Worst Ally".
* TheTeaser: A hallmark of the show from the very beginning. During the Sixth Inspector's run, like everything else, these got ''really'' weird.
** For example, "The Mark of the Maharani" begins with a minute and forty seconds of a close-up of the Inspector staring into the camera and whispering a plot summary of the episode. In Latin. Backwards.
* TheTeamWannabe: In the Neil Gaiman-scripted special episode "The Previous Inspector", it is revealed that the Detective and the Chief Inspector are [[spoiler: not actually Infinity Knights but are really [[AscendedFanboy time-travelling admirers]] of the now-vanished Kayaclaschians and are attempting to assume their role, down to adopting [[{{Cosplay}} their dress sense]].]] Their appearance foreshadows [[spoiler: the brief return of the Inspector-obsessed Infinity Knights to erase his [[CanonDiscontinuity chronological contradictions]] in "The Last Minutes".]]
* TechnicalPacifist: The Inspector often claims to be one.
--> '''The Inspector:''' Technically, Constable, it was the ''blood loss'' that killed him, not my Optic Pocketknife, although I see how you could be confused.
* [[YouMeanXmas Time Day]]: As the Eleventh Inspector explains in 2011's ChristmasEpisode, "The 1981 Inspector Spacetime Holiday Special", it's a universal tradition for life forms to give each other "a gift at the end of each orbital cycle." So really, Time Day isn't a question of when but where.
* TimePolice: Literally, this was the function of the Infinity Knights before their society continued to expand and they slacked on their duties. Their arrogance eventually [[spoiler: led to the Time Wave that destroyed the Inspector's civilization and most of the Blorgons.]]
* TitleDrop: This has always been favorite rhetorical device of the programme's writers, e.g. Constable Wigglesworth: "So you see, Detective and Chief Inspector, this evidence proves conclusively that the person before you was framed by ''The Previous Inspector''!"
* TomatoInTheMirror: The Constable and the poison pineapples. Doubles as a huge TearJerker.
* TownWithADarkSecret: As seen in ''Peacemist,'' Wylf-y-Fwyddoch is home to at least eight different dimensional rips, five buried alien spaceships, a meteor capable of reanimating the dead, and a very suspicious flock of [[spoiler:telepathic]] sheep. Although it's not ''too'' dark; owing to the family-friendly nature of the show, Haggard generally resolves problems by inviting the demons/aliens/undead/sheep/whatever over for a pint of ale, shepherd’s pie, and a folk song.
* TrademarkFavouriteFood:
** The Eleventh Inspector loves custard creams and coffee.
** The Fourth Inspector carried a bag of wine jellies in his coat, which he'd offer to others.
* {{Tsundere}}: Brooke isn't sure she loves the Inspector or wants to throttle him.
* TypeCasting:
** Leslie French abruptly departed from the role as the First Inspector at the beginning of the fourth series after a dispute over typecasting with BTV.
** Christopher Obi was credited under his screen name Daniel Landlord when he debuted as the Tenth Inspector but after finishing his tenure decided to revert to his given name to prevent being too closely associated with the role.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Beloved candidate for Prime Minister, Henry Anglo, until the end of season three when [[spoiler: he reveals to everyone that he is actually The Sergeant.]]
* TheVoice: The Operator has never actually appeared in any Inspector Spacetime media.
* TheWatson: the Inspector's many Associates, most recently the Constable. His recent Associates in the new seasons also include:
** Angelica "Angie" Lake
** Rory Williams
** Mona Virtue
** Yorke
** Joanna Martin
** Captain James Haggard
** Minnie Smythe
** Lily Taylor
** Caroline Decker
** Mary Sue Brown made a cameo return on the new seasons, bringing with her the lovable [[NonHumanSidekick FE-Line]]
* WaybackTrip: The Eleventh Inspector's ChristmasEpisode, in which he and Constable Reggie travel back to [[TheEighties 1981]] in order to save Time Day from the Blorgons. Conceived as the new series's [[InternalHomage hat tip]] to the classic episodes, it wound up featuring such [[YeGoodeOldeDays badly misplaced nostalgia]], [[StockFootage inappropriate reused footage]], [[HairMetal awful musical numbers]], and [[{{Zeerust}} terrible "futuristic" special effects]] that it drew record hate mail from both fan camps.
* WeaksauceWeakness: The Blorgons' infamous inability to swim. Their problem gets solved when [[spoiler: the Orange Warden]] [[DiabolusExMachina pops up]] and bestows on them an upgrade referred to as "a powerboating licence."
* WeNeedADistraction: Associate Petula's go-go dancing was often a triple threat, used to distract guards, fill air time, and provide ParentService (though not so much the latter when she was played by Roy Higginbotham.)
* WhamLine: There has been plenty over the years:
** [[spoiler: Yorke: Human? Is that what you think I am, Inspector?]]
** For the Anglo arc: "Remember your roots, Inspector, remember those ages past when you had so many adventures. They seem gone now, forgotten. So many things have been forgotten. [[ForeShadowing Old enemies,]] old planets, [[spoiler: even an old friend....]]"
** "It's time you finally woke up."
** The final lines of Series 6: "You've done so much: you've shattered the Time Cube, defeated the Blorgons countless times; you are the Scourge of Space, the Warrior of the Ten System, the Mythic Man. The daft Inspector traveling in space and time in his little red phone box...[[spoiler: and you thought it was all real?]] No, no, no, my boy. You haven't been seeing the whole picture in so long. [[spoiler: I'm contacting the mainframe and telling them to jolt you out of the hypersleep. Your reinvitigoration will be triggered artificially. You've been asleep too long, muttering in your sleep. It's time you finally woke up.]] [[ArcWords It's time for quiet, time to rise."]]
** [[spoiler: "Maura, I didn't save you."]]
** [[spoiler: We want you to kill the Inspector, Brooke.]]
* WhatYearIsThis: Averted. The Inspector typically announces he and his Associates have arrived in a particular year only to be quickly corrected by a local.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: In the later seasons, new script editor Roger Giles decided that the Inspector was still 'too mysterious' and planned to reveal much of his background and personal information, including his family history, his ''exact'' age, his medical exam results, his favorite kind of filling, his name[[spoiler: it's Chet]], and his shoe-size. This became known as the 'Giles Counter-Plot'. The show's cancellation prevented this, thankfully, and much of the information that was planned to be revealed was made non-canonical by later ExpandedUniverse works[[spoiler:, which means his name isn't Chet]].
** A lot of fans think that [[{{TheItCrowd}} Richard Ayoade]] would have made a pretty awesome Ninth Inspector if not for the PTB wanting a bigger name to restart the franchise.
* [[WhoWatchesTheWatchmen Who Inspects the Inspector]]: The Infinity Knights' high command has on on occasion taken exception to the Inspector's methods of performing his mission and conducted their own inquiries into them. Their interventions suggest that their impartiality may be suspect, however.
** At the end of "Return to the Sphere of Strands", the Inspector successfully defended himself against their most serious criticisms, but [[spoiler: he was nevertheless transferred to 1970s Earth as a Time Police Liaison with Exo-Pol, effectively exiling him, and required to metamorphose into the Fourth Inspector.]]
** "The Internal Investigation of the Inspector" arc, obviously. By the end, the proceedings had gotten a [[KangarooCourt bit silly]], but that might have been the [[CourtroomAntic Inspector's plan]] all along.
* WhoWearsShortShorts:
** Thorough Visor wears short shorts! This also led to some [[HoYay questionable moments]] between Visor and the Inspector when crammed in the BOOTH together. Of course back in that era it was all just joking, unlike the famous kiss the Inspector gave Capt. James when the latter [[spoiler: volunteered for a suicide mission on the Inspector's behalf.]]
** [[spoiler: It's okay, James survived.]] But the kiss [[spoiler: and subsequent separation from the Inspector]] helped James come to terms with his own pansexuality, though the creators revealed that [[WordofGod nothing actually happened between him and the Inspector.]]
** What, no mention of Robbie [=McMillan=]? His [[ManInAKilt kilt]] was at ''least'' a handspan too short!
** Kenny, the robot-obsessed youngster in the ''FE-Line'' spin-off series, is never seen without them.
** The Indictor ([[FanDisservice ...*shudder*]]), according to [[DeletedScene the few seconds of deleted footage]] that showed him from the waist down with his [[OminousOperaCape cloak]] open.
* WholesomeCrossdresser: [[spoiler: Yosif's]] sex wasn't revealed until a season after her introduction (though she states that the only reason she crossdresses is because it's easier to be a man).
* [[TimeyWimeyBall Wibble Wobble Time Thing]]: Trope Namer.
* WorldOfSilence: Tacitropolis. "A punishment worse than death." To be banished there is a punishment crueler than the Inspector thinks any man deserves.
* TheXOfY: The traditional method of creating titles for Inspector Spacetime adventures. Just mix and match from Column A and Column B with "of" or "of the".
** Column A: Age, Case, Claws, Circus, Creation, Colony, Day, Deserts, End, First, Foot, Funeral, Gloom, Humans, Identity, Incursion, Intersection, Investigation, Journey, Mark, Megaliths, Mind, Moon, Party, Persistence, Planet, Power, Rage, Reappearance, Reign, Return, Robots, Savior, Sphere, Sins, Son, Spell, Subway, Theft, Tip, Tusks, Visage, World, Ziggurats
** Column B: Aquanos, Asox, Blorgons, Circuit-Chaps, Circuits, Cobra, Creatures, Death, Deep, Doom, Earth, Forever, Good, Infinity Knights, Inspector, Life, Line, Living, Maharani, Mastodons, Midgar, Memory, Nede, Nightmare, Parallels, Pigator, Plasma, Quiet, Ruin, Shennong, Space, Strands, Sun, Terror, Time, Venice, Venus, Villainy, Water, Westminster, World, Zorl

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fandom-Related Tropes]]

* AffectionateParody: Very much so. Fans use IS as both a way to poke fun at ''Series/DoctorWho'' and to celebrate what they love about it.
* BizarroUniverse: Many things the fans come up with parallel, contrast, or subvert ''Series/DoctorWho'' in some way.
* BreakoutCharacter: The Inspector was just a ''Series/DoctorWho'' parody, now he's developing his own canon and universe. Notable in that a) The [[FanNickname Inspectrum]] is actually taking a few steps to differentiate it from ''Doctor Who'', and b) the 26 second parody aired less than a week before any of this started materializing.
* ShowWithinAShow: ''Inspector Spacetime'', within ''{{Community}}''.
* SpiritualSuccessor: to "[[http://web.archive.org/web/19990203054134/http://dcs.ex.ac.uk/%7Edma/ProfX/ Professor X]]", a ShowWithinAShow briefly seen in the VirginNewAdventures, which promptly began to generate parallel lists of Professors, companions, episodes and so forth,
* ThrowItIn: Basically how all of canon is created in the Inspector Spacetime Continuum. ''Series/DoctorWho'', both the classic and the new series, is the preferred source of pastiche/parody for the ''Inspector Spacetime'' television programme, but its ExpandedUniverse is a free-for-all. ''{{Community}}'' sets the tone for the sense of humor. Anything that hasn't already been established goes.


[[/folder]]