History Recap / DoctorWhoNSS4E7TheUnicornAndTheWasp

* [=~Chekhov's Gun~=]: The big, dorky magnifying glass is a pretty short-term one; after the Doctor gives it to Donna, she winds up using it about ten minutes later to hold off the giant wasp.

** The Doctor, after being poisoned, goes up to one of the footmen in the kitchen and shouts "ginger beer!" Roger's footman. Oh dear.

** [[HeyItsThatGuy Hey It’s That Girl]] Agatha Christie is Min from {{Jekyll}}.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: AgathaChristie

* MeaningfulName: Professor Peach, and possibly Miss Redmond are ''Cluedo?'' (''Clue?'' for our American readers) references. In fact the Cluedo-ness of the situation is lampshaded by Donna.

* [[GreenRocks Purple Rocks]]: The alien jewelery

* 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's come back with another one, and so forth. All told, there are about 15 titles of AgathaChristie novels are directly referenced in dialogue. Such as...

** At the beginning, [[{{Cluedo}} a guy with a color-related name is murdered in the library with a lead pipe]]. Lampshaded by Donna, even (See MeaningfulName)

* UnstoppableRage: Murder at the vicar's rage (ahem) when the boys are stealing things from the church.

** AndThenThereWereNone

--> Ever so nice to meet you, I ''don't'' ''[[OohMeAccentsSlipping fink]].

* RummageFail: At the very end, the Doctor digs through some of his junk in the TARDIS; 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, [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS3E2TheShakespeareCode a crystal ball full of Carrionites]] ([[AndIMustScream still screaming]]), and a big jumble of wires.

Also, Donna snogs the Doctor. [[NeverTrustATrailer It has about as much sexual undertones as the other two kisses had.]]

* BigSecret: Lady Eddison's Mysterious Past, Colonel Hugh's able-bodiedness, Miss Redmond's real identity, and Roger's relationship with the footman.

** A different footman to the one Roger is in a relationship with by the way.

** At the beginning, [[{{Cluedo}} a guy with a color-related name is murdered in the library with a lead pipe]]. Lampshaded by Donna, even.

* TheThemeParkVersion: The writer deliberately went for the popular perception of a Christie novel as opposed to what they're actually like. This editor almost expected to hear the Doctor say "I've gathered you all here in [[{{Futurama}} the Accusing Parlor]]...", though he notes early on that he was surprised by a twist in only one of her books.

-->'''Donna''': ''No.''

* BizarreAlienBiology: The Doctor's ability to reverse cyanide poisoning using various substances. Actually some of the TechnoBabble he spouts is vaguely plausible.

** The entire interogation scene, and the Doctor reminiscing about Charlemagne afterward.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler: Agatha's memory loss for Donna's VictoryGuidedAmnesia (possibly).]]

* MeaningfulName: Professor Peach, and possibly Miss Redmond are ''Cluedo?'' (''Clue?'' for our American readers) references. This troper was surprised the Colonel and Reverend didn't follow suit. In fact the Cluedo-ness of the situation is lampshaded by Donna.

* NoodleIncident: The Doctor has a flashback to an unseen adventure rescuing Charlemagne from "an insane computer" in Belgium, with a quiver of arrows (he was hunting for Charlemagne, who had been kidnapped from history, along with several other well known figures in humanity, by a computer in the future who was terribly lonely. There was an online short story and everything.)

* [[GreenRocks Purple Rocks]]: the alien jewellery

* 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.

** At the beginning, [[{{Cluedo}} a guy with a color-related name is murdered in the library with a lead pipe]].

* StigmaticPregnancyEuphemism

* {{Troperrific}}
* YouLookFamiliar: Colonel Hugh is played by Christopher Benjamin, who was previously in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E4Inferno Inferno]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E6TheTalonsOfWengChiang The Talons of Weng-Chiang]]" (the latter as Sir Henry Gordon Jago).

* BizarreAlienBiology (The Doctor's ability to reverse cyanide poisoning using various substances. Actually some of the TechnoBabble he spouts is vaguely plausible)

* TheButlerDidIt (lampshaded but averted; "At least we know the butler didn't do it")
* TheCameo (The Very Rev. Sandy [=McDonald=], DavidTennant's father, plays the footman at the beginning: he's the one in the foreground when Donna orders a "sidecar").

* DidNotDoTheResearch (Lady Eddison's room, left undisturbed since 1886, has a teddy bear sitting on the bed. The teddy bear was invented in 1902.)

* NoodleIncident: The Doctor has a flashback to an unseen adventure rescuing Charlemagne from "an insane [[AIIsACrapshoot computer]]" in Belgium, with a quiver of arrows (he was hunting for Charlemagne, who had been kidnapped from history, along with several other well known figures in humanity, by a computer in the future who was terribly lonely. There was an online short story and everything.)
** Link?

* YouLookFamiliar- Colonel Hugh is played by Christopher Benjamin, who was previously in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E4Inferno Inferno]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E6TheTalonsOfWengChiang The Talons of Weng-Chiang]]" (the latter as Sir Henry Gordon Jago).

* TheVicar - subverted; he starts out looking like the embodiment of the trope, but ...

* {{Foreshadowing]]: [[spoiler: Agatha's memory loss for Donna's VictoryGuidedAmnesia (possibly).]]

Also, Donna snogs the Doctor. [[NeverTrustATrailer It has about as much sexual undertones that the other two kisses had.]]

* BLAM: The entire Cyanide scene. And it is BRILLIANT.

''DoctorWho'' can sometimes lose track of the sheer ''magic'' of time travel, so it's nice to get episodes like this where it's brought back to the fore. Donna's reaction to meeting AgathaChristie is one such moment.

The Doctor has brought Donna back to ChristieTime, to share some of it--appropriately enough--with AgathaChristie herself. Pity she won't remember it: the date is 8 December 1926, which means that Agatha will mysteriously vanish and turn up ten days later, confused and with no memory of where she'd been[[hottip:*: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.]]. Which means that whatever freaked out (not-yet-Dame) Agatha is ABOUT TO HAPPEN!!!

* AllTheGoodMenAreGay: 'All the decent men are on the other bus.' 'Or Time Lords.'
* BigCreepyCrawlies
* BigSecret: Lady Eddison's Mysterious Past, Colonel Hugh's able-bodiedness, Miss 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)
* TheButlerDidIt (lampshaded but averted; "At least we know the butler didn't do it")
* TheCameo (The Very Rev. Sandy [=McDonald=], DavidTennant's father, plays the footman at the beginning: he's the one in the foreground when Donna orders a "sidecar").
** A different footman to the one Roger is in a relationship with by the way.
* ChangedMyJumper
* ChristieTime
* ClassyCatBurglar: The Unicorn, although she gets a lot less classy when she's exposed.
* ContinuityNod: See LampshadeHanging.
* CrowningMomentOfFunny: "HOW IS ''HARVEY WALLBANGER'' ONE WORD?!"
** The entire interogation scene, and the Doctor reminiscing about Charlemagne afterward.
* DidNotDoTheResearch (Lady Eddison's room, left undisturbed since 1886, has a teddy bear sitting on the bed. The teddy bear was invented in 1902.)

** Stuffed bears existed prior to 1902. They were nicknamed teddy bears in 1902. The name stuck.
* EnemyWithin
* GenreBlind:

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The 1920s porn. That got more questions from the kids than the gay relationship.

* GiantFlyer
* HalfHumanHybrid
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: AgathaChristie
* HistoricalInJoke: Christie's historic disappearance.
* InterspeciesRomance: Lady Eddison and Christopher the Vespiform.
* InThePastEveryoneWillBeFamous
* InvoluntaryShapeshifting
* 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 [[AChristmasCarol Dickens surrounded by ghosts at Christmas]]. The Doctor looks embarrassed, probably recalling the events of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS1E3TheUnquietDead The Unquiet Dead]]".
* MeaningfulName: Professor Peach, and possibly Miss Redmond are ''Cluedo?'' (''Clue?'' for our American readers) references. This troper was surprised the Colonel and Reverend didn't follow suit. In fact the Cluedo-ness of the situation is lampshaded by Donna.

* 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.

* NeverOneMurder
* NoodleIncident: The Doctor has a flashback to an unseen adventure rescuing Charlemagne from "an insane [[AIIsACrapshoot computer]]" in Belgium, with a quiver of arrows (he was hunting for Charlemagne, who had been kidnapped from history, along with several other well known figures in humanity, by a computer in the future who was terribly lonely. There was an online short story and everything.)

* TheNounAndTheNoun
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: After the MistakenConfession, Agatha, completely taken aback, slips from RP into Fenellega Woolgar's Estuary English.
* ParlorGames: Charades, after the Doctor gets poisoned.
* [[GreenRocks Purple Rocks]]: the alien jewellery
* 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.
* 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.
* 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's come back with another one, and so forth. All told, there are about 15 titles of AgathaChristie novels are directly referenced in dialogue. Such as...
** AndThenThereWereNone
** N or M?
** Crooked House
** Taken At The Flood
** Endless Night
** Cat Among the Pigeons
** Death Comes As The End
** Murder at the Vicarage
** They Do It With Mirrors
** The Murder On The Orient Express
*** They also have The Man In The Brown Suit 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 DeathInTheClouds edited in the year 5 billion and then some, no less.

* StiffUpperLip: "She's British and moneyed. That's what they do; they carry on."
* TheThemeParkVersion: The writer deliberately went for the popular perception of a Christie novel as opposed to what they're actually like. This editor almost expected to hear the Doctor say "I've gathered you all here in [[{{Futurama}} the Accusing Parlor]]...", though he notes early on that he was surprised by a twist in only one of her books.
* {{Troperrific}}
* YouLookFamiliar- Colonel Hugh is played by Christopher Benjamin, who was previously in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E4Inferno Inferno]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E6TheTalonsOfWengChiang The Talons of Weng-Chiang]]" (the latter as Sir Henry Gordon Jago).
* UnstoppableRage: Murder at the vicar's rage (ahem) when the boys are stealing things from the church.
* TheVicar - subverted; he starts out looking like the embodiment of the trope, but ...