History Recap / DoctorWhoNSS1E10TheDoctorDances

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mummyhug_7269.jpg]]
->''"The world doesn't end 'cos [[TitleDrop the Doctor dances]]."''
-->'''-- Rose'''

The Doctor, Rose and Jack desperately try to escape the gas mask people and figure out what the hell is going on. While Jack teleports away, Rose and the Doctor are trapped for a while, and Rose takes the opportunity to ask the Doctor if he can dance like Jack can. The Doctor is a bit offended, and says he's actually got quite an amount of experience with... [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything dancing]]. Rose really can't picture him... [[UnusualEuphemism dancing]]. While the Doctor steps closer and takes her hands for an intense... [[ShipTease dance]], they fail to look around and realize that Jack's already saved them. It also turns out that Jack isn't exactly with the TimePolice any more; he turned rogue after waking up one morning and finding that two years of his memory had been wiped by his employer.

Jack goes off to distract a gay crash site guard with his suave, omnisexual allure, and the Doctor explains to Rose that Jack is, quote, "just a bit more flexible when it comes to... [[IsThatWhatTheyreCallingItNow dancing]]". In Jack's century, people will travel the whole universe to find aliens of all sexes and genders, and... [[BoldlyComing dance with them]]. Meanwhile, the virus becomes airborne and everyone around the warship crash site starts mutating.

Seeing the crash site, the Doctor figures it out: the Chula warship was a field ambulance,[[note]]Well, [[ExactWords technically]], as Jack points out, ambulances are ''used'' in war, thus making them ''war''ships by definition...[[/note]] and contained nanobots (here called "nanogenes") for expedient battlefield healing. When Jamie was first hit by the ship, the nanogenes swung into action and tried to fix him... but they'd never interacted with humans before, and so derived their idea of what humans looked like from a badly wounded kid in a gas mask. They sort of made it up as they went along -- assuming that fully healed people wore gas masks, they made the people they "infected" sprout gas masks. But when they finally met Nancy ([[FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo really Jamie's mother, not his sister]]), they had a different model of a healthy human being to work towards... and the parent/child relationship between the subjects meant that the nanogenes knew that this pattern was the right one.

EverybodyLives as the Doctor re-infects everyone with the nanogenes, who now know how to fix humans. Even previously dead humans. Hooray! Also, Captain Jack joins the TARDIS, saved by the Doctor just before his ship goes kablooey in an attempted HeroicSacrifice. He walks in to find the Doctor and Rose... [[DancePartyEnding dancing]]. Rose asks if Jack would like to cut in and also... [[SexyManInstantHarem dance]]. The Doctor, amused to have an openly not-straight companion, wonders which of the two Jack would... [[HoYay dance]] with.

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!!Tropes:
* ArcWords: "Schlecter Wolf", a BlindIdiotTranslation of "Bad Wolf", on the bomb Captain Jack rides at the end.
* AuthorAppeal: This episode is pretty much Creator/StevenMoffat's love letter to {{shipping}}, and a manifesto on how he refuses to see the Doctor as asexual (as many fans, for some reason, do). It also marks the start of the ''Series/DoctorWho'' TV series being completely inclusive of LGBTQ culture (which the novels had already been since the late 90's).
* {{Autodoc}}: It turns out that this is what the Chula warship is.
* BavarianFireDrill: The Doctor gets all the gas-mask people to leave them alone by acting like a stern mummy and telling them to "Go to [their] room!" Comes back to bite the Doctor when he realizes he, Jack, and Rose were standing in the child's room when he gets there.
* BulletholeDoor: Well, Squareness Gun-hole door. Also used on the floor once.
* ChekhovMIA: Jamie's mummy.
* CoolButInefficient: Jack's "Squareness Gun"
* CreepyChild: Jamie; quite possibly the creepiest child since Billy Mumy in ''Series/TheTwilightZone''.
* DancePartyEnding
* DeathGlare: The Doctor to Jack, multiple times, until he finally admits that it's all his fault and tries to make up for it by way of HeroicSacrifice.
-->'''Jack''': Getting a hint of disapproval.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Try [[CensorshipTropes bleeping]] out every use of "dance".
** In a very dramatic way, when Jack learns that the nanogenes are going to change every human being into the creepy creatures they spend the episode running away from, he says 'I didn't know!'. Who else used that excuse?
* DoubleMeaning: Jack swears several times that the Chula ship was "empty". He was wrong, but given that Jamie is described several times as empty, he's sort of right by extension without realizing it.
* EverybodyLives: TropeNamer! Just this once, Rose, TropeNamer!
* FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo: Former TropeNamer as "Are You My Mummy?"
* FamousLastWords: Lampshaded by The Doctor. "Go to your room!" would be very bad last words.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: All that talk about "dancing".
* TheHomeFront: London during the Blitz
* ItWasWithYouAllAlong: The nanogenes could've cured Jamie from the get-go had Nancy just given him a hug.
* [[LukeIAmYourFather Jamie, I Am Your Mummy]]: It turns out Jamie's not Nancy's brother - he's her son. Nancy deliberately lied to people about having a child that young and out of wedlock, and given how young she is and the current state of Britain, no one would question it. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming "I will always be your mummy..."]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone [=/=] [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Nice Job Breaking It, Jack]]: Jack is incredibly flippant about things throughout the entire episode, until the Doctor finally realizes what's happened, and that it's the nanogenes from the ship that Jack very carelessly sent careening to Earth which are causing all the trouble. The Doctor then makes a point of explaining to Jack in very precise and no uncertain terms exactly how he's just gone and doomed the entire human race, [[DeathGlare with a look of barely-restrained fury and disgust on his face the whole time]]. Jack looks [[OhCrap a lot less flippant]] at that point.
* NoodleIncident: While waiting for the bomb to explode, Captain Jack recalls the last time he was sentenced to death. He ordered four Hyper Vodkas, and woke up in bed with both his executioners. They stayed in touch afterwards.
* OhCrap:
** The Doctor realizing that he'd sent the boy to his room... the room they were in.
** Also Jack, once he realizes that he's to blame for the entire situation and has probably doomed Earth.
* OlderThanTheyLook: A plot point for Nancy, who looks young enough to blend in with a group of orphans but is (barely) old enough to really be Jamie's mother. The actress really was that old, too.
* [[OneLastSmoke One Last Drink]]: Emergency Protocol 417. A Martini. With too much vermouth. Luckily for Captain Jack, he's saved by the Doctor and Rose.
* RidingTheBomb: Cap'n Jack.
* RoomFullOfCrazy: Belonging to the original patient, plastered in doodlings of "mummy".
* SexyManInstantHarem: Jack.
* ShowSomeLeg: Rose offers to do this, only for Jack to explain she's not the guard's type.
* ShoutOut: Continuing the ''Series/{{Star Trek|The Original Series}}'' from last episode, with the Doctor still known to Jack as 'Mr. Spock'.
--> Rose: What, is that what we do when we get out there? We [[OpeningNarration seek out new life and]]...and...
--> Doctor: [[IsThatWhatTheyreCallingItNow Da]][[BoldlyComing nce]].
** And, in light of the earlier Spock references, the computer quoting the odds of survival to Jack near the end probably counts too.
* SnubByOmission: After Jack teleports out, Rose asks why it's always the great-looking ones who vanish into thin air.
-->'''Doctor:''' I'm making an effort not to be insulted.
* StuffBlowingUp:
--> '''Rose''': First day I met him, he blew my job up! That's practically how he communicates.
* TitleDrop: See the page quote.
* TheVirus: Actually nanogenes.
* WeirdnessMagnet: Albion Hospital was also home to an [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS1E4AliensOfLondon "alien" pig]].
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Jack's memory loss was never explained, although in ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'', we do get to meet a [[Recap/TorchwoodS2E1KissKissBangBang fellow Time Agent]].
* WorldWarII
----

* NoodleIncident: While waiting for the bomb to explode, Captain Jack recalls the last time he was sentenced to death. He ordered five Hyper Vodkas, and woke up in bed with both his executioners. They stayed in touch afterwards.

* AuthorAppeal: This episode is pretty much Creator/StevenMoffat's love letter to {{shipping}}, and a manifesto on how he refuses to see the Doctor as asexual (as many fans, for some reason, do). It also marks the start of the ''DoctorWho'' TV series being completely inclusive of LGBTQ culture (which the novels had already been since the late 90's).

* CreepyChild: Jamie; quite possibly the creepiest child since Billy Mumy in ''TheTwilightZone''.

* [[LukeIAmYourFather Jamie I Am Your Mummy]]: It turns out Jamie's not Nancy's brother - he's her son. Nancy deliberately lied to people about having a child that young and out of wedlock, and given how young she is and the current state of Britain, no one would question it. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming "I will always be your mummy..."]]

* [[LukeIAmYourFather Jamie I Am Your Mummy]]: It turns out Jamie's not Nancy's son - he's her daughter. Nancy deliberately lied to people about having a child that young and out of wedlock, and given how young she is and the current state of Britain, no one would question it. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming "I will always be your mummy..."]]

* [[LukeIAmYourFather Jamie I Am Your Mummy]]. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming "I will always be your mummy..."]]

* AuthorAppeal: This episode is pretty much StevenMoffat's love letter to {{shipping}}, and a manifesto on how he refuses to see the Doctor as asexual (as many fans, for some reason, do). It also marks the start of the ''DoctorWho'' TV series being completely inclusive of LGBTQ culture (which the novels had already been since the late 90's).

* EverybodyLives: TropeNamer.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Jack's memory loss was never explained, although in ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'', we do get to meet a fellow Time Agent.

** Actually, "Schlecter Wolf" is entirely grammatically correct for "Wolf" (a masculine noun), with no articles before it, and in the nominative case by default.

-> ''"Just this once! '''[[spoiler: EVERYBODY LIVES!"]]'''''
-->'''-- The Doctor'''

-> ''"Just this once! '''[[spoiler: EVERYBODY LIVES]]'''''

-> ''"Just this once! '''[[spoiler: EVERYBODYLIVES]]'''''

** In a very dramatic way, [[spoiler:when Jack learns that the nanogenes are going to change every human being into the creepy creatures they spend the episode running away from, he says 'I didn't know!'. Who else used that excuse?]]
* DoubleMeaning: Jack swears several times that the Chula ship was "empty". [[spoiler: He was wrong, but given that Jamie is described several times as empty, he's sort of right by extension without realizing it.]]

The Doctor, Rose and Jack desperately try to escape the gas mask people and figure out what the hell is going on. While Jack teleports away, Rose and the Doctor are trapped for a while, and Rose takes the opportunity to ask the Doctor if he can dance like Jack can. The Doctor is a bit offended, and says he's actually got quite an amount of experience with... [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything dancing]]. Rose really can't picture him... [[UnusualEuphemism dancing]]. While the Doctor steps closer and takes her hands for an intense... [[ShipTease dance]], they fail to look around and realise that Jack's already saved them. It also turns out that Jack isn't exactly with the TimePolice any more; he turned rogue after waking up one morning and finding that two years of his memory had been wiped by his employer.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone [=/=] [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Nice Job Breaking It, Jack]]: Jack is incredibly flippant about things throughout the entire episode, until the Doctor finally realises what's happened, and that it's the nanogenes from the ship that Jack very carelessly sent careening to Earth which are causing all the trouble. The Doctor then makes a point of explaining to Jack in very precise and no uncertain terms exactly how he's just gone and doomed the entire human race, [[DeathGlare with a look of barely-restrained fury and disgust on his face the whole time]]. Jack looks [[OhCrap a lot less flippant]] at that point.

** The Doctor realising that he'd sent the boy to his room... the room they were in.
** Also Jack, once he realises that he's to blame for the entire situation and has probably doomed Earth.

* TitleDrop: See the page quote..

* BavarianFireDrill: The Doctor gets all the gas-mask people to leave them alone by acting like a stern mummy and telling them to "Go to [their] room!"

->''"The world doesn't end 'cause [[TitleDrop the Doctor dances]]."''

Seeing the crash site, the Doctor figures it out: the Chula warship was a field ambulance,[[note]]Well, [[ExactWords technically]], as Jack points out, ambulances are ''used'' in war, thus making them ''war''ships by definition...[[/note]] and contained nanobots (here called "nanogenes") for expedient battlefield healing. When Jamie was first hit by the ship, the nanogenes swung into action and tried to fix him... but they'd never interacted with humans before, and so derived their idea of what humans looked like from a badly wounded kid in a gas mask. They sort of made it up as they went along -- assuming that fully healed people wore gas masks, they made the people they "infected" sprout gas masks. But when they finally met Nancy ([[FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo really Jamie's mummy, not his sister]]), they had a different model of a healthy human being to work towards... and the parent/child relationship between the subjects meant that the nanogenes knew that this pattern was the right one.

* ChekhovMIA: Jamie's mummy

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Try [[CensorshipTropes bleeping]] out every use of "dance."

* FamousLastWords: Lampshaded by The Doctor. "Go To Your Room!" would be very bad last words.

** The Doctor realising that he'd sent the boy to its room... the room they were in.

* DoubleMeaning: Jack swears several times that the Chula ship was "empty". [[spoiler: He was wrong, but given that Jamie is described several times as empty, he's sort of right by extension without realizing it.

* DoubleMeaning: Jack swears several times that the Chula ship was "empty". [[spoiler: He was wrong, but given that Jamie is described several times as empty, he's sort of right by extension without realizing it.]]
* EntertaininglyWrong: [[spoiler:Nancy]] had every reason to believe that touching Jamie would transform her as it did everyone else and no reason to believe [[spoiler:it would allow the Doctor to heal everyone]].
* EverybodyLives: TropeNamer! Just this once, Rose, TropeNamer!

** [[ContinuityNod At least he didn't say]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E4TheUltimateFoe "Carrot juice, carrot juice, carrot juice!"]]

* LoveMakesYouEvil: Admittedly Jamie was probably not fully aware of his actions but most of the harm done was down to his desperation to find his mother. As the Doctor puts it, "There isn't a little boy born who wouldn't tear the world apart to find his mummy. And this little boy can."

->''"The world doesn't end 'cause [[[[TitleDrop the Doctor dances]]."''

->''"The world doesn't end 'cause the Doctor dances."''
-->'''Rose''', [[TitleDrop giving us the title of the episode]]

* AuthorAppeal: This episode is pretty much StevenMoffat's love letter to {[shipping}}, and a manifesto on how he refuses to see the Doctor as asexual (as many fans, for some reason, do). It also marks the start of the ''DoctorWho'' TV series being completely inclusive of LGBTQ culture (which the novels had already been since the late 90's).