History Recap / DoctorWhoS17E2CityOfDeath

This story was the first one [[VacationDearBoy filmed outside of Britain]] and Creator/TomBaker has commented that it was a bit startling to do shooting without the crew having to hold back throngs of fans, since ''Doctor Who'' hadn't been exported to France, at this point. It also has the distinction of being the most-watched ''Doctor Who'' story to date, with a peak of 16.1 million viewers for the final episode, although this becomes a bit less impressive when you learn that Creator/{{ITV}}, then the only other major channel in the country, was off-air at the time due to a strike.

* AffablyEvil: The Countess Scarlioni. Count Scarlioni projects this, but it's just a facade.

This story was the first one [[VacationDearBoy filmed outside of Britain]] and Creator/TomBaker has commented that it was a bit startling to do shooting without the crew having to hold back throngs of fans, since ''Doctor Who'' hadn't been exported to France, at this point. It also has the distinction of being the most-watched ''Doctor Who'' story to date, with a peak of 16.1 million viewers for the final episode, although this becomes a bit less impressive when you learn that ITV, then the only other major channel in the country, was off-air at the time due to a strike.

!!Tropes from the episode:

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'''Production code:''' 5H

Written by Creator/DouglasAdams, Creator/GrahamWilliams, and David Fisher ([[AlanSmithee under the pseudonym David Agnew]]). This four-episode serial first aired from September 29 to October 20, 1979.

* CoolGuns: Everyone from Duggan to Hermann and the Count's {{Mooks}} use Walther P38 handguns. The Countess also has a nifty little pearl-handled revolver.

* TimeStandsStill: How Kerensky's RapidAging his portrayedfrom his perspective, he has to watch the others barely move for decades.

* MassiveMultiplayerScam: The episode takes this to [[RefugeInAudacity ludicrous levels]]. The con: Count Scarlioni plans to steal ''Art/TheMonaLisa'' from the Louvre. He's set up a silent auction among a group of unscrupulous art collectors who think they're about to get the most valuable painting in the world, and they mail in their checks. Here's how it would normally work: The thief would steal the ''Mona Lisa'', only for the Count to refuse it. The Count gets the money, the thief goes to prison, and the art collectors eat humble pie--they can't raise a fuss at the risk of incriminating themselves. Here's how it works on ''Doctor Who'': the six art collectors ''get'' their ''Mona Lisas'', each of which is a ''legitimate'' copy that was painted by [=daVinci=] himself. The Count is really an alien splintered through time, and he's been working a long con throughout human history so that he can eventually save his own species at the cost of preventing humanity from ever existing. The good Doctor saves the day by aiming to visit [=daVinci=], missing intentionally, and writing "THIS IS A FAKE" in permanent marker on the canvases reserved for the commissioned ''Mona Lisa'' replicas.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* MassiveMultiplayerScam: The episode takes this to [[RefugeInAudacity ludicrous levels]]. The con: Count Scarlioni plans to steal the ''Art/MonaLisa'' from the Louvre. He's set up a silent auction among a group of unscrupulous art collectors who think they're about to get the most valuable painting in the world, and they mail in their checks. Here's how it would normally work: The thief would steal the ''Mona Lisa'', only for the Count to refuse it. The Count gets the money, the thief goes to prison, and the art collectors eat humble pie--they can't raise a fuss at the risk of incriminating themselves. Here's how it works on ''Doctor Who'': the six art collectors ''get'' their ''Mona Lisas'', each of which is a ''legitimate'' copy that was painted by [=daVinci=] himself. The Count is really an alien splintered through time, and he's been working a long con throughout human history so that he can eventually save his own species at the cost of preventing humanity from ever existing. The good Doctor saves the day by aiming to visit [=daVinci=], missing intentionally, and writing "THIS IS A FAKE" in permanent marker on the canvases reserved for the commissioned ''Mona Lisa'' replicas.

The one where ''Doctor Who'' meets ''Franchise/CarmenSandiego''.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Nice job fixing up Scaroth's time machine, Romana.

* ArtisticLicensePaleontology: 400 million years ago was the Devonian period, also known as the "age of fish". For the beginning of life, 4 billion years ago would be a better fit.
** To be precise, the landscape would probably be covered by forests of moss and primitive ferns that would probably be quite thick without major herbivores. The first proper trees had yet to evolve, though.

Scarlioni turns out to be an alien who's having a bit of trouble with his spaceship. He also owns six copies of Art/TheMonaLisa. All of which appear to be authentic. Oh, and the original is still hanging in the Louvre. Fed up with having to cater to Scarlioni's zany schemes, the Doctor just walks back to his TARDIS, vworps over to Italy and plans to ask Creator/LeonardoDaVinci himself what's going on. But his old friend isn't at home, and instead, another version of Count Scarlioni greets the Doctor in Leonardo's house.