History Recap / DoctorWhoS38E8TheHauntingOfVillaDiodati

* 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.

* GutturalGrowler: Ashad the lone Cyberman has an incredibly deep and grating voice, most likely augmented with a mechanical voice filter.

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** 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.

[[caption-width-right:350: Ladies and Gentlemen... it's alive.]]

The one where sanity is tempered by steel.

* 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. His mistress Claire (Mary's stepsister) is furious with him by the end of the story.

* 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]]"!

** Byron reads from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_the_Dead Tales of the Dead]] at the start of the episode, both he and the Doctor quote from his own poem "She Walks in Beauty", and at the end of the episode recites ''Literature/{{Darkness}}'', his poem about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.

* NotSoDire: While reading from a horror story there's a knock on the door, and Byron plays it up accordingly on going to answer it. The terrible monster seeking admittance turns out to be...Team TARDIS, and an inconvenient flash of lightning makes everyone scream accordingly.

* 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".

* HopeSpot: Mary tries to appeal to the Cyberman's humanity... only to find out it has long since left him.
* HumanShield: Byron ducks behind Claire when Polidori sleepwalks into the room through what they think is a wall. She is ''not'' happy with him for this later.

* SniffSniffNom: The Doctor licks the dust of some human bones to determine what century it dates back to.

-->'''Cyberman:''' I am complete enough to serve my purpose. *attempts to fire blaster*

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Yaz suggests to Claire that she might want to find someone more faithful than Byron. Claire however asks Yaz if she'd replace the enigmatic for dull and reliable. However [[CowerPower using her as a human shield]] breaks her infatuation with him.

* AllAccordingThePlan: Ryan begs the Doctor to tell him that giving the Lone Cyberman who it wants, despite the fact that Jack Harkness warned them not to, was all part of a plan. Doc says it was. Step one was saving Shelley, and step two is fixing the mess she just created.

Villa Diodati, near Lake Geneva, 1816. The infamous Creator/LordByron, along with [[Creator/MaryShelley Mary "Mrs. Shelley" Godwin]], her stepsister Claire Clairmont, and Byron's personal physician John Polidori are kept inside by a dark and stormy night, for what has been several days in a row. It is eventually suggested that maybe one of the men should read some chilling ghost stories. Byron is more than amenable, but the reading is interrupted by an unexpected knock on the door: the Doctor and company, soaking wet from a walk up from the TARDIS.

* FingertipDrugAnalysis: The Doctor licks the dust of some human bones to determine what century it dates back to.

** Byron reads from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_the_Dead Tales of the Dead]] at the start of the episode, and is shown reciting from his own poem ''Literature/{{Darkness}}'' about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.

* 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.

** When the characters find themselves supernaturally trapped in a room, Byron wonders [[Theatre/NoExit if they are in hell]]. At the end of the episode he recites from his poem ''Literature/{{Darkness}}'' about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.

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

* SlashedThroat: The lone Cyberman states that he slit the throats of his children after discovering that they joined a resistance to combat the Cyber-Empire.

* SeriesContinuityError: A minor one, but since the TARDIS can translate [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E4TheGirlInTheFireplace even French]], Graham should hear the Swiss chambermaid speaking English.