History Recap / DoctorWhoS33E11TheCrimsonHorror

* WaxMuseumMorgue: A model town is filled with preserved bodies, kept in stasis for what the BigBad of the Week believes is the coming apocalypse. The Doctor must rescue his companion Clara, who has been subjected to the process [[spoiler:but thankfully she gets better]].

Written by Creator/MarkGatiss.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"Oh, 'aven't ye 'eard, luv? There's trouble a' t'mill."'']]

** Sweetville is an evil version of real Victorian planned communities set up by religiously philanthropic employers, like [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Sunlight Port Sunlight]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltaire Saltaire]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bournville Bournville]].

The one where the Doctor accidentally joins the Red Man Group.

'''Mrs. Gillyflower:''' ''[holds out her hands]'' Do you know what these are? ''[laughs]'' The wrong hands!\\\

** Surely unintentional, but Creator/RachaelStirling is [[Series/TippingTheVelvet once again in a story involving Victorian lesbians]].

** "The repulsive story of the Red Leech" is a NoodleIncident in ''Literature/SherlockHolmes''.

* AbusiveParents: When we're introduced to Ada Gillyflower, we're told that she was blinded by her father. It's later revealed that Ada's scarring actually came from experiments done by her mother. [[DisappearedDad Who knows what even happened to poor Poppy]], but given who his wife is/was, we don't blame him for not sticking around... [[BlackWidow if Ada hasn't already gotten around to that...]]

** The Doctor and Ada share ''many'', including a very sweet kiss on the cheek.

* AndIMustScream: Slightly downplayed with the Doctor -- he ''can'' move... barely, and he can't make any noise except for unintelligible groans. His reaction to the BitchSlap also implies he couldn't feel touch either.

* ATeamFiring: During Strax's BigDamnHeroes [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZk_0ydzqGI&list=PLE5C39AD121C26F8E&index=158 moment]], he fires at a bunch of Sweetsville residents in a narrow hallway but injures nobody. Both the Doctor and Jenny were in the way, after all. He fired away from them to scatter the group and then kept on out of, well, sheer being himself, after the bad guys had ran.

* BadassAndChildDuo: Strax the warrior and [[StreetUrchin Thomas Thomas]] the navigator. Spin-off, anyone?
* BadassInDistress: Jenny finds the Doctor chained up in a room after being paralysed by Sweetville's process.

'''Mrs. Gillyflower:''' That's... my girl!

* TheBeautifulElite: Mrs. Gillyflower's muscle are all young and attractive, and she only wants the best-looking people for her "utopia". Subverted in that they are all factoryworkers.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Both Mrs. Gillyflower and Mr. Sweet learn that the hard way when Ada beats them with her cane.
* {{Blackmail}}: Knowing about the Doctor, Clara's children demand to come along on her next trip -- or they'll tell their father what they know.

-->'''Doctor:''' Mrs Gillyflower, you have no idea what you are dealing with. In the wrong hands, that venom could wipe out all life on this planet.
-->'''Mrs. Gillyflower:''' Do you know what these are? ''(holds out her hands)'' [[EvilLaugh Hahahaha!]] The wrong hands!

** While passing himself and Clara off as a married couple interested in Sweetville, the Doctor speaks in a heavy Northern accent reminiscent of Nine.
** The Doctor borrows Five's "Brave heart" catchphrase (and not for the first time). This could be a ShoutOut to ''Series/TheAvengers1960s'' considering Diana Rigg.

* ADayInTheLimelight: Vastra, Jenny and Strax get the focus this time. The Doctor doesn't show up for a good chunk of it.
* DeathAsComedy: A rare application of the trope, as the show usually treats death as a serious subject. In this episode, however, the deaths of both Mrs. Gillyflower and Mr. Sweet are basically played for laughs. The Doctor even pulls several faces as he watches an old woman plummet to her death (this being the same character who is willing to forgive mass murderers), while [[KickTheSonOfABitch Clara seems to be on the verge of smirking]].
* DeathEqualsRedemption: Subverted when a dying Mrs. Gillyflower asks Ada to forgive her; Ada says "Never".

* DisneyVillainDeath: Mrs. Gillyflower dies by falling from a long flight of stairs.

* TheDogBitesBack: Ada, after learning her mother's true colours, smacks her with her stick.
* DoubleEntendre: Strax saying, "I'm going to go play with my grenades," is definitely meant to refer to actual grenades in his case, but [[ADateWithRosiePalms it can be interpreted a whole OTHER way...]][[note]]Although Sontarans are a OneGenderRace who reproduce by cloning, so one has to wonder whether they even have "grenades".[[/note]]

* EnhanceButton: Invoked. The Doctor's comment that the human retina can retain an image upon death leads to the coroner taking a photo of the deceased's eyes. Vastra and company enhance it the old-fashioned way, ie. in the darkroom, and get their first clue.
* EvilCripple: Subverted. Ada is blind and was initially helping her mother's EvilPlan, but saves the Doctor and is shown to actually be a very decent person.

* EyeRemember: Zigzaggged; both Vastra and the Doctor point out this is a myth with no scientific basis, however the weird effects of the crimson horror venom make it a reality for its victims.

* FaintInShock: There's a running gag where Vastra's client faints whenever he encounters one of the unusual aspects of the case, starting with his first sight of her unveiled face.
* FailedASpotCheck: Jenny manages to pick a locked door while surrounded by a large crowd. One of the extras is clearly looking right at her.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: At the end, the kids show Clara a photo of herself in period clothing, and claim it's from Victorian London. Clara is confused because she'd been in Victorian ''Yorkshire'', not London ... but [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E1DeepBreath she will be]].
* GRatedDrug: Strax appears to be his usual BloodKnight self, but it turns out he's been on the sherbet. However, this is still at heart a children's show, and Strax is technically very young and childlike so it's simply a reference to Strax getting a sugar rush from ''ice cream''.
-->''Sherbet has been used in parts of both the UK and Australia as slang for an alcoholic drink, especially beer. This use is noted in a slang dictionary as early as 1890, and still appears in list of slang terms written today (especially lists of Australian slang). "We're heading to the pub for a few sherbets." -- ... pints of beer.'' In the later episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E13TheNameOfTheDoctor The Name of the Doctor]]", Strax is seen visiting a friend in Glasgow, in a pub.
** In the UK "Showbiz Sherbet" sometimes refers to cocaine, which is also consumed as a powder.
* GuineaPigFamily: Mrs. Gillyflower experimented on her daughter to devise an immunity to the red venom for herself.

* KarmicDeath: Mrs. Gillyflower shoots at Strax first, Strax misses Mrs. Gillyflower but she falls anyway.

* LanternJawOfJustice: The Doctor's chin is definite proof that he's an alien.

* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: Ada can't bring herself to betray her mother, even after she finds out about her schemes -- but when she finds out that Winifred caused her blindness, she dashes toward her, practically frothing with rage.

* MoodWhiplash: Ada's story is truly horrific, and her mother probably ranks among the most cruel mothers in the history of science fiction. Hearing what Mrs. Gillyflower put Ada through and revealing that she was responsible for the scars causes the rather lighthearted, if horrific storyline seen thus far to take a turn to the dark, only for the whip to lash in the opposite direction again as Gillyflower and Mr. Sweet meet a blackly comedic end.
* MoreDakka: As always, rapid and suppressive fire is Strax's ''plan de campagne''. It works too, TWICE.

-->'''Jenny:''' But Doctor, you've never explained about the girl!\\

** In the end, the Red Leech seems to be only going on survival, seeing as Gillyflower is the real villain. The Doctor was about to send it home before it was squished.
* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: Eleven is even more touchy-feely than usual. Getting back to normal after weeks as a barely ambulatory zombie will do that to you.

* PapaWolf: The Doctor is ''very'' protective of Ada. Gillyflower's actions make him concerned, worried, and determined, but it's her treatment of Ada that makes him angry.

* PsychopathicManchild: Strax. "I'm going to go play with my grenades..." This could also be a substitute for "I'm gonna go masturbate." Though in Strax's case that seems highly unlikely, given the clone race thing.

** After showing unusual accuracy over the past few episodes, the TARDIS reverts to her old tricks and stops in Yorkshire instead of London.

* SeenItAll: If you really look at it, Thomas Thomas. He had no objections to hopping in a carriage and driving off with a giant talking potato who had just threatened to shoot and eat his horse right in front of him.
* SenseLossSadness: The Doctor spends a few weeks struck by the crimson horror, completely numbed. That's why he enjoys Jenny's slap.

* SoMuchForStealth: The Doctor knocking over a spanner as our heroes rise to kick ass. Everyone quickly ducks back behind cover again.

** There's also a ScreamDiscretionShot with the first victim.

* WaxMuseumMorgue: a model town is filled with preserved bodies, kept in stasis for what the BigBad of the Week believes is the coming apocalypse. The Doctor must rescue his companion Clara who has been subjected to the process [[spoiler:but thankfully she gets better]].

* {{Yandere}}: Downplayed. Ada is a mild example for the Doctor, which is why he's in the attic and not dead. It's played for sympathy, as we get the feeling that she's so broken that her creepiness is the only way she ''can'' express affection and sympathy. The Doctor also doesn't seem to mind either, once he's back to normal.

* AluminiumChristmasTrees: There really were planned company towns for workers in both Europe and America where everyone lived next to their factory (Hershey being a notable American example). Such communities, in which workers were paid by a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truck_system truck system]] (a.k.a. "cash" that can only be spent at the company store), were more of the "slow, mundane, awful" horror rather than alien leech venom horror.

* AndIMustScream: Slightly downplayed with the Doctor -- he ''can'' move... barely, and he can't make any noise except for unintelligible groans. His reaction to the ArmourPiercingSlap also implies he couldn't feel touch either.

* ArmourPiercingSlap: The Doctor gets one courtesy of Jenny after giving her a SmoochOfVictory. He ''welcomes'' it.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Jerusalem is sung here in 1895, twenty one years before it was set to music by C.H.H. Parry in 1916.

* MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter: Ada, although her beauty is of the disfigured variety; she fulfills the "fall for TheHero and betray the evil parent" aspect.

** The style of Jenny's fight scene explicitly mirrors Diana Rigg's own fight scenes in ''Series/TheAvengers1960s'', right down to a degree of StylisticSuck in the effects. The Doctor's bowler hat is also a reference to the series. ''Series/DoctorWho'' and ''Series/TheAvengers1960s'' are traditionally FriendlyFandoms, both being created by Creator/SydneyNewman.

* NiceHat:
** The Doctor wears a bowler. Bowlers are cool.
** Strax shows up at the end in a Victorian top hat.

* BerserkButton: Ada, upon learning that her mother experimented on her, beats the ever living crap out of her with her cane. And later, she gives Mr. Sweet a similar treatment.

* {{Fainting}}: There's a running gag of Vastra's client fainting whenever he encounters one of the unusual aspects of the case, starting with his first sight of her unveiled face. The woman Jenny pays to cause a distraction obliges by pretending to faint.