History Recap / DoctorWhoS38E8TheHauntingOfVillaDiodati

* AnythingThatMoves: The whole TARDIS crew knows Lord Byron's reputation as a philanderer and immediately agree not to let him have an inch. The Doctor in particular is ''very'' annoyed at his flirting throughout the episode. By the end, his mistress Claire (Mary's stepsister) is furious with him by the end of the story.

* AnythingThatMoves: The whole TARDIS crew knows Lord Byron's reputation as a philanderer and immediately agree not to let him have an inch. The Doctor in particular is ''very'' annoyed at his flirting throughout the episode. RealityEnsues by the end, as his mistress Claire (Mary's stepsister) is furious with him by the end of the story.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: As Ashad the Lone Cyberman fires his arm-mounted blaster at the Doctor, the beam fizzles and she says "Bit embarrassing" with a smirk.

* ForWantOfANail: The Doctor refuses to let Percy Shelley die from the Cyberium at this moment as it would make the future of culture and society unrecognizable, potentially erasing even more people. Thus, she is forced to give the Cyberium to the Lone Cyberman and deal with its consequences in the far future.

* ForWantOfANail: The Doctor refuses to let Percy Shelley die at this moment as it would make the future of culture and society unrecognizable, potentially erasing even more people.

* WhatTheHellHero: The Doctor flips out when Ryan suggests that they should let Shelley die to save billions of lives, which seems like a pretty reasonable suggestion. She explains that the math is not as simple as one life versus billions, as sacrificing Percy Shelley would significantly alter Earth's timeline to the point that the fam's present, the 2010s/2020s, would no longer be the same present they came from.

* TakeAThirdOption: The Doctor uses a Time Lord trick to momentarily kill Percy so the Cyberium will leave his body and bind itself to her. The Cyberman can't force her to give it up, so it threatens to destroy the planet unless she willingly relinquishes it.

* BodyHorror: The Lone Cyberman. It looks like someone tried to put him through cyber-conversion and quit halfway through. Half his face-mask is missing, as are one of his gloves, both exposing the pale skin beneath.

* HelpingHands: Byron has, for very Byronic reasons, brought a 15th-century sailor's skeleton to the party in a chest. Its hands, and only its hands, are reanimated and escape. One of them tries to throttle Ryan, conveniently putting the idea of a duel out of Polidori's mind. Later on, the skull has also animated, though it's being kept in a glass jar and doesn't do anything meaningful.

* AlienGeometries: The PerceptionFilter of the Cyberium creates the illusion of looping stairs and rooms.

* DemBones: Byron has, for very Byronic reasons, brought a 15th-century sailor's skeleton to the party in a chest. Its hands, and only its hands, are reanimated and escape. One of them tries to throttle Ryan, conveniently putting the idea of a duel out of Polidori's mind. Later on, the skull has also animated, though it's being kept in a glass jar and doesn't do anything meaningful.

* BeenThereShapedHistory: The Cyberman's conflicted feelings and nature are implied to have inspired ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'', despite the Doctor's early orders that nobody should mention the novel.
** On a lesser note, the episode ends with Byron's public recital of his poem "[[https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43825/darkness-56d222aeeee1b Darkness]]"--with its closing phrase, "She was the Universe", implying it was also inspired by Thirteenth's showing this episode.
* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: The villa goes full [[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E1Castrovalva "Castrovalva"]] under the influence of the Cyberium.

* TheBusCameBack :The first appareance of the Cybermen in any way, shape or form in this doctor's run.

** Series 12 [[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E1E2Spyfall started]] with the Doctor teaming up with Byron's daughter. Now she and her companions meet the man himself. The Doctor actually mentions having met Ada to Byron.
** The Doctor [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E3UnderTheLake still]] does not believe in ghosts.
** When the Doctor identifies the ghostly figure as a time traveller, the shot is similar to the depiction of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E9Hide another time-traveller mistaken for a ghost]].

** The Doctor declares that she won't let [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E11WorldEnoughAndTime anyone else be turned into a Cyberman]].

** When the Cyberium enters the Doctor, she gets a bit [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E12NightmareInSilver "Mr Clever"]], only this time it's her own vanity talking.

** The multiple fits of self-loathing Twelve had for "losing people" really come out in Thirteen's early minor breakdown about the Cybermen.

* HopeSpot: Mary tries to appeal to the Cyberman's humanity.... only to find out it has long since left him.

* MythologyGag: In the Big Finish audio dramas, Mary Shelley was a companion of the Eighth Doctor for some time, where the two did also encounter Cybermen. This episode ends up taking inspiration and some story beats from two of their stories together; specifically [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho123TheCompanyOfFriends "Mary’s Story"]] (another horror-themed story set in Villa Diodati where the “monster” gets electrocuted) and [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho153TheSilverTurk "The Silver Turk"]] (Mary encounters a damaged Cyberman who partially inspires ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'').
* NeckLift: The Cyberman gives one to Byron's valet when their paths cross, before breaking his neck.

* NiceHat: Thirteen takes a page out of Eleven's book: picking up a French war helmet and wearing it just for the hell of it. It even looks like the hat One wore in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E8TheReignOfTerror "The Reign of Terror"]]!
* NoEqualOpportunityTimeTravel: While the Doctor has had people crushing on them before, Thirteen’s brilliance while looking like a small blonde woman gets her condescended to and fetishised by Byron. She gets especially annoyed by him calling her “Mrs Doctor”.
* NominalImportance: Ashad is the first Cyberman to use an individual name in TV canon since their first appearance in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E2TheTenthPlanet "The Tenth Planet"]].

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When choosing between killing Percy and letting the Cyberman get what it wants, the Doctor makes it clear that the "flat team structure" that has been previously mentioned is not truly the case, when it's often her left having to make the impossible decisions with far reaching consequences, alone, because no one else can.

'''Dr. Polidori:''' ''[Matter-of-factly]'' The North.

* ShownTheirWork: Unlike many works where it would be relevant, the Doctor actually mentions that it’s [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer The Year Without a Summer]], caused by the ash cloud from the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia.

* WhatTheHellHero: The Doctor flips out when Ryan very reasonably asks if they should let Shelley die to save billions of lives. She explains that the math is not as simple as one life versus billions, as sacrificing Percy Shelley would significantly alter Earth's timeline to the point that the fam's present, the 2010s/2020s, would no longer be the same present they came from.

* WhatTheHellHero: The Doctor flips out when Ryan very reasonably asks if they should let Shelley die to save billions of lives, and insists on allowing a future war to nearly destroy humanity instead.

* WhatTheHellHero: The Doctor is none too pleased with Ryan suggesting they kill Shelley, prompting her to lay out the potential consequences. Given the circumstances, though, it's clear they both have a point.

* ContrivedCoincidence: Two seemingly real ghosts just happen to appear on Villa Diodati at the exact same time the Cyberman attacks it, making a fake haunting and a real haunting coincide with no apparent connection.

* ContrivedCoincidence: Two seemingly real ghosts just happen to appear on Villa Diodati at the exact same time the Cyberman attacks it, making a fake haunting and a real haunting coincide with no seeming connection.

'''Lord Byron:''' No, she is from somewhere far, far stranger.\\

* BodyHorror: The Lone Cyberman. It looks like someone tried to put him through Cyber-conversion and quit halfway through. Half his face-mask is missing, as are one of his gloves, both exposing the pale skin beneath.

* MyGreatestFailure: The Doctor still feels the sorrow of losing Bill Potts to Cyber-conversion. (And probably [[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E6Earthshock Adric]] as well.)

* RedemptionQuest: Having failed to keep the Cyberium out of the hands of the Lone Cyberman despite her best efforts to do so ''without'' risking humanity's evolution/existence in the process, the Doctor (with her companions) sets off on one at the end of the episode by travelling to ''his'' time to confront the might of the entire Cyber Empire.

'''Dr. Polidori:''' The North?

** When the characters find themselves supernaturally trapped in a room, Byron wonders [[Theatre/NoExit if they are in hell]].