History Recap / DoctorWhoS32E5TheRebelFlesh

* BladeOnAStick: The workers are armed with what look like poleaxes.

-> '''Cleaves:''' Once a reading's been taken, we can manipulate its molecular structure into anything. Replicate a living organism down to the hairs on its chinny chin chin. Even clothes. And everything's identical. Eyes, voice--\\

The one with acid.

%%* BioPunk

The one with acid. Strax would be pleased. Oh, yeah. We're not to him yet. Never mind- off you pop.

* CaptainObvious: The Doctor determines that "something corrosive" is flowing through the pipe marked "DANGER: CORROSIVE". And again after the storm causes leaks. To be fair, he ''did'' just almost get a faceful of HollywoodAcid.

* CeilingCling: Ganger!Jennifer pulls one off when stalking human Jennifer.
* ChekhovsGun: The Ganger!Doctor still wearing the right shoes after the original stepped into the acid and had to replace them might turn into one, as well. Remember -- the Flesh mimics the clothing worn by the original the instant it is scanned, and the Doctor walked out into the acid after that.

* ClonesArePeopleToo: Once again, the Doctor insists that the Gangers are no less valuable than their originals and plans to save both.

** The trailer indicates the Gangers may be the same as, or similar to, the state [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E1NewEarth Lady Cassandra was in]]. They also seem to be "forced-growth clones" like Chip. The Doctor is familiar with the Flesh used to create them, suggesting it is in a "primitive state".

*** It actually seems possible that what the Sontarans used was the same base technology, just different because it was developed by a more technologically advanced and much more warlike race.

* FantasticRacism: Humans think of Gangers as "monsters" and "mistakes". It doesn't take long for the Gangers to think of humans as cruel and oppressive.

%% * 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.

* LosingAShoeInTheStruggle: The Doctor's shoes get caught in the acid and he's forced to ditch them and leave them to melt, then acquires a pair of work shoes from the factory to replace them. Pay attention to that, as it will [[ChekhovsGun come up]] later.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Despite the Doctor starting a peaceful dialogue between the humans and Gangers, human Cleaves kills Ganger!Buzzer, starting a war between the two factions.

* NoOSHACompliance: {{Justified|Trope}} in that military facilities and their contractors are usually exempt from many environmental laws. Not to mention that using the Gangers ''is'' a safety procedure. They are considered mere tools by the humans, so if one is destroyed it's no different to them from a pair of rubber gloves getting damaged.

* RemoteBody: The Gangers are ''supposed'' to be empty vehicles for the humans to operate in dangerous circumstances.

* SpaceIsAnOcean: Solar tsunami. [[RealityIsUnrealistic It's an alternate name for a Moreton coronal shockwave. Go fig.]]

* TomatoInTheMirror: Gangers may not realize they are Gangers until they experience something non-human, like stretchy limbs.

The second wave of the solar tsunami causes the Gangers to separate from the people they're being controlled by. The clones are now separate, independent people, retaining all of their original memories. They are horrified by the fact that they're not "real". They can remember every second of their "original's" life and feel every emotion they've ever experienced. The white Flesh rebels against the change, and causes their faces to distort.

** To ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers'' (1956): the early shots of Ganger!Jennifer slowly taking on definition are rather... familiar. There's also the general idea of exact duplicates killing and replacing their originals.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Ganger!Buzzer says being in the acid is a real pain in the... arm.

* CreatorThumbprint: [[Series/LifeOnMars2006 Matthew]] [[Series/AshesToAshes Graham]] likes the image of a weathervane foreshadowing something important, characters playing darts, using '70s music in his shows, and casting Marshall Lancaster as a bumbling type of character.

** Ganger|Jennifer grotesquely stretches her head and limbs when she first attacks Rory.
** Ganger|Cleaves rotates her head through 180 degrees to face directly behind her.

* BodyHorror: Jennifer's ganger grotesquely stretches its head and limbs when it first attacks Rory.

* LosingAShoeInTheStruggle: The Doctor's shoes get caught in the acid and he's forced to ditch them and leave them to melt, then acquires a pair of work shoes from the factory to replace them. Pay attention to that, as it will come up later.

[[caption-width-right:350:The show decides to take another crack at a clone story . . .]]

* {{Cliffhanger}}: The humans have barricaded themselves in the old chapel, where the Flesh is kept, and they've just met the Doctor's Ganger . . .

** As in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E4TheSontaranStratagem "The Sontaran Stratagem"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E5ThePoisonSky "The Poison Sky"]], the Doctor encounters a large tank made to clone someone, and the clone has all the memories of the original person.

** To ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers'' (1956): the early shots of Ganger!Jennifer slowly taking on definition are rather . . . familiar. There's also the general idea of exact duplicates killing and replacing their originals.

-> '''Cleaves''': Once a reading's been taken, we can manipulate its molecular structure into anything. Replicate a living organism down to the hairs on its chinny chin chin. Even clothes. And everything's identical. Eyes, voice-\\
'''The Doctor''': Mind, soul?

The one so much about the concept of "us and them" that it would make Roger Waters shed a tear.

* BladeOnAStick: The workers are armed with what look like pole-axes.

* CaptainObvious: The Doctor determines that "something corrosive" is flowing through the pipe marked "DANGER: CORROSIVE." And again after the storm causes leaks. To be fair, he ''did'' just almost get a face-full of HollywoodAcid.

** Once again, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E8TheImpossiblePlanet the Doctor is dealing with a slave race]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E3PlanetOfTheOod rebelling against their human masters.]]

* FantasticRacism: Humans think of Gangers as "monsters" and "mistakes". It doesn't take long for the Gangers to think of humans as cruel and oppresive.

* NeverSayDie: Gangers, being considered implements, are not killed but "decommissioned". [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that the originals don't consider them alive to begin with. It's like driving a fork lift; you can't "kill" a fork lift, now can you?

-->'''The Doctor:''' I have to get to that cockerel before all hell breaks loose. I never thought I'd get to say that [[ARareSentence again!]]

* TomatoInTheMirror: Gangers may not realize they are Gangers until they experience something non-human like stretchy limbs.

* ArcWords: Or Arc Person -- the Eyepatch Lady is seen again.

* ChekhovsGun:
** The Ganger!Doctor still wearing the right shoes after the original stepped into the acid and had to replace them might turn into one, as well. Remember -- the Flesh mimics the clothing worn by the original the instant it is scanned, and the Doctor walked out into the acid after that.

[[caption-width-right:350:The show decides to take another crack at a clone story...]]

A solar tsunami sends the TARDIS hurtling towards a 22nd Century factory on Earth, where human Doppelgängers ("Gangers") are used to mine dangerous acid. They use white goo called "Flesh" to create avatars, which can safely mine while the people are controlling them with their thoughts.

%%* CallBack:

** The Ganger Doctor still wearing the right shoes after the original stepped into the acid and had to replace them might turn into one, as well. Remember -- the Flesh mimics the clothing worn by the original the instant it is scanned, and the Doctor walked out into the acid after that.

* CloningBlues: The Gangers, upon becoming independent, are scared, angry, and desperate to confirm that their memories are real. The Doctor is the only one to understand this.

** As in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E4TheSontaranStratagem "The Sontaran Stratagem"]] and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E5ThePoisonSky "The Poison Sky"]], the Doctor encounters a large tank made to clone someone, and the clone has all the memories of the original person.

** Once again, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E8TheImpossiblePlanet The Doctor is dealing with a slave race]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E3PlanetOfTheOod rebelling against their human masters.]]

-->'''The Doctor:''' I have to get to that cockerel before all hell breaks loose! [...] I never thought I'd get to say that [[NoodleIncident again]].
* RemoteBody: The Gangers are ''supposed'' to be empty vehicles for the humans to operate in dangerous circumstances

** To ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers'' (1956): the early shots of Ganger!Jennifer slowly taking on definition are rather... familiar. There's also the general idea of exact duplicates killing and replacing their originals.
** The Gangers' [[Literature/HarryPotter Voldemort-esque]] appearance seems to be lampshaded when Ganger!Jenny says she'll take care of "the spare one".

* TitleDrop: For next episode: Both the Doctor and Rory refer to the Gangers as [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E6TheAlmostPeople "almost people"]].

* UsedFuture: It is the 22nd century, and the acid mine in the monastery is very dark and battered.

'''Doctor''': Mind, soul?

A solar tsunami sends the TARDIS hurtling towards a 22nd Century factory on Earth, where human Doppelgängers ("Gangers") are used to mine dangerous acid. They use [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E4TheSontaranStratagem the white clone goo]] to create avatars, which can safely mine while the people are controlling them with their thoughts.

The second wave of the solar tsunami, causes the Gangers to separate from the people they're being controlled by. The clones are now separate, independent people, retaining all of their original memories. They are horrified by the fact that they're not "real". They can remember every second of their "original's" life and feel every emotion they've ever experienced. The white Flesh rebels against the change, and causes their faces to distort.

* ArcWords: Or Arc Person -- Eye-Patch lady is seen again.

-->'''Doctor:''' It is ''too'' dangerous in here with acid leaks!
* CeilingCling: Ganger Jennifer pulls one off when stalking human Jennifer.

** The Ganger Doctor still wearing the right shoes after the Original stepped into the acid and had to replace them might turn into one, as well. Remember -- The Flesh mimics the clothing worn by the original the instant it is scanned, and the Doctor walked out into the acid after that.

** The trailer indicates the Gangers may be the same as, or similar to, the state [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E1NewEarth Lady Cassandra was in]]. They also seem to be "forced-growth clones" like Chip. The Doctor is familiar with the flesh used to create them, suggesting it is in a "primitive state".

* FantasticRacism: Humans think of Gangers as "monsters" and "mistakes". It doesn't take long for the Gangers to think of Humans as cruel and oppresive.

* GlamourFailure: The Gangers aren't stable yet so they shift back and forth between the gooey Early Flesh and the human Finished Flesh.
* HollywoodAcid: The acid they're mining dissolves things very quickly - to the extent that they were losing a worker every week before they had gangers.

* LetsGetDangerous: Usually timid Rory pounces on Cleaves when she kills Ganger Buzzer.
* LightningCanDoAnything: Causing a power surge is hardly the silliest thing it's ever accomplished in fiction, it's also what causes the Gangers to become self-aware and independent.

* NiceGuy: Rory is seen this way by the Jennifer-Ganger, who says he has "kind eyes".
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Despite the Doctor starting a peaceful dialogue between the humans and gangers, human Cleaves kills Ganger Buzzer, starting a war between the two factions.

-->'''The Doctor:''' I have to get to that cockerel before all hell breaks loose. I never thought I'd get to say that again!

* OopNorth: The monastery is an island off the Yorkshire coast. The Doctor even tries to use Oop North humor.
* PercussiveMaintenance: A weird example. Ganger!Jennifer at one point emphatically beats her fist against her chest; with each hit she instantly shifts between looking normal and look semi-Ganger.

* RubberMan: The Gangers can stretch their limps. Rory gets a nasty stretchy punch.
%%*SchizoTech

** To ''Film/TheThing1982'': The flesh can mimic anyone or anything, and can stretch body parts. Buzzer even refers to a ganger as "you thing".

* SpaceIsAnOcean: "Solar tsunami. [[RealityIsUnrealistic It's an alternate name for a Moreton coronal shockwave. Go fig.]]

* TomatoInTheMirror: Gangers may not realize they are Gangers until they experience something non-human like stretchy limps.

* SpaceIsAnOcean: "Solar tsunami."
** RealityIsUnrealistic: "Solar tsunami" is an alternate name for a Moreton coronal shockwave. Go fig.

** Rory mentions to Jennifer that the Doctor's number one rule is [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E4TheGirlInTheFireplace "Don't wander off".]]

-> ''"I've to get to that cockerel before all hell breaks loose! \\
\\
(Beat) \\
\\
...I never thought I'd have to say that again."''
-->-- '''The Doctor'''

* NeverSayDie: Gangers, being considered implements, are not killed but "decommissioned". [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that the originals don't consider them alive to begin with. They like driving a fork lift; you can't "kill" a fork lift now can you?

* ActingForTwo: Most of the characters in this episode have a corresponding Ganger, and share scenes with them. Including the Doctor.