History Recap / DoctorWhoNSS4E7TheUnicornAndTheWasp

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[[caption-width-right:350:Quick! Someone call the exterminators! Roll out the Daleks! We need massive [[{{Recap/DoctorWhoNSS2E13Doomsday}} pest control!]]]]
->'''Agatha:''' Creator/AgathaChristie.\\
'''Donna:''' What about her?\\
'''Agatha:''' ... That's me.\\
'''Donna:''' ''[[{{Squee}} No]].''

The Doctor has brought Donna to [[GenteelInterbellumSetting the twenties]] for a nice garden party. Meanwhile, [[TabletopGame/{{Clue}} a Professor Peach is murdered, in the library, with the lead pipe.]]

Also at the party is Creator/AgathaChristie herself. Pity she won't remember it: the date is 8 December 1926, and Agatha will mysteriously vanish and turn up ten days later, confused and with no memory of where she'd been. [[note]]This really did happen, though possibly not the memory loss. She turned up on 18 December 1926 in a hotel not far away, where she'd checked in under a pseudonym, and never gave an account of her missing days. It's thought she might have suffered a fugue state.[[/note]] Which means that whatever freaked out (not-yet-Dame) Agatha is about to happen. But right now, there's a murder to be solved!

->'''Agatha:''' Someone should call the police.\\
'''The Doctor:''' We don't have to! Chief Inspector Smith from Scotland Yard. Known as "The Doctor". Miss Noble is the plucky young girl that helps me out.

But who murdered Professor Peach? Was it TheFlapper? TheVicar? The Colonel? The mother? The two secretly gay men? The Doctor and Donna are both ''delighted'' to be solving a murder mystery together with Agatha, but Agatha reminds them that (a) she only writes books and she knows nothing about actual crime solving, and (b) murder is ''not funny'' and could they please stop squeeing.

Over the course of an afternoon of wacky hijinks that cleverly recall the titles of many of Christie's works (seriously, try it as a drinking game!), the Doctor, Donna and Mrs. Christie all piece together a story of forbidden love, murder, secret identities, abandoned babies and alien bling. In the end, it turns out that the killer (a giant alien wasp -- who is a [[StealthPun white Anglo-Saxon Protestant]] AND a giant actual space wasp) was telepathically linked with someone reading a Christie book, which explains why the world suddenly started ''behaving'' like a Christie book.

Also, Donna snogs the Doctor, but [[NeverTrustATrailer it makes sense in context and he tasted like anchovy.]]

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!!Tropes

* TheAlcoholic: Lady Eddison spends a very good fraction of her screen time holding ''something'' alcoholic. [[UnreliableNarrator Including that time she said it was tea]].
* AllTheGoodMenAreGay: After a somewhat overdone bit of flirting by Roger, only to then see some genuine flirting between him and Davenport.
--> '''Donna:''' "Typical. All the decent men are on the other bus."
--> '''The Doctor:''' "Or Time Lords."
* BigCreepyCrawlies: "When I say giant, I don't mean big, I mean FLIPPING ENORMOUS!"
* BigDamnKiss: The Doctor needs a shock. Donna's got a proper one for him. Notably, it's the only bit of intimacy that the two ever share, and it serves to prove that they really are just best mates.
* BigSecret: ''Lots'' of them. Lady Eddison's MysteriousPast, Colonel Hugh's [[ObfuscatingDisability able-bodiedness]], Robina Redmond's real identity, and Roger's relationship with the footman.
* BizarreAlienBiology
** The Doctor's ability to reverse cyanide poisoning using various substances. Actually some of the {{Technobabble}} he spouts is vaguely plausible.
** Lady Eddison having a baby with an alien wasp.
* BitterAlmonds
* BuryYourGays: Roger. Which, per the trope, would have almost made his sexuality usable in the story in the real 1920's since he was killed, appropriately enough by [[HeteronormativeCrusader the Vicar]].
* TheButlerDidIt: Lampshaded but averted; "At least we know the butler didn't do it".
* CallBack: When Donna tries to blend in with socialite talk and by saying "topping day, what?", the Doctor [[RunningGag tells her, "No-no-no-no, don't do that"]], like he did to Rose in "Tooth and Claw" when telling her not to try doing a Scottish accent. The same happened with Martha in "The Shakespeare Code". The very Edwardian Third Doctor greeted people with "topping day, what?" on occasion.
* TheCameo: The Very Rev. Sandy [=McDonald=], Creator/DavidTennant's father, plays the footman at the beginning: he's the one in the foreground when Donna orders a Sidecar. (A different footman from the one with whom Roger is in a relationship, by the way.)
* ChangedMyJumper
* ChekhovsGun: The big, dorky magnifying glass is a pretty short-term one; after the Doctor gives it to Donna, she ends up using it about ten minutes later to hold off the giant wasp.
* ClassyCatBurglar: The Unicorn, although she gets a lot less classy when she's exposed.
* ContinuityNod: See LampshadeHanging.
** Donna attempts at affecting an RP accent when meeting Lady Eddison... only to be told by the Doctor [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS2E2ToothAndClaw not to do that]].
** We find out where The Doctor [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS3E2TheShakespeareCode put the Carrionites]]: In a chest for all things that start with the letter C, which also included a Cyberman logo.
* DeathByLookingUp: Miss Chandrakala, with the gargoyle, in the courtyard.
* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Donna calls attention to this by sympathizing with Davenport, who has just lost his boyfriend yet cannot even openly mourn because their relationship was illegal in that era.
* EnemyWithin
* ElephantInTheLivingRoom: Agatha's just learned of her husband's affair, but doesn't want to admit to it (see StiffUpperLip). The Doctor reminds Donna of exactly why this was the case.
* ExpositionBeam: Lady Eddison's fire pendant triggered an invisible one that sets off the real killer - ''her son''.
* {{Expy}}: Between the red hair, the magnifying glass and being called a "plucky young girl", whether intentional or not, Donna virtually turns into NancyDrew during this episode.
* FaithHeelTurn
* FlashbackBackBack: The interrogated suspects have flashbacks (complete with wavy line dissolve) while establishing their alibis, revealing that none of them are exactly truthful. Then played with when Colonel Curbishley has a flashback ''within'' his first flashback. Then the Doctor has [[NoodleIncident a flashback of his own]] when he recalls hunting in Belgium for Charlemagne, who'd been kidnapped by an insane computer....
* {{Foreshadowing}}: The one interrogation flashback that matches up with the spoken account is by the guy who did it.
* GenreBlind:
-->'''Professor Peach:''' I say... what are you doing with that lead piping?
* GenteelInterbellumSetting
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The 1920s porn that Colonel Curbishley secretly looks at. That got more questions from the kids than the gay relationship.
** Roger and Davenport, after the Vicar recounts stopping two young men from robbing the church.
--> '''Roger:''' Some of these young boys deserve a decent thrashing.
--> '''Davenport (with a meaningful look):''' Couldn't agree more, sir.
** The Doctor asks the (closeted gay) footman for ginger beer -- cockney rhyming slang for "queer".
-->'''Davenport:''' I beg your pardon?!?
** When the Doctor runs to the guest quarter where he thinks the wasp is cornered and everyone peeks out of their rooms, Davenport is with Roger in his room. But he is fully clothed -- from what we can see.
* GiantFlyer
* HalfHumanHybrid
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Creator/AgathaChristie.
* HistoricalInJoke: Christie's historic disappearance.
* ImprobableAntidote: Apparently, the Doctor can be cured of cyanide poisoning by drinking ginger beer, eating walnuts and anchovies and being kissed by a FieryRedhead. (Technically, he asked for a shock, but RuleOfFunny.)
* ImprovisedWeapon: Donna uses a magnifying glass to burn the wasp.
* InspirationNod: The references to ''Cluedo''(''Clue'' for Americans) aren't exactly subtle. They make sure to work in Reverend Golightly (Reverend Green), Colonel Curbishly (Colonel Mustard) and Professor Peach (Plum). Similarly, Robina Redmond, Lady Eddison and Miss Chandrakala the housekeeper fit the typical characteristics of Miss Scarlet, Mrs Peacock, and Mrs White pretty well. They really hammer it home with the "Professor Peach in the Library with the Lead Piping" line, because that's how you might say it when you declare that you want to make an accusation.
* InterrogationMontage: When the Doctor is questioning all the dinner guests about the murder of Professor Peach.
* InterspeciesRomance: Lady Eddison and Christopher the Vespiform.
* InThePastEveryoneWillBeFamous
* InvoluntaryShapeshifting
* IWantGrandkids: The Colonel comments that he and his wife are unlikely to have grandchildren, implying that he knows about [[StraightGay Roger]]'s sexual orientation.
* IWillShowYouX: Donna will pluck ''you'' in a minute.
* LampshadeHanging via a ContinuityNod: Donna finds the idea of Agatha Christie being involved in a real murder mystery as ridiculous as the idea of finding [[Literature/AChristmasCarol Dickens surrounded by ghosts at Christmas]]. The Doctor looks embarrassed, probably recalling the events of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS1E3TheUnquietDead The Unquiet Dead]]".
* MagicPants: Apparently Vespiforms can transform their clothes too when they take on human form.
* MeaningfulName: Professor Peach, and possibly Miss Redmond, is a ''Cluedo'' (''Clue'' for our American readers) reference. In fact the Cluedo-ness of the situation is lampshaded by Donna.
-->'''Donna:''' I mean... Professor Peach, in the library, with the lead piping?
* MistakenConfession: As Christie and the Doctor expose the house's secrets, the Colonel cracks and admits he doesn't need his wheelchair... much to their surprise.
-->'''Agatha:''' Actually, I was going to say you're completely innocent. Sorry.
* MistakenForRomance: Agatha Christie briefly mistakes the Doctor and Donna for a couple before pointing out that neither is wearing a wedding ring.
* NeverOneMurder
* NewspaperDating: Played with. The Doctor uses sensory clues like Professor Peach's vintage car and the smells around him to determine that they are in the 1920s, then uses a newspaper to determine that they have landed on December 8, 1926. Subverted in that they are at a garden party on a sunny, warm, day with lush greenery all around. In England. In December.
* {{NOT}}: The Unicorn, in the more antiquated version.
-->'''The Unicorn:''' Ever so nice to meet you, I ''don't'' [[OohMeAccentsSlipping fink]].
* TheNounAndTheNoun: The '''Unicorn''' and the '''Wasp'''.
* ObfuscatingDisability: A sympathetic take on it. Colonel Hugh pretends to be crippled, because he believes it's the only way a guy like him could keep his beautiful wife from leaving him for a more handsome man.
* OhCrap: The Doctor's reaction upon looking at a newspaper and realizing that today is the day Agatha Christie will disappear.
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: After the MistakenConfession, Agatha, completely taken aback, slips from RP into Fenella Woolgar's Estuary English.
* OverlyLongGag: See SuspiciouslySpecificDenial.
* ParlorGames: Charades, after the Doctor gets poisoned (and Donna is terrible at it -- "How is Harvey Wallbanger one word?!").
* PassThePopcorn: Donna seems to be doing this during the drawing-room reveal, though we can't see what it is she's eating. Some glances show that it may be green grapes.
* [[GreenRocks Purple Rocks]]: The alien jewellery.
* RecycledInSpace: An Agatha Christie mystery [-WITH AGATHA CHRISTIE-]! [-AND ALIENS-]!
* RummageFail: At the very end, the Doctor digs through some of his junk in the TARDIS (of the starts-with-a-C variety); before he finds his copy of ''Death in the Clouds'', he pulls out the C logo off a Cyberman's chestplate, the head of a statue (Julius '''C'''aesar?), [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS3E2TheShakespeareCode a crystal ball full of Carrionites]] ([[AndIMustScream still screaming]]) and a big jumble of cables.
* RunningGag: The one about the Doctor and Donna not being married and the one where the companion attempts an accent, and the Doctor tells her not to. Hilariously enough, the [[SheIsNotMyGirlfriend protestations]] turn out to be unnecessary; [[SherlockScan Christie noticed Donna didn't have a wedding ring.]] [[note]]This one is as much to draw attention to Christie's powers of observation as anything else. The 1920's Flapper was distinct from earlier generations of women in that she dated, and otherwise socialized with men absent of a chaperone. Unlike other historical periods where the Doctor has taken female companions, this was one where it was not ValuesDissonance for him to be going around with a woman to whom he was not married[[/note]]
* ShootTheDog: Or rather, Drown the Giant Wasp.
* ShoutOut: Rusty and Gareth Roberts had a bit of fun with the script. Gareth would pop a reference in, send the draft to Rusty, and it'd come back with another one, and so forth. All told, there are about 18 titles of Creator/AgathaChristie novels directly referenced in dialogue. Such as...
** Literature/AndThenThereWereNone
** N or M?
** Crooked House
** Taken at the Flood
** Endless Night
** Cat Among the Pigeons
** Cards on the Table
** Death Comes as the End
** Literature/TheMurderAtTheVicarage
** They Do It with Mirrors
** Literature/MurderOnTheOrientExpress
** Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
** Nemesis
** Dead Man's Folly
** Sparkling Cyanide
** The Body in the Library
** Appointment with Death
** The Moving Finger
** They also have The Man in the Brown Suit (explicitly referred to as such in one of the bonus scenes on the series 4 DVD) solving the mystery of The Body in the Library. The reveal scene has the Doctor doing The Moving Finger. The Doctor also has a copy of ''Literature/DeathInTheClouds'' edited in the year 5 billion and then some, no less.
** And in a non-Christie ShoutOut, Colonel Curbishley's getting up from his wheelchair is from ''Theatre/TheRealInspectorHound''.
** At the beginning, [[TabletopGame/{{Clue}} a guy with a colour-related name is murdered in the library with a lead pipe]]. Lampshaded by Donna, even. (See MeaningfulName)
* SolarPoweredMagnifyingGlass: How Donna sees off the wasp the first time.
* StealthPun
** At the end of the episode the Doctor pulls things filed under "C" from (what else?) a sea-chest.
** Also, wasp: White Anglo-Saxon Protestant.
* StiffUpperLip: "She's British and moneyed. That's what they do; they ''(posh accent)'' carry on."
* StigmaticPregnancyEuphemism: In this case, she had "malaria".
* SummationGathering
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: "Oh, yes, all alone. Totally alone. Absolutely alone. Completely. All of the time. I wandered, lonely as the proverbial cloud. There was no one else with me; not at all! Not ever!" ''[[UnreliableNarrator *flashback shows him flirting and holding hands with his footman*]]''
* TheThemeParkVersion: The writer deliberately went for the popular perception of a Christie novel as opposed to what they're actually like.
* TitleDrop of the episode:
-->'''Agatha Christie:''' The Unicorn. He's here!\\
'''The Doctor:''' The Unicorn and the Wasp...
* {{Troperrific}}: And the Doctor clearly knows, and is loving every moment of it.
* UnreliableNarrator: Most of the "Where were you at a quarter past four?" flashbacks when the Doctor is asking the suspects do not come close to what the character says they were doing. Usually hilariously:
##Reverend Golightly says he was unpacking in his room. Notice that his is the only one where the narration and the flashback match up.
##Roger says he was going out for a stroll by himself behind the house. We see that he was actually meeting for a little tryst with Davenport.
##Robina Redmond says she went to the toilet. This one is partially true: what she isn't mentioning in the narration is that the flashback shows her checking a tiny pistol.
##Colonel Hugh says he was in the study remembering memoirs, when we actually see him looking at some erotic photos, which causes him to slip into a second flashback with some can-can dancers. The Doctor has to snap him out of each layer of flashback separately.
##Lady Eddison says she was drinking her afternoon tea when we see her actually drinking some spirits from a flask.
* UnstoppableRage: [[Literature/TheMurderAtTheVicarage Murder at the Vicar's Rage]] (*ahem*) when the boys are stealing things from the church.
* VertigoEffect: On Lady Eddison when she realizes that the reverend is the child she gave up forty years ago.
* TheVicar: Subverted; he starts out looking like the embodiment of the trope, but then...
* VictoriasSecretCompartment: Used by the Unicorn to hold the firestone.
* [[{{Sssssnaketalk}} Wazzzzptalk]]: "Put thozzzzzze thingzzzzz back where you found themzzzzzzzzzZZZZZ!"
* WhatTheHellHero
-->'''The Doctor:''' Donna, that thing couldn't help itself.\\
'''Donna:''' And neither could I!

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* {{Foreshadowing}}
** Possibly, Agatha's memory loss for Donna's VictoryGuidedAmnesia.
** Within the episode: The one interrogation flashback that matches up with the spoken account is by the guy who did it.

* StiffUpperLip: "She's British and moneyed. That's what they do; they carry on."