History Recap / DoctorWhoS29E9TheFamilyOfBlood

* RuleOfScary: There's no practical reason for the doctor to hand out such CoolAndUnusualPunishment in the end. He could have just killed them (that would have been the practical thing to do), or he could have used the same punishment on all of them. As it is, this trope allows the writers to scare us with common everyday things, as they like to do: ''When you're standing in front of a mirror and see something move, that's Daughter of Mine trapped in there forever. Son of Mine gets stuck suspended in time as a Scarecrow on a lonely hill.''

** When Latimer opens the watch to stun Daughter of Mine, we are treated to a series of rapid-fire images of The Doctor, all of which imply that [[GoodIsNotNice he is terrifying to behold.]]

* GenreSavvy: Joan knows that if "Smith" was truly from Nottingham, he'd know more about his hometown than basic geography anyone could pick up in an encyclopedia.

** The Doctor's claim that he could still be everything that John Smith was. Joan rejects the notion entirely, pointing out that John Smith was a far ''better'' man than the Doctor, whose [[BlueAndOrangeMorality alien morality]] would treat people's lives like a game and then pat himself on the back for saving people that ''he'' had put in danger to begin with.

* ButNowIMustGo: Once the Family has been dealt with, the Doctor prepares to head off again, offering to take Joan with him. Given all that has happened entirely because he arrived to begin with, [[GetOut Joan is more than happy to see him leave.]]

** Joan's similar adopts this look when the Doctor returns, cheerfully offering to let her travel with him, whilst completely overlooking all the mayhem and death he's left in his wake.

[[quoteright:330:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/The_Family_Of_Blood_7597.jpg]]

* AndIMustScream: "We wanted to live forever... so the Doctor made sure that we did."

* BoardingSchool: The primary setting for the episode.

* BreakTheCutie: Poor, ''poor'' John Smith.

* CantStayNormal
* ChekhovsGun: [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E11Utopia The watch]]

* CruelMercy

** The Doctor's permanent emotion during the climax, sometimes edging into DeathGlare. Doesn't help that he looks right at the camera more than once.

* DisintegratorRay: The Family's hand weapon.

* DreamingTheTruth
* TheEdwardianEra
* EthnicMenialLabor

** Also Latimer's vision of his experience in UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne. It saves his life when he lives it for real.

* FutureMeScaresMe
* GoodIsNotNice: The Doctor's punishments for the Family: Father of Mine is bound in unbreakable chains and thrown down a deep shaft, Mother of Mine is jettisoned into an exploding galaxy, Daughter of Mine is trapped inside a mirror, and Son of Mine is immobilised and used as a scarecrow. And all this is ''after'' the Doctor [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor granted them their wish to never die.]] Remember, the Doctor will give you one chance; fail to take it, and suffer his wrath.
* HeroicSacrifice: John, offscreen.

* IdiotBall: Somehow the Family completely fails to notice the fact that Smith / the Doctor seems to be going out of his way to [[ContrivedClumsiness trip over himself and press certain buttons]]. It's not all that well concealed.
* IJustWantToBeNormal: "The Time Lord has such adventures... but he could never have a life like that."

* LossOfIdentity

* PsychicPowers: Tim Latimer

* PsychoticSmirk: Son of Mine. '''''[[http://www.danielkanolik.co.uk/Images/harrylloyd.jpg SON OF MINE.]]'''''
* {{Puppet Master}}s: The Family.
* RefusalOfTheCall: Joan. See WhatTheHellHero below.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: A ''[[TranquilFury calm]]'' example.
* RuleOfScary: There's no logical reason for the doctor to hand out such CoolAndUnusualPunishment in the end. He could have just killed them (that would have been the practical thing to do). Or he could have used the same punishment on all of them. But as it is now, this allows the writers to scare us with common everyday things, as they like to do: ''When you're standing in front of a mirror and see something move, that's Daughter of Mine trapped in there forever. And Son of Mine gets stuck suspended in time as a Scarecrow on a lonely hill.''

* ShutUpHannibal: The Headmaster delivers one to Son of Mine (which doubles as the writer criticising the way public attitudes to UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne have often been portrayed in British media):
-->'''Son of Mine:''' [[WarIsHell War is coming. In foreign fields, war of the whole wide world, with all your boys falling down in the mud]]. Do you think they will thank the man who taught them it was glorious?\\
'''Headmaster:''' Don't you forget, boy, I've been a soldier. I was in [[UsefulNotes/SecondBoerWar South Africa]], I used my dead mates as sandbags, I fought with the butt of my rifle when the bullets ran out, and I would go back there tomorrow ''[[PatrioticFervor for King and country!]]''\\
'''Son of Mine:''' ''Etcetera, etcetera!''
* SicklyGreenGlow: Inside the Family's space ship. And the Family members themselves when they use telepathy.
* SoulJar: Sort of. More like mind-jar.
* TomatoInTheMirror: John Smith. Accompanied by a brief HeroicBlueScreenOfDeath.

** Joan's speech in the end counts, as well.

* VisibleInvisibility: When Baines strikes the ship's invisibility field, it briefly becomes visible.

* WhatTheHellHero: Joan delivers a devastating TheReasonYouSuckSpeech in the episode's denouement. Too bad the Doctor doesn't seem to have listened.

* WhoWantsToLiveForever: The Family certainly don't by the end.

* TheXOfY

** The Doctor's claim that he could still be everything that John Smith was. Joan rejects the notion entirely, pointing out that John Smith was a far ''better'' man than the Doctor, who's [[ProtagonistCentredMorality alien morality]] would treat people's lives like a game and then pat himself on the back for saving people that ''he'' had put in danger to begin with.
* BoardingSchool

* OnceMoreWithClarity: The climax of the episode shows the scene that Latimer had a vision of, with him and the bully struggling alongside each other [[WorldWarOne on a muddy battlefield]]. Where the vision gave the impression that they died there, [[spoiler: Latimer, armed with his memory of the vision, knows to dodge to one side, saving both of them.]]

* UsefulNotes/ThePoppy: At the end of the episode, [[spoiler: we see an elderly Tim Latimer at a war memorial, visited by The Doctor and Martha, wearing Poppies.]]

* UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne: Looming just over the horizon. The episode does a TimeSkip at the end to show Latimer and Hutchinson on a muddy battlefield [[spoiler: and narrowly surviving.]] Then another time skip to show [[spoiler: an elderly Latimer at a war memorial, being visited by the Doctor and Martha, many years later.]]

* DissonantSerenity: Son Of Mine still wears his [[SmugSmiler shit-eating]] [[SlasherSmile grin]] after being frozen in time, and recounts his and his family's FateWorseThanDeath rather stoically.

* IdiotBall: Somehow the Family completely fails to notice the fact that Smith / the Doctor seems to be going out of his way to trip over himself and press certain buttons. It's not all that well concealed.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Despite being a PsychopathicManchild devoid of any mercy to others, Son of Mine still expresses the hope that the Doctor's yearly visits to Sister of Mine, means he might eventually decide to release her from her mirror prison.

* GoodIsNotNice: The Doctor's punishments for the Family: Father of Mine is bound in unbreakable chains and thrown down a deep shaft, Mother of Mine is jettisoned into an exploding galaxy, Daughter of Mine is trapped inside a mirror, and Son of Mine is immobilised and used as a scarecrow. Remember, the Doctor will give you one chance; fail to take it, and suffer his wrath.

* GoodIsNotNice: The Doctor's punishments for the family: Father is bound in unbreakable chains and thrown down a deep shaft, Mother is jettisoned into an exploding galaxy, Sister is trapped inside a mirror, and Brother is immobilised and used as a scarecrow. Remember, the Doctor will give you one chance; fail to take it, and suffer his wrath.

** John and Joan's aborted future together.

* UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne

* ImprovisedWeapon: Tim uses carefully timed openings of the watch to redirect the attention of the Family, and at one point uses it directly to stun Daughter of Mine.

[[caption-width-right:350:Huh, walking scarecrows? ...[[Literature/{{Goosebumps}} must be midnight]]...]]

'''WARNING! THERE MAY BE UNMARKED SPOILERS!'''

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS4E17E18TheEndOfTime This wouldn't be the last time the Doctor equated a personality change with dying.]]

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime This wouldn't be the last time the Doctor equated a personality change with dying.]]