History Recap / DoctorWhoS36E12TheDoctorFalls

** Moffat's first and last two-parters for the modern series have a CharacterActionTitle about the Doctor, which are explored in the episodes as vital character beats with Rose inviting the Ninth Doctor to dance with her in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E10TheDoctorDances "The Doctor Dances"]] and and the Twelfth Doctor declaring to both the Master and Missy that where he stands is where he falls.

* StuffedIntoTheFridge: The previous episode's {{Cliffhanger}} ''seemed'' to be playing this trope straight, but Bill's story ultimately is a subversion of it. Her side of the story is not neglected just to focus on the Doctor's guilt and struggle; as his presence jogged her memory, she reasserts her agency (though she is forced to hold back on fully expressing her anger and pain due to YouWouldntLikeMeWhenImAngry being forced upon her) and helps save the farmers. Even then, though, it seems that death is her only hope to be freed from her condition...until the woman she loves returns and helps her AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence, whereupon they go on to a happy life together, though with the catch that the Doctor might still need her and she doesn't know it, believing him to be dead (but vice versa also applies, as the Doctor doesn't know about Heather).

* NotSoDifferent: Bill ends up wandering the universe with a super-powerful time- and space-ship who is also her girlfriend. Never seen that before...

* AndThisIsFor: The Doctor lists off all the planets the Cybermen have previously shown up while making a final stand against them. Of course, these Cybermen have no idea what he's talking about, since they've never even been off the ship.

* AnywhereButTheirLips: Bill gives an apparently and permanently dead Doctor a LastKiss on the cheek.
* {{Arcadia}}: The Mondasian farming community that faces attack and assimilation from the Cybermen is a "solar farm". This means it is a positively idyllic place; there's even happy and light background music. Just watch out for the "scarecrows", i.e. captive Proto-Cybermen. "Even in Arcadia" there is death. By notable contrast, the Mondasian Cybermen originate in a PollutedWasteland of a city.

[[caption-width-right:350:A Doctor with grey hair faces the Mondasian Cybermen in a final battle that will take a great toll on his life. [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E2TheTenthPlanet Does that sound familiar?]] [[TheCameo It]] [[Creator/DavidBradley should!]] [[note]]From left to right: The Master, The Master, the Doctor and Bill Potts.[[/note]]]]

* DirtyCoward: Missy. Despite showing herself to be on the Doctor's side by knocking out her previous self, she is still willing to leave the Doctor behind after he is ambushed by a Cyberman if it means saving herself.

** The Doctor's references to the varied origins of the Cybermen aren't just generic [[CallBack call-backs]], they're references to ''specific'' origin stories of the Cybermen - Mondas ([[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho034SpareParts Spare Parts]]), Telos ([Literature/DoctorWhoNovelisations the Target novelisation of "The Moonbase"]]), Earth (the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E5RiseOfTheCybermen New Series]]), Marinus (Grant Morrison's "[[Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine The World Shapers]]") and Planet 14 (David Banks' ''[[Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures Iceberg]]''). Note that most of these stories aren't compatible with one another - in Morrison's version for example, Marinus ''is'' both Mondas and Planet 14, but in Banks' story, Planet 14 is in Earth's solar system and settled by Cybermen.

** The Doctor mentions [[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E5TheKeysOfMarinus Marinus]] as one of the planets where Cybermen originated. This idea comes from the ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' comic "The World Shapers", which was originally subject to CanonDiscontinuity when the Big Finish audio drama "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho034SpareParts Spare Parts]]" offered its own take on the origin of the Cybermen.

* FamousLastWords: During his near-regeneration at the end, Twelve quotes those of his last three regenerations.[[note]]"I'm regenerating;" "I don't want to go;" and "When the Doctor was me."[[/note]] The dialogue he ''intends'' to be his own last words, spoken while he's refusing to regenerate in the seconds before the room explodes, end up ''not'' being because he gets revived (on what appears to be a very temporary basis) a short while later.
-->'''The Doctor:''' Doctor, Doctor. Let it go. Time enough...\\
'''The Doctor:''' ''[more quietly]'' Pity. No stars. I hoped there'd be stars.

* ResidualSelf-Image: Bill

-->'''The Doctor:''' I'm not trying to win. I'm not doing this because I want to beat someone, because I hate someone, or because I want to blame someone. It's not because it's fun. God knows it's not because it's easy. It's not even because it works because it hardly ever does. I do what I do because it's right! Because it's decent! And above all, it's kind! It's just that... Just kind. If I run away today, good people will die. If I stand and fight, some of them might live. Maybe not many, maybe not for long. Hey, you know, maybe there's no point to any of this at all. But it's the best I can do. So I'm going to do it. And I'm going to stand here doing it until it kills me. And you're going to die too! Some day... And how will that be? Have you thought about it? What would you die for? Who I am is where I stand. Where I stand is where I fall.

* CharacterDevelopment: The 12th Doctor is a man who referred to Clara as his carer because "she cares so I don't have to". Compare that to his WorldOfCardBoardSpeech, where he says that he does all this stuff ''because'' he cares.

* SmallStepsHero: The Doctor knows that making sure the solar farmers escape to a higher floor and then destroying the Cybermen invading 507 will not permanently end the threat the farmers face from them (the supply of Cybermen might become finite after a certain point, but that would be a long time from now). One reason he assigns Nardole to stay with them is because they're going to ''keep'' needing a Small Steps Hero from here on out. In addition, the Doctor prioritizes keeping the farmers safe over trying to return to his TARDIS on Floor 1 and just leaving the ship even though getting back there would not only ensure his and his companions' safety but allow him to seek out a way to restore Bill's human form, making up for his inability to save her earlier. He does this simply because, even though it may be futile in the end, it is the right and kind thing, as he explains in his WorldOfCardboardSpeech.

* WorldOfCardboardSpeech: When trying to convince Saxon and Missy to join him in what will probably be a LastStand, he gives what may very well be the one speech that defines him best:
-->'''The Doctor:''' I'm not trying to win. I'm not doing this because I want to beat someone, because I hate someone, or because I want to blame someone. It's not because it's fun. God knows it's not because it's easy. It's not even because it works because it hardly ever does. I do what I do because it's right! Because it's decent! And above all, it's kind! It's just that... Just kind. If I run away today, good people will die. If I stand and fight, some of them might live. Maybe not many, maybe not for long. Hey, you know, maybe there's no point to any of this at all. But it's the best I can do. So I'm going to do it. And I'm going to stand here doing it until it kills me. And you're going to die too! Some day... And how will that be? Have you thought about it? What would you die for? Who I am is where I stand. Where I stand is where I fall.

** The Doctor is both horrified and incensed at the idea of having to regenerate yet again. So much so that he'd rather die for good on Floor 507 than have to change, and he purposefully shakes off his regeneration no less than four times. It's possible that part of this stems from his ever-present GuiltComplex, as by the end of this story he doesn't have reason to think he redeemed Missy, he wasn't able to restore Bill's humanity, and he knows that the solar farmers will have to keep on defending themselves from Cybermen. Also, as this Doctor had a longer, tougher CharacterDevelopment road than most, he's likely scared of having to go through the process of self-discovery and fulfillment yet again.

* MustMakeAmends: A failed example. The Doctor tried to rescue Bill and fulfill this trope after his attempt to put Missy on a RedemptionQuest went awry and got her wounded, but thanks to TimeDilation and Saxon he was too late to save her from Cyber-conversion. The Doctor tells her they will fix things on the hospital rooftop. Two weeks on, however, he admits to Bill that while he was not lying to her that day, he wasn't ''right'' -- he's realized he cannot restore her to her human self (actually, he probably ''could'' if they got back to the TARDIS and set off on a quest for a cure, but that isn't an option at the time). Instead, they move on to a RedemptionQuest.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: It's implied that Saxon had a '[[RagingStiffie reaction]]' to Missy aggressively throwing him up against the wall.

** In addition, "Twice Upon a Time" raises the possibility that Bill Potts '''technically''' died when Heather makes her AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence, as her Testimony avatar has no memories of events past Heather's arrival/rescue and the construct captures the memories of a person right before they die. But the {{Novelization}} of "Twice" [[AllThereInTheManual reveals that Bill actually died of old age as a human many, many years after her reunion with Heather (by choice), and the Testimony avatar simply had memories edited so she would interact with the Doctor as she did when they knew each other]], averting the trope.

** As suggested by the RayOfHopeEnding, the following episode "Twice Upon a Time" ''slightly'' amends this ending in positive ways: The Doctor learns from the Testimony that Bill does not perish as a Cyberman but has a HappyEnding with Heather (although her Glass Avatar cannot give him all the details), and finally decides to accept regeneration. The {{Novelization}} of that episode goes much further and reveals that Bill lived very happily with Heather and ultimately died of old age as a human, while Nardole and the farmers got their own SurprisinglyHappyEnding, successfully fending off Cybermen attacks until all that was left were springtime Cybermat infestations. Nardole lived on for almost '''five centuries''' and had six wives total. More details on Bill and Nardole's post-episode lives (including Bill temporarily breaking up with Heather!) appeared in the Moffat-penned 2020 short [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOJ0OU6Odh4 "The Best of Days"]], which made its debut as part of the Doctor Who Lockdown event during the COVID-19 pandemic (actually substituting for a Twitter-based fan screening of this two-parter due to the Black Lives Matter/anti-PoliceBrutality protests making a storyline involving a black character's shooting and mutilation come off in bad taste at the time).

** Missy honestly wanted to be the Doctor's friend again and redeem herself, but Saxon's influence temporarily leads her off that path. Though she ultimately decides to stand with the Doctor and slays Saxon, which will result in his becoming her, he responds by slaying ''her''. She dies alone, meaning she makes no contribution to the Doctor's FinalBattle or even receives acknowledgment for her HeelFaceTurn, and though the Master has JokerImmunity, there is no guarantee the next incarnation will retain her changed morals. [[spoiler: [[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E1E2Spyfall And as we later find out]], ''he didn't.'']]

* TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised: The "Twice Upon a Time" {{Novelization}} explains that Nardole lived for almost five centuries after this episode's events, and was successful enough at defeating later Cyberman invasions that he and the farmers only had to deal with Cybermat infestations in the spring by the time he died! More information appears in the YouTube short "The Best of Days", released in 2020.

** Missy honestly wanted to be the Doctor's friend again and redeem herself, but Saxon's influence temporarily leads her off that path. Though she ultimately decides to stand with the Doctor and slays Saxon, which will result in his becoming her, he responds by slaying ''her''. She dies alone, meaning she makes no contribution to the Doctor's FinalBattle or even receives acknowledgment for her HeelFaceTurn, and though the Master has JokerImmunity, there is no guarantee the next incarnation will retain her changed morals.

** As suggested by the RayOfHopeEnding, the following episode "Twice Upon a Time" ''slightly'' amends this ending in positive ways: The Doctor learns from the Testimony that Bill does not perish as a Cyberman but has a HappyEnding with Heather (although her Glass Avatar cannot give him all the details), and finally decides to accept regeneration. The {{Novelization}} of that episode goes much further and reveals that Bill lived very happily with Heather and ultimately died of old age as a human, while Nardole and the farmers got their own SurprisinglyHappyEnding, successfully fending off Cybermen attacks until all that was left were springtime Cybermat infestations. Nardole lived on for almost '''five centuries''' and had six wives total.

** [[AllThereInTheManual The "Twice Upon a Time" novelization]] reveals this ends up being true for Nardole as well (see BittersweetEnding above), and his Testimony avatar lets the Doctor know about it.

* TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised: The "Twice Upon a Time" {{Novelization}} explains that Nardole lived for almost five centuries after this episode's events, and was successful enough at defeating later Cyberman invasions that he and the farmers only had to deal with Cybermat infestations in the spring by the time he died!

[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see the RadioTimes magazine poster for this episode:]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thedoctorfalls_1.jpg ''[[ArcWords "Without hope.]] [[MeaningfulEcho Without witness.]] [[WhatYouAreInTheDark Without reward."]]'']][[/labelnote]]

-->-- '''The Doctor''' to Missy and the Master

-->'''The Master:''' You see, Missy, this is where we've always been going. This is our perfect ending! [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder We shoot ourselves...in the back!]]

* BrokenAesop: An explicit parallel is drawn between the Twelfth Doctor and Bill Potts's situations in this two-parter. Each ends up mortally wounded (both getting shot in the chest) and the only way each can survive is to unwillingly undergo a process that leaves them with next-to-nothing of their original body and comes with a LossOfIdentity to boot. Neither wants to live if they can't be themselves anymore. At the end, Bill is restored to an even better version of her original body by Heather, but the whole point of the {{Cliffhanger}} and GrandFinale is that the Doctor has to '''accept''' losing his identity and physical form and keep living instead of dying a noble death as both he and his companion were ready to. So Bill facing a forcible LossOfIdentity and form is treated as a total horror, but the Doctor facing the same is a wonderful new beginning? The breaking of the Aesop can be justified since Bill [[HiveMind risks becoming a mindless killing machine]] and is feared by others even with her identity intact, and the Doctor will be healthy and independent upon regeneration.

'''Missy:''' I know you've fallen.\\

[[caption-width-right:350:A Doctor with grey hair faces the Mondasian Cybermen in a final battle that will take a great toll on his life. [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E2TheTenthPlanet Does that sound familiar?]] [[TheCameo It]] [[Creator/DavidBradley should!]] [[note]]From left to right: The Master, The Master, the Doctor and [[spoiler:Bill Potts]].[[/note]]]]