"When you look out at the skies at night, what do you see? Starlight. From millions of stars. And that's just the light that's arrived here at one point in time. You can see every star, every planet, in one point of time, and never get the full picture. So really, the question isn't where... but when."
—The Eleventh Inspector
Inspector Spacetime is a British sci-fi series that has been on the air since 1962 and has gained a worldwide following. It's long since established its niche as a cult classic.The Inspector is an alien from a faraway planet who has come to Earth to rescue us from dangers across space and time. He travels the universe in his snug BOOTH*
, which takes the form of a red telephone box. The BOOTH is famously "just a little too small on the inside," adjusting its interior dimensions to almost, but not quite, comfortably accommodate its occupants. Even when the Inspector is alone the BOOTH retains its cozily cramped atmosphere. This is often alluded to as the reason that friendships formed in the BOOTH are the closest one ever makes. Even so, as the Inspector says, "There's always space for one more."The Inspector often recruits Associates, most notably Constable Reginald Wigglesworth (Reggie). He has also amassed a rogues gallery of villains over the years that includes the Blorgons*
a.k.a. the Blogons
, the Digifleet, and the Sergeant. Optic Pocketknife in hand, he will investigate the horrors of the universe.The Inspector is the last of the Infinity Knights, the race of people who lived on his home planet of Kayaclasch. They once policed the universe with their advanced space-time technological inventions, such as the BOOTH, but grew arrogant and corrupt in their twilight. They were destroyed by their war with the Blorgons, and the Inspector is the lone survivor... or is he?Now, to ease his solitude and pass on his knowledge, the Inspector brings Associates along for adventures as he travels the universe, inspecting the roots of all its mysteries. He is a man who must often make tough decisions to meet his ends. Like all Infinity Knights, the Inspector was born without a heart, which explains his tendency to be cruel at times. His personal quest for a 'substitute' for this organ has so far been unsuccessful since duty and danger always come first. Still set on this goal, he often takes on Associates who are similarly searching for something or looking to improve themselves. Except Jeffrey. Everyone hates Jeffrey.The Inspector's Associates provide something unique to the cast with each new addition, such as classic favorites the math and English teachers Irma and Bart, the Gaelic swordsman Aiden, the late Jeffrey, the barbarian princess Reena, fellow Infinity Knight Lunda, the genius Yosif, and the long-runner Mary Sue. (There are a few forgettable ones, though, like the utterly nondescript Benjamin.) More recent Associates include Lily Taylor, Captain James Haggard, the Magnificent Bastard Yorke, Constable Wigglesworth, Angelica "Angie" Lake, and Rory Williams.A long runner that might cause some Archive Panic with the sheer AMOUNT of canon there is to go through, but it's well worth the hours you'll spend watching it.*
In all seriousness, though, there is already an effort in motion to write actual episodes of this series found here
A Spin-Off series, Peacemist: Nicer Post, began airing in 2005. It stars Captain James Haggard and is significantly more family friendly than the current Inspector Spacetime.A second spin-off series, The Mary Sue Predicaments—far edgier and more thoughtful than its precursors—was recently cut short by the death of the lead actress.A children's FE-Line series named simply FE-Line, produced by an unrelated Japanese television company, has been running for the past three years, and yes, that is where those strange vids of Giant FE-Line came from.Other facets of the vast Inspector Spacetime media empire include American, British, and Japanese comic books, two different animated adaptations (one Eastern, one Western), novels, radio dramas, and video games.Not to be confused with a far less popular imitator.It has a recap page here.The origin of this landmark television show requires detailed examination.*
In reality, Inspector Spacetime is a recurring gag/homage to Doctor Who made by Community, which first appeared in its season 3 premiere and has been occasionally referred to in later episodes. But that doesn't mean we can't have our own fun with it! Most recently, there is a fundraising drive by Travis Richey for an independent webseries, in hopes of making fiction FACT.
This show provides examples of:
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In-Universe Tropes
Abandoned Area: Favored by the BTV's budget-conscious producers during the classic series in order to hold down the costs of casting extras and constructing elaborate sets, notably the lost city of Izzomun in "Funeral of the Blorgons", the dark matter world in "The Three Inspectors", and the Circuit-Chap–infested Paris Métro in "The Revolution".
Aborted Arc: Several in the Seventh Inspector era, first thanks to the dumbing down of the scripts, then the programme's cancellation in 1988. The Instructor plotline in particular was Left Hanging with many questions unanswered.
Absurdly Youthful Mother: Following a drunken one-night stand astride the Interstellar Date Line, Angie is now several centuries younger than the resulting daughter, Brooke.
Until The Reveal that Brooke is actually Angie's grandmother, and the real baby was whisked off to be sold to a sweatshop orbiting Neptune. The trope still stands, though, because Brooke is still fifteen minutes and thirty-two seconds younger than her granddaughter.
Achilles Heel: In "The Crime Sports" we learn that the BOOTH isn't invulnerable after all. (At least when facing other Infinity Knights...)
The Circuit-Chaps are invincible except when exposed to lead dust, which clogs their condensers. When confronted by it, they exclaim, "Get the lead out!"
In later episodes—like 1976's "Blood and Servos"—this weakness is exaggerated to the point where the Inspector is able to rout the Circuit-Chaps by reading the Encyclopedia Cosmosica entry for "lead" to them.
This is not the first time Ellen McLain (the voice of Cabin in "The Inspector's Ex") has played a cheerful, friendly psychopath who wants to destroy you.
The Sixth Inspector era had the Running Gag of Graham Chapman's various Monty Python co-workers popping up in brief, appropriately bizarre, cameos. The most infamous by far was Michael Palin playing Pontius Pilate again.
Not to mention Chapman's imitation of a "pepperpot" when first regenerating in the Fifth Inspector's dress.
The Adventure Continues: Irma and Bert cheerfully go off to explore a far-future Earth when they part ways with the Inspector. They never appeared on the show again, but a couple of Expanded Universe novels were written about their escapades.
The Sergeant, although a classic "bent copper", remains perpetually cheerful despite the Inspector constantly foiling his schemes, which he passes off as friendly competition.
Ms Patch is a little old lady who drinks tea, knits and...plans to kill the Inspector with her minions, the Quiet Men.
Alien Invasion: Mainly Type Two, particularly during the Fourth Inspector's forced reassignment to 1970s Earth when any given episode's mysterious malefactor would turn out to be secretly conspiring with an extraterrestrial invasion, one the Sergeant's schemes, or both.
Aliens in Wylf-y-Fwddoch: The trope namer. The Welsh hamlet of Wylf-y-Fwyddoch, population 109, is the site of multiple rips in the fabric of spacetime, allowing anything that runs on chrono-spacial flux energy (like the BOOTH) to recharge its batteries there. (Also, it's a fair bit cheaper to film in the Welsh countryside than in London.) Peacemist is almost exclusively set in this location.
Almighty Janitor: Cabin, the BOOTH's holographic in-flight waitress who turns out to be psychopathic and takes over the BOOTH.
Always Chaotic Evil: Pretty much the whole point of the Time Deviants. While they look and act human, they're actually soulless psychopaths who feed off of chaos and destruction. The fact that Yorke was able to keep this behavior in check from the time he started traveling with the Tenth Inspector to the time he saved a fleet of Blorgons from the Time Wave is impressive.
Always Save the Girl: Subverted in "The Doomsday Scenario", where the Inspector deliberately leaves Lunda at the mercy of the Horrible Horde. She survives... but plots revenge.
Americans Are Cowboys: Veneziana is a classic example of this trope... sort of. She is from Newer South Wales, a rather bizarre 24th century Earth colony which mashes together the best/worst of the cultures of the Australian outback and Texas. She is introduced lassoing Circuit-Chaps while wearing a bushranger hat and spurs. Subverted when it's revealed she's afraid of horses.
And I Must Scream: The Big Bad of "Five Inspectors, One Booth" feature-length episode gets his just desserts for seeking out the secret of Sassafrass' immortality when he is turned into a stale loaf of bread.
Anyone Remember Pogs?: The Inspector and his Associates having to cram themselves inside the BOOTH was intended to capitalize on the fad of Telephone Box Stuffing, which had just arrived the UK in 1959. Now the ridiculousness is lampshaded with the characters' catch phrase "I thought it would be bigger on the inside!"
Season Three had Elect Anglo!, signaling the return of the Sergeant.
"The wasps are reappearing!"
QUIET WILL RISE.
Ring Ring Goes the Bell, until the Inspector snuffs it.
Armoured Closet Gay: Almost the whole of steadfast, manly military man Captain James Haggard's story arc is his inspiring journey as he tries to come to terms with his own pansexuality. It's heartbreaking to watch him struggle with his internalized homophobia, but the writers pull it off brilliantly.
Attractive Bent Gender: Both invoked and strongly averted in the infamous "Peter/Petula" episodes. When Associate Peter was transformed into Petula, the plan was for the beautiful Pamela Highwater to take over the role right away, with Peter's actor, Roy Higginbotham, released from his contract. Unfortunately, no one had noticed that Higginbotham's contract had a heretofore unprecedented "pay AND play" clause. This required BTV not only to pay him for the entire series, but also that he actually appear in all episodes. The vivid contrast between the "sex kitten" Petula described in the script and Mr. Higginbotham in a miniskirt (seen here◊ in a rare production still) led many to believe that these not merely went missing, but were intentionally destroyed for the good of all mankind.
Without a doubt, Rory Williams, to the point that most villains surrender or explode upon seeing him.
Badass Longcoat: The Inspector's signature Mackintosh coat, a constant costume piece throughout his incarnations' otherwise varying tastes in clothes.
BBC Quarry: The earlier episodes take place on planets such as "Rockterrainia", but after the programme's budget got beefed up, this has mostly been averted.
Beard of Evil: The Sergeant's fabulous mustache. It has to be seen to be believed. No, it's not fake.
Berserk Button: The Eleventh Inspector's bowler should not be messed with.
Beyond the Impossible: Brooke disintegrated a Blorgon with her laser gun and broke a hole in the universe with her giant hammer.
Bigger on the Inside: Notably averted. The writers are creative enough to write around their limitations and avoid such a ridiculous concept with the BOOTH. Played with, of course, with the BOOTH's famous "Always space for one more!" capacity. No one's sure how this works, but Infinity Knights know it's more sensible than the alternative.
Bizarre Alien Biology: Despite looking near identical to humans, the Infinity Knights have many physiological differences, most notably the fact they have no hearts. (Hence the old Inspector Spacetime fan joke: "Why did the Infinity Knights newspaper fail? Poor circulation.")
The Blank: The indentity theft victims in "The De-Faced Doppelgängers" and the Cyber-Optimized Police androids from "The Five Inspectors, One BOOTH". Also, as uncovered in the climax of "Mindscrew", Benjamin.
Blatant Lies: The Sixth-Inspector episode "The Only Inspector" features guest appearances by the Third, Fourth and Fifth Inspectors.
Blue and Orange Morality: The Trope Namer, after the inscrutable actions of the Blue ("good") and Orange ("evil") Wardens. In the so-called "Orange Warden Trilogy" comprising "Mawdrone Alive", "Genesis", and "The Dark Ages", it's impossible to say what the Warden's enigmatic plan for the Fifth Inspector is, only that it's probably malevolent (possibly).
Break the Cutie: Angie, originally a source of slapstick humor, goes through this when the Sergeant succeeds in ripping her planet apart. It causes her to take a level in badass.
Yosif was the Inspector's most intelligent companion, sometimes even beating him at problem solving, but most of Yosif's ideas were not recognized due to his apathy. The Third Inspector tended towards this as well, leading to the fan-snark that their era on the show was one long tea-break punctuated with the occasional planet blowing up.
It could be argued that the Sixth Inspector also fit this trope. Especially towards the end of his run, when he spends a lot of time orchestrating/reacting to events from his Defendant's Cube during the "Internal Investigation of the Inspector".
Brown Note: The Inspector quickly learned that the Cacophony couldn't be drowned out with sound. It only made them stronger. "The Cacophony WILL find you."
Buddy Cop Show: Quite a few of the flashbacks of the Inspector's and the Sergeant's early days.
The Bus Came Back: The very first Associate, Susannah Overseer, was abruptly and mysteriously "reassigned" by her and the Inspector's then-unnamed civilization after only a few episodes and replaced with the far more popular duo of Irma and Bart. (The real-life reason was that the character simply wasn't working as well as hoped; Irma and Bart served as much better Watsons.) She came back for a brief but significant cameo in "The Crime Sports" and was never seen again. Although there were subtle hints that she shares some sort of connection to The Instructor.
Busman's Holiday: The Third Inspector's quasi-retirement consisted chiefly of excursions across space and time in which he coincidentally arrived on distant worlds conveniently when plots against Earth were being hatched, despite the Infinity Knight high command's request he limit his involvement with his old planetary precinct after the events of "The Crime Sports".
Inverted here. After his stint as Rory Williams on Inspector Spacetime, Arthur Darvill came back to play the same character in another show.
Funny thing is, that other show has yet to explain Rory's immortality. But we already know the reason since we watched him here in Inspector Spacetime!
Cast Incest: The actor who played Inspector Spacetime's son in said episode is Landlord's real life father (It Makes Sense in Context) and is now in a real life relationship with the Fifth Inspector's actress.
"Oi, wot's all this, then?" was the only catchphrase for the First Inspector. Fitting, as his character was more of an inspector than most of the others.
"Hi, honey!"
"Want a wine jelly?"
"By Jove, Inspector, that just might work!"
"Always space for one more!"
Changed My Hat: Trope Namer. The Eleventh Inspector often changes his bowler hat's colour, thinking it a cunning disguise.
Chivalrous Pervert: The easily-flustered, sexually conservative Captain James Haggard.
Classical Movie Vampire: Count Morbus (played by Vladek Sheybal) from the Fourth Inspector episodes "Terror at Tooth Point" and "Vampires From Space!". (It should be noted that in the latter episode he is not one of the eponymous entities, but helps the Inspector fight them.)
Clueless Mystery: The notoriously bad scripts for the Seventh Inspector's "back to basics" time-travelling investigations following the weirdness of the Sixth's drew much criticism for withheld clues, last-minute culprits, and explosions covering up plot holes. The worst example occurs in "Bronze Friends" where the Inspector doesn't so much figure out how the Circuit-Chaps could have blackmailed Isambard Kingdom Brunel into modifying the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship with self-awareness as how he can blow it up.
Cluster F-Bomb: From the first season finale of The Mary Sue Predicaments, while Mary Sue flies a nuclear bomb toward the Blorgon flagship:
Blorgon Prince: We have infiltrated all of Earth's governments, poisoned your air, and captured your friends. Even now our fleet surrounds your pathetic world, ready to destroy it at my signal. What do you say to that?
Mary Sue: Fuck you.Fuck you.Fuck you!FUUUCK YOUUU! (explosion)
Cobweb Of Disuse: The desolate ruins on Antebelis Gamma in "The Sphere of Strands"; by the time the Inspector comes back for "Return to the Sphere of Strands", the whole planet has become a Cobweb Jungle, which contrasts nicely with the sterile and polished Infinity Knight Tribunal Chamber.
Conspicuous Trenchcoat: Mysterious figures in high-collared trench coats started popping up in the background during the Third Inspector's last series. They were finally revealed to be the Infinity Knights' Internal Affairs Watchdogs, sent by the high command to monitor the Inspector's unorthodox approach to his mysterious mission.
Cosmic Play Thing: Many of the Associates. For this reason the Associates are nicknamed "Soccers" by the fans. It's partly a shortening of "associate" and partly because they tend to get kicked about a fair bit.
Cute Kitten: "The Kittens" attempts to subvert this trope, with the titular creatures as the supposedly terrifying Monsters of the Week.
Dance Party Ending: In an ironic conclusion to the tragic outbreak of Choreokinesis—a disease that makes its victims dance compulsively—that killed fan-favorite Gerte, the Inspector felt it best to celebrate the discovery of the disease's antidote with a dance party.
Dance Sensation: Pamela Highwater (the second Petula) was a professional go-go dancer by trade. She performed "Do the Inspector" on Top of the Pops, and her single got as high as #27 on the UK Top Singles chart.
Dead All Along: Maura, who the Inspector offered to let travel with him simply so she could realize this fact. When she finally does it is truly heartbreaking.
Depraved Bisexual: Textbook case with Mary Sue although it is taken to extremes that fans often complain about in her spin-off The Mary Sue Predicaments.
Discontinuity Nod: In the 2011 Red Nose Day Special "Spacetime", one of the "Alterninspectors" from parallel realities is seen using his Optic Pocketknife as a grappling hook, climbing up the side of a tall building, then pausing to chat with Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson through an open window. It's a reference to the infamously unauthorised Batarang-wielding Inspector from the 1973 film 5 Kudretli Adamlar ("Turkish Blacula").
Doesn't Like Guns: Averted until season 23, when the BBC banned protagonists from using firearms. The Sixth Inspector (and all inspectors previous) occasionally carried his trademark Webley revolver in a shoulder holster. The Sixth Inspector liked his pistol so much he would often use it to open Orangina bottles.
Domestic Abuse: Implied with The Sergeant and Lucio, the (suspiciously competent) shoe-shine boy he married in Vegas while posing as Henry Anglo. Lucio has the last laugh, however, when he cleans out "Anglo's" ill-gotten re-election fund and is last seen literally sailing off into the sunset on a yacht.
The Dreaded: Averted, gradually, in the classic series. As the programme continued and the Inspector became less intimidating over his incarnations, his enigmatic reputation soon lost its ambiguous aura of menace. By the 80s, especially with the misadventure-prone Sixth Inspector and the often-clueless Seventh, any villain recognizing who this strange individual calling themselves "the Inspector" actually was immediately had to chuckle.
After the events of the Time Wave, however, the Inspector's reputation as a dangerous foe received a significant boost. In the new series, he's prone to re-emphasizing this in case anyone's forgotten.
Early Installment Weirdness: The first few episodes with Susannah Overseer. As indicated by her name, she was evidently the Inspector's assigned auditor, or even boss, holding some sort of vaguely-defined "decommission" threat over him as he solves "History Crimes" (see immediately below.) Both of them being (as-yet-unnamed) Infinity Knights also resulted in a lot of painfully clunky As You Know dialogue. The show didn't really find its groove until Susannah was abruptly "recalled" and Irma Rong and Bart Gilbert enthusiastically burst onto the scene.
In the first episode of Peacemist, the titular organization is variously referred to as the Peacemist Institute, the Peacemist Ministry, the Peacemist Agency, the Peacemist Corporation, and, on one memorable occasion, the Meatspice Institute. This was mostly sorted out by the second episode, although throughout the rest of the first season a sign above Captain James' desk read "Peacemist Institupe."
Edutainment Show: Hard as it is to believe in retrospect, this programme was conceived as serious family edutainment. Stories set in the past were supposed to teach children history, with The Inspector solving historical crimes, such as in the episode "The Two Princes' Murder". The ones set in the future or on other planets were intended to teach science, but the Blorgons' unanticipated massive popularity quickly changed the emphasis of the show to science fiction.
Enemy Civil War: Following the events of Sixth Inspector episode "The Corporation of the Blorgons", the Blorgon Commonwealth of Sentients got broken into three competing factions, all of which figured in the next season's mammoth "Internal Investigation of the Inspector". Sadly, the Seventh Inspector's "Forgetting of the Blorgons" was a hideously apt title, as the Commonwealth was depicted as being (re)unified with absolutely no explanation as to what happened.
Everyone Calls Him Inspector: To this day, the Inspector's true name is unknown. However, rumours say his nickname was Pi Lambda.
Enforced Method Acting: Rumor has it that actress Carla May Studebaker was encouraged by the producer to take a cocktail of tranquilizers to help her get into the dreamy, otherworldly, aloof character of Susannah Overseer. This also made her challenging to work with—she was famous for falling asleep in the middle of scenes—which may have contributed to the character being written out of the show.
Evil Counterpart: This happens frequently when a character's positrons are negatized, resulting in an anti-version of the being affected. Constable Reggie once described the Anti-Inspector as having a "funny mustache" and being "kinda rape-y".
Yorke. Although how much of a friend he was is up for debate.
Evil Twin: Was there ever a character in this show that didn't have at least one of these? One even turned up for FE-Line. The zenith (or nadir) was probably the episode "The Triplicate Catastrophe".
In the 1960s, Owen Pantwhistle, BTV's Vice President, Dramatic Television and Puppetry, was responsible for several bizarre decisions, including the idea for the monsters in Third Inspector episode "The Kittens". Due to a traumatic childhood experience that he refuses to talk about to this day, Pantwhistle insisted that the titular kittens would become the show's most terrifying monsters. Instead, the episode proved to be an extremely effective Nightmare Retardant and is widely hailed as the cutest episode of Inspector Spacetime ever.
In 1966, Pantwhistle decided the show needed more sex appeal and instructed the producers to add a sexy female Associate for the remaining episodes of the series. The resultant contrived transformation of the Associate Peter into Petula drew protests from media watchdogs the Civic Eyes and Ears Council.
Following the strangeness of the Chapman era, the producers attempted to make the scripts "less weird" and simply made them horrible instead.
Sean Pantwhistle, the successor to his father, Owen, on the 1992 TV movie, issued an order to "inject some hip-hop urban flavour" into the relaunch, specifically mandating that the Inspector rap. While the younger Pantwhistle's increasingly odd demands and tense sixteen-hour standoff with the Metropolitan Police are the stuff of legends, the tie-in "Inspector Jamz" compilation album helped promote the careers of The Criminal Minds and The Brotherhood.
The Exotic Detective: Detectives don't come any more exotic than a time-travelling, literally heartless alien solving mysteries across the universe.
In the early '70s, Archie Comics bought the rights to do an IS comic under its Red Circle Comics imprint for American audiences. Their writers quickly went offtherails, however, and the comic was canceled in 1979 (cutting short an arc in which the Twenty-Second Inspector was travelling to before the Big Bang to codify the universe's laws of time and space).
Fair Play Whodunnit: A staple of the Second Inspector's investigations, particularly the innumerable locked room mystery settings (which were favored for budgetary reasons). For example, the Inspector deduced the murders of the chrono-scientists in "The Cube in Time" were perpetrated by the base's high-tech kitchen appliances, which the Circuit-Chaps had modified into lethal conscripts of the Digifleet, after assorted evidence excluded all the human and alien suspects.
Fan Disservice: The outfits sported by King Sonacry and The Indictor are the most legendary examples.
Fictional Document: The Inspector occasionally would read from/quote/consult the Encyclopedia Cosmosica. There was evidently a plan to do an episode centered on this rather mysterious work, but like so much else, it got scrapped during the Seventh Inspector's run.
It's widely believed that the EC inspired Douglas Adams to do a little radio play titled The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy even as he worked on scripts for Inspector Spacetime's ripoff.
While the Inspector no doubt wishes that it was the EC, the phonebook that comes as part of the BOOTH's current form is, in fact, a (very) battered and out-of-date copy of the phonebook for the Sprint Street neighborhood where the BOOTH picked up its current form.
The 1964 Inspector Spacetime vs. the Blorgons and its 1965 sequel Blorgons—Extortion Earth 2150, starring Christopher Lee as "Inspector Spacetime" (instead of simply "The Inspector"). Unusually, these Films of the Series were made while the original was still in production. They adapted the first and second Blorgon stories but also changed the overall premise of the series, most notably by making the Inspector half human and introducing the first quasi-official spelling of Blorgon without the "r". They most definitely take place in an Alternate Continuity, as opposed to the broader canon fans refer to as the Inspectrum.
Later there was the 1992 TV movie Inspector Spacetime, which didn't adhere to the same continuity as the first two films, although it references them in a few throw away lines.
Many Inspector Spacetime movies have wound up languishing in Development Hell, such as one where he was to face THE DEVIL HIMSELF.
Flying Car: The Fourth Inspector temporarily used one after the Infinity Knights grounded him on Earth. Spacetime fans called it "The S.E.T." (Spacetime Express Trolley) or just "The Trolley".
Foe Yay: Averted. There is nothing implied about the relationship between the Inspector and the Sergeant.
Four Is Death: Literally. The Fourth Inspector has left behind a higher body count than any of the other Inspectors, even modern ones.
Friendly Enemy: The Sergeant. Especially since that he and the Inspector were once friends as cadets at the Kayaclaschian Police-Time Academy.
Fun with Acronyms: While the BOOTH's definition has never been pinned down*
Box Of Oscillating Temporal Harmonics? Booth Operated Over Trans-Hyperspace? Bosonic Omnibus Of "The Heat"? Only the Inspector knows, and he likes to make his Associates guess.
, the acronyms of the Infinity Knights' various organizations all mirror ones from the UK police: CID—Chronospatial Inquiry Division; HMIC—The Hyperspatial Ministry's Investigative Command; SCD—Supratemporal Constabulary Department.
Futile Hand Reach: Fiona Finch does this shortly before becoming a Snarling Lion in the Downer Ending of "Stare". Snarling Lions reproduce by biting and transferring their DNA through a bite. The bite reacts like a virus, and the person bitten becomes a Lion. It's very rare (usually they just destroy and consume) but if someone manages to evade them for long enough, the Lions will attempt to convert them.
Future Me Scares Me: The Inspector is horrified by the prospect of incarnating as the Indictor, said by himself and the Infinity Knights to be a future incarnation of the Inspector.
Subverted in the charity special "Space Crunch": It turns out that the Fifth Inspector isn't scared of the Tenth Inspector, but rather of the Tenth Inspector's elbow, which hovers dangerously close to her face in their exceptionally cramped, intersected BOOTH interiors.
Gambit Pileup: The whole glorious elephantine spectacle that was "Internal Investigation of the Inspector" season/plot-arc. The Infinity Knight high command, three factions of Blorgons, the Circuit-Chaps, the Sergeant, the Indictor, the Instructor, the Blue and Orange Wardens... Maddeningly, it all got swept under the carpet when the Seventh Inspector era started.
Gender Bender: Many hardcore Inspector Spacetime fans don't even know this trope applies to the Inspector's popular 1960s Associate Petula (played by the luscious Pamela Highwater). During the Second Inspector's first series, a script was written at the instance of ratings-conscious BTV executives that featured a visit to the planet Femulon-VII where the Inspector's current Associate Peter (Roy Higginbotham) was transformed into Petula. Miss Highwater was signed to play Petula, and scripts heavily emphasized Petula's sex appeal... an awkward development given Higginbotham's unprecedented "pay AND play" contract. The episodes detailing Petula's transformation are now missing, and Petula's masculine origin was only obliquely hinted at a few times afterwards.
The Gump: Popping up on the periphery of major events in Earth's history is practically the Inspector's avocation, as well as a source of amusement for the programme's writers.
In 1390, the Tenth Inspector investigated the highway robbery and assault of Geoffrey Chaucer ("The Chaucer Puzzle").
In 1483, the First Inspector examined and unofficially acquitted Richard III ("The Two Princes' Murder").
In 1851, the Ninth Inspector teamed up with Metropolitan Police Inspector Charles Frederick Field and his author friend Charles Dickens to raid the underworld den "Rats' Castle" ("The Riotous Living").
In 1882, the First Inspector negotiated the surrender and arrest of Alexander Franklin "Frank" James ("The Desperadoes").
In 1911, the Fourth Inspector exonerated Pablo Picasso in the theft of Louvre's most famous painting ("The Mona Lisa Caper").
And Infinity Knight Lunda, who not only "died" twice but ended up carrying the Bolt in Space on a one-way trip to another dimension.
Subverted with Captain Jack/The Good Lamb.
And of course, happens more than once with The Inspector himself, the most spectacularly in "The Worst Ally".
Hitler's Time Travel Exemption Act: Brilliantly subverted in "Let's Kill Hitler." When Aidan strangles der Führer with his bare hands, the Inspector is alternately furious with him and terrified of the awful world they'll find when they return to the early 21st century. In fact, they find millions of lives were saved because there was no Holocaust; World War II and the Cold War never happened, ushering in an unprecedented era of peace on Earth; and an undivided Germany became a beacon of tolerance and diversity, a shining example for all nations.
Aidan: Everybody Lives, Inspector, just this once, everybody lives!
Angie: Except Hitler.
Aidan: Well, yeah. Not Hitler.
Hollywood Science: The science behind The Entanglement timeline is often criticized for its improbability, but writers dismissed these attacks in the third edition of the Inspector Spacetime companion book. Two words: Quantum Superpositioning.
Oftentimes the Inspector's role, especially in the new series.
Subverted in the episode "Twilight", where instead of banding together under the Inspector's kindness and wit, the humans on the broken down train try to sacrifice him to the "singing crystal" in the hopes that they would be spared.
Preferred by the budget-conscious BTV producers and lampshaded by the frustrated writers ("But you look Kayaclaschian." "Well, you look human.").
While the Infinity Knights look human throughout their appearances in the series, the implication by the First Inspector and Susannah Overseer in "A Timeless Man" is that their outward manifestations have been selected for undercover work on Earth.
Humiliation Conga: At the end of "Anger of the Inspector" the Inspector forces the Hemo Clan to undergo horrendous punishments. For instance Hemo Daddy spends the rest of time in the form of a Mexican luchador's underpants. The punishments of the rest of the Hemo Clan are too horrible to mention.
I'm Mr. Future Pop Culture Reference: Averted in the new series after the writers realized that this occassional habit of classic Inspectors now makes them seem that much more dated in reruns. For example, the First Inspector addresses Richard III as "you silly twisted boy", and the Third Inspector sings a few of his own verses to the #1 chart-topper "In the Year 2525" by One Hit Wonder duo Zager and Evans at the climax of "Abaddon".
The Inspector Is Coming: In various stories for the new series, the Inspector will occasionally have sent advance notice of his impending arrival from the future in order to save the trouble of introducing himself and convincing a well-informed local to explain what's going on (rather than overplay the Inspector's uncanny powers of deduction). The unintended consequence, however, is the mild panic and confusion when word leaks out of the mysterious authority figure, e.g. the flustered tour guides of the Module Alpha artificial satellite in "The Creation of Earth".
Insusceptible to Handcuffs: Trope Namer. The Monster of the Week cannot be apprehended with conventional police gear—at least not until the Inspector modifies them. "Just once, I'd like to encounter an extraterrestrial miscreant that wasn't insusceptible to handcuffs!" the Superintendent would typically complain during his adventures with the Fourth Inspector.
Joker Immunity: No matter how often the Blorgons are completely annihilated, they always manage to come back somehow. Once, the Inspector emphatically declared that the Blorgons were "entirely destroyed, every single last one of them, including all the secret ones that were hiding. They were all erased from time itself, they've never existed, and they will never exist ever again. Never, never, never, never, never." Until next season.
Jumped at the Call: First Inspector Associates Irma and Bart are classic examples, eagerly going off with the Inspector when offered the chance.
Karma Houdini: The Sergeant. Although the Inspector repeatedly foiled his schemes with the Blorgons, Eocenes, Orcons, and Venusian Sulphur Soldiers (to name only a few), he could never amass conclusive evidence of the Sergeant's involvement in their conspiracies or disprove his nemesis's elaborate alibis. Until their climactic final confrontation on Kayaclasch in the episode "The Lethal Murderer". The Sergeant got better.
Knight Templar: The Inspector, in his darker moments at least.
BRIAN BLESSED made three appearances on the show, as Reena's father, Sonacry, King of Barbartron IV, Ruler of the Twelve Moons, Defender of the Outer Belts (and so on and so on). And naturally in his last appearance he makes his HEROIC SACRIFICE.
Neg!Rory in the Terror of the Negaverse novel. Every word he speaks after his first line is in all caps. "I AM NOT A MERE COPY! I! AM! ME! AND NONE OF YOU WILL TAKE THAT!"
Magic Tool: Averted with the Optic Pocketknife. As the iconic weapon of the Time Police, the Inspector considers it bad form to use it as anything other than a weapon, despite its many functions. He also uses it only in the direst circumstances, so it's always significant when an episode features it at all—and he at least makes the effort to maim rather than kill.
May-December Romance: The Inspector and his beloved, Brooke Rhapsody, meet at the middle of their romance and then go backwards. However, Brooke takes meticulous notes and documents everything so the Inspector knows exactly what's going on at whatever point in life he meets her.
Meaningful Name: An extremely common trope throughout the series:
Doctor Yahe stands for "You Always Have Enemies", signaling the return of the Sergeant.
FE-Line, besides the obvious cat pun, has another meaning. 'Fe' is he symbol for iron, from which the robot is primarily made of.
In the episode "The Talons of Asox", Serge A Tenth is an anagrammed alias used by the Sergeant.
In the episode "The Space Creature", Agent Sether is another anagrammed alias used by the Sergeant.
In the episode "Space Swim", the Tang Seer is yet another anagrammed alias used by the Sergeant.
Mega Neko: Giant FE-Line, from the spin-off series.
Memetic Outfit: The Infinity Knights' official uniform was a distinctive high-collared trench coat-like garment, but the Inspector always livens up his emblematic Mac in each incarnation with special touches, especially his taste in hats.
The First Inspector's beret.
The Second Inspector wore Wellingtons and played the ocarina.
The Third Inspector's top hat.
The Fourth Inspector was known for wearing ostentatiously colored knee socks.
The Fifth Inspector had a penchant for ampersands and a truly terrible hat.
The Fifth Inspector's carrot hatpin counts as well.
The Sixth Inspector was known for his unexpectedly somber and dark attire.
The Seventh Inspector had an outfit adorned with exclamation points.
The Ninth Inspector who always dressed quite dashingly and extravagantly. He loathed all things casual, especially leather.
The Tenth Inspector was never without his prized coke-bottle glasses, tight jeans, and various nerdy T-shirts.
So far, the Eleventh Inspector and his bowler hats.
Mid-Battle Tea Break: Literally. The Third Inspector would employ his legendary love of tea—"It's always teatime somewhere in the universe."—as an excuse to extract himself and his Associates from sticky situations.
Mind Rape: What some would consider Mona's ultimate fate.
Mirror Universe: In "The Worst Ally", the finale of the "Internal Investigation of the Inspector" plot-arc and Graham Chapman's final appearance on the show, the Inspector was banished by the Infinity Knight leadership*
Yes, yes, this is a massive simplification. The Sergent was involved. And the Indictor. And the Instructor. And very likely the Blue and Orange Wardens. More of the era's trademarked weirdness...
to another universe where the Blorgons desperately oppose the evil Terran Empire. He ended up killing himself so that the explosive renewal process would overload the Terran High Citadel's main reactor, ripping a "dimensional gap" large enough to send him hurtling back home. (With the bonus that his new incarnation could not be tried again for the same "crimes".) One last time, the Sixth Inspector succeeded by failing.
Missed Him By That Much: The teaser for the Sixth-Inspector episode "The Only Inspector" featured the current Inspector and Jeffery in the foreground trying (with their usual lack of success) to keep the Exploding Rock from exploding again, while in the far background the Third Inspector and Mary-Sue re-create one of the tea-spilling scenes from "Incursion of the Mastodons." Neither pair ever notices the other.
Ms. Fanservice: Many of the Inspector's Associates might qualify.
This is go-go dancing Associate Petula's entire reason for being.
Averted in Angie's first appearance, where she arrives dressed as a Catholic priest. Led to some viewer complaints that she was letting the side down somewhat, but they were mostly pacified by the official explanation that Angie was just on her way to a Tarts and Vicars party.
Missing Episode: Numerous examples over the show's long history:
In the 1960s, like the BBC during the same period, BTV had a habit of reusing videotapes to save money. This is why so many 1962-1968 episodes of Inspector Spacetime are missing.*
The tapes were used to record episodes of the long-running quiz show Is It Buoyant?, of which a 100% complete archive now exists.
Several episodes were lost when the master tapes fell down a well in a freak bowling accident, including parts of "Solar System 16", "Journey to the Familiar," and "The Story Creators". Later, the same freak accident befell tapes of the infamous "Peter/Petula" episodes (see Gender Bender, above), leading some fans to theorize that the episodes were, in fact, "pushed".
"Ashata" was left incomplete after a thunderstorm and resulting fire destroyed all the sets. The episode was never completed or aired, though a few scenes did appear in the Clip Show episode "Memories of Tomorrow". The rumor that one of BTV's police dramas opportunistically used the sets to depict an arson investigation is sadly just that.
Steve Carrell's Inspector would feature in a remake for radio years later, alongside Maureen O'Brien as Susannah Overseer.
"The 1981 Inspector Spacetime Holiday Special": After its broadcast's critical reception, the creator took a hammer and smashed all copies at BTV studios, though this did not prevent his knighthood being revoked.
"The Missing Episode" from The Mary Sue Predicaments is not an example, as it never really existed. It was "made" both as a tie-in for the Cosmic Retcon crossover arc between IS and Peacemist and because every single extra showed up tired and emotional on the sole day of filming. However, the production numbers and DVD releases for Season One include a spot for the episode, and if you click on the episode title, a motionless image of a Snarling Lion slowly creeps into the screen.
Mistaken For Granite: The Snarling Lions from the critically acclaimed episode "Stare". These creatures are taken as statues at first by the episode's protagonist, Fiona Finch, but the Inspector soon warns her that they are intergalactic monsters that feed on continuum particles and that if she looks at any of them directly, they will suddenly become aware of her and wipe her from existence so they can eat on the energy the universe uses when repairing a minor gap in space-time. The Inspector once described them as time mosquitoes.
Mistaken for Special Guest: The Inspector's air of authority often results in this confusion when he and his Associates appear unexpectedly.
London Bobby: Stop! Are you authorized for that?
Second Inspector: Me? I'm authorized for everything!
Mockbuster: The Inspector appeared in the completely unauthorized 1973 Turkish film 5 Kudretli Adamlar (lit. 5 Mighty Guys, aka "Turkish Blacula"). The film featured the Inspector teaming up with Blacula, El Santo, and advertising Mascot Mister Clean to defeat, of all people, an extremely violent and sadistic version of Tintin. The Inspector, wildly out of character throughout, wields a leftover Batarang prop from the 1966 Batman instead of his famous Optic Pocketknife.
Moral Guardians: Christine Blackhall's Civic Eyes and Ears Council launched a public campaign against the programme during the Fourth Inspector's reassignment to Exo-Pol in the mid-70s, complaining about its sci-fi treatment of violent crime in contemporary London and its generally darker shift in tone. The cliffhanger scene of the Sergeant stamping on the Inspector's fingers as he dangled from the edge of the Infinity Knights' Omnium Watchtower in "The Lethal Murderer" was singled out by Blackhall as, notoriously, "teatime terrorism for tykes".
Nice Hat: A trademark of the series, although brutally averted by the... thing... the Fifth Inspector sported on her head. The Fifth Inspector was the only female Inspector in the series and also one of the most fashion-challenged ones to date.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: And the award goes to Captain Haggard in his introductory episode "The Cambiare Machine". He unseals the Void Seed container Inspector and Lily were chasing. The results are... not pretty.
Nobody Poops: There have been literally decades of fan jokes about the BOOTH's complete lack of facilities. Conversely, it has also been "speculated" that real reason the Inspector brings humans along on his travels is that the BOOTH is in fact powered by various forms of human waste. Also jokes about the BOOTH's resident (and otherwise useless) phonebook's true purpose being a source of toilet paper.
No Sense of Direction: Infamously, Angie Lake. In "See No Evil", she not only gets lost in the woods in an attempt to avoid the Lions, she also manages to fall into a cavern.
Non-Human Sidekick: Robot cat named FE-Line. FE-Line traveled with the First, Second, Fourth, and Tenth Inspectors, as well as starring in the Associate spin-off, The Mary Sue Adventures. Hilarity often ensues when Associates misread his collar as "fee-line", and the Inspector can't figure out who they're referring to. The proper pronunciation is Iron Line.
Novelty Decay: In the early years, the audience knew almost nothing about the Inspector's origins. It would be six years into the series before the "Infinity Knights" were introduced in the episode "The Crime Sports". The Inspector did not return to his home planet of Kayaclasch until the 1975 episode "The Lethal Murderer", but in the following decade, such episodes as "The Theft of Space" (1977) and the multi-part "Internal Investigation of the Inspector" (1985) revealed more and more about the autocratic, devious, and occasionally corrupt Kayaclaschians. Many fans complained that so much information about the Infinity Knights had diluted their sense of mystery. One of the objectives of the new series under David Russell was to erase them from the continuity after the events of the so-called "Time Wave".
The Nth Inspector: Trope Namer. The Inspector has had many actors over the years, due to his ability to undergo metamorphosis. This new blood every few seasons allows the show to stay quite fresh. Notable fan favorites are Bernard Fox and his endlessly elaborate tea-breaks, Marius Goring with his silly ascot and taste for gummi bears, and the more recent Ninth and Tenth Inspectors, Mark Williams and Daniel Landlord. The least popular are Steve Carrell and Stephen Fry.
One Steve Limit: Averted; the Inspector has had two otherwise-unrelated Associates named Aiden.
Not to mention the fact that two consecutive actors playing the Inspector were named "Steve."
Observation Screen: Trope Namer; however the new showrunner, Stefan Toffat, is not a fan of the older episodes and has vowed to reduce or eliminate its use, criticizing it as a Hand Wave.
The character of the Inspector was, arguably, inspired by the mysterious Inspector Goole from J. B. Priestley's 1945 play An Inspector Calls, which was adapted for the BBC in 1954 by Quatermass creator Nigel Kneale, but veteran actor Leslie French quickly established the role as his own with his portrayal of the patronising, cantankerous, but deeply moral First Inspector.
In a trippy Second Inspector episode, Hamish Wilson's character Aiden is temporarily replaced by some bit actor from Emergency – Ward 10 named Frazer Hines.
Poorly Disguised Pilot: "Communality Above the Atmosphere", which eventually led to the moderately successful series of the same name. Ironically, the resulting program took so long to actually air, is so different in tone and focus, and makes such few and fleeting references to its originator, it's not generally included in the list of spin-offs above.
Prisoner of Zenda Exit: The Sergeant, regularly, but Count Morbus pulls off a particularly spectacular one at the end of "Terror At Tooth Point".
The Problem with Pen Island: In the early years of the World Wide Web, the inspectorspacetime.com URL was owned by Ukrainian marathoner Irina Nikolaevna Spector and used to host her pace time calculator programs. Ms. Spector finally sold the URL to BTV in 2009 when she added social networking features to her site. Adding the ability for users to post their own pace times, she then moved the "I.N. Spector's Pace Time" page to its current location at pacetimesexchange.com.
Real Life Writes the Plot: Mimmek, one of the Fifth Inspector's Associates, was originally going to be a shape-shifting robot alien. However, the mechanical prop kept breaking down, so he was hastily rewritten as "Mimmek the Invisible". Oddly enough, this has caused him to be (supposedly) one of the longest-running Associates, as Word Of God says he's still traveling with the Inspector, but he's "just been very shy lately".
A sadder example is Graham Chapman's early departure from the series due to his growing health problems.
At least until season 16, when the Sergeant successfully rewrote time, preventing Jimmy Page from ever existing, and "Jupiter" became the theme again. The real-life reason for the switch back was that paying for the rights was costing too much money.
The Reptilians: The Eocenes, Ocean Demons, Serpentians, and Sulphur Soldiers. Also, Queen Elizabeth II in the episode "The Humans of Westminster" (HMQ is not a fan).
Riddle For The Ages: Often at the end of an episode, after the Inspector has revealed how he had solved the plot's central mystery, his Associates ask, "But why/how/what [whatever]?" The Inspector always answers "I'll explain later," implying a Cliff Hanger, but in the subsequent episode, the anticipated explanation is preempted by the next adventure.
Running Gag: Having the Third Inspector make a cameo appearance, invariably involving tea-drinking, at some point during the run of each of his successors.
Samus Is a Girl: In the later episodes of the Third Inspector's run, we learn that Yosif is actually a girl.
Say My Name: At the end of "The Previous Inspector", once the Detective and the Chief Inspector have been compelled to return the Tenth Inspector's powers when his innocence is established, he takes particular delight in this. When the Eleventh Inspector recruits Constable Wigglesworth as a regular Associate, the Inspector reminds him about this to prove his identity—and afterwards at every opportunity.
Aliens as Communists: The creepily cheerful Circuit-Chaps are determined to foment the Second Industrial Revolution by modifying machinery everywhere and view the destruction of organic life as merely a means to an end for the great mechanical uprising.
Aliens as Conquistadores: The universe-prowling Nasor Ants will steal anything and everything that isn't nailed down on a planet since it's their cultural and genetic imperative. "The Theft of Space" was their most ambitious caper.
Aliens as Nazis: The CEEC's objections to the overt fascistic overtones of the Blorgon Commonwealth of Sentients may have been behind that plot development's abandonment.
Screaming Woman: Most of the female Associates and some of the male ones.
Sequel Hook: The episode "Sphere of the Strands" ended with one, which was finally followed up on ten years and two Inspectors later, with the Third Inspector's final episode "Return to the Sphere of Strands". Might also qualify as a Brick Joke, although the Inspector had nothing to laugh about.
Shoo Out the Clowns: Irma and Bert are arguably an example; the arrival of the rather dour Second Inspector saw them replaced as Associates by the sword-wielding Aiden.
The Inspector's use of the Optic Pocketknife (in the Red Nose Day special "Spacetime") to make a "Bat-Climb" is a shout out to both Batman and 5 Kudretli Adamlar ("Turkish Blacula").
Abed and Troy dress up as the Inspector and Constable Wigglesworth for Halloween in the "Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps" episode of Community.
Space Whale: In the episode, "Brouhaha on Beeb" the Inspector and Jeffrey are trapped on a spacefaring, living vessel, on the scale of a blue whale. The episode also serves as a Thriller On The Express, as they solve a mystery on a moving, closed vehicle. And of course, it's a jab at That Other Show, since "Beeb" turns out to be the name of the creature.
The Blue and Orange Wardens are the programme's most prominent example. At one point the Inspector comments these two just might be "The universe arguing with itself."
The Oddities from "Oddly Out of Place" qualify as well.
Swirly Energy Thingy: The Centripetus storyline involved nefariously controlled ceiling fans that emitted a still unknown, but harmful type of energy.
Take That: The show occasionally takes playful jabs at its rival, although when that show first premiered, many viewers criticized the Inspector's sudden and numerous diatribes about the "thieves and lowlifes at Westminster" (where the BBC's Broadcasting House is coincidentally located) as being as a case of Writer on Board.
The "cool" leather coat and black t-shirt outfit of The Detective (played by Neil Gaiman) and the dandified velvet smoking jacket and lace cuffs ensemble of the Chief Inspector (played by Alan Moore) were obviously intended as take-offs on the fashion statements by the Ninth and Third incarnations of the Inspector's opposite number.
The Teaser: A hallmark of the show from the very beginning. During the Sixth Inspector's run, like everything else, these got really weird.
For example, "The Mark of the Maharani" begins with a minute and forty seconds of a close-up of the Inspector staring into the camera and whispering a plot summary of the episode. In Latin. Backwards.
The Team Wannabe: In the Neil Gaiman-scripted special episode "The Previous Inspector", it is revealed that the Detective and the Chief Inspector are not actually Infinity Knights but are really time-travelling admirers of the now-vanished Kayaclaschians and are attempting to assume their role, down to adopting their dress sense. Their appearance foreshadows the brief return of the Inspector-obsessed Infinity Knights to erase his chronological contradictions in "The Last Minutes".
The Fourth Inspector: Technically, Constable, it was the blood loss that killed him, not my Optic Pocketknife, although I see how you could be confused.
Time Day: As the Eleventh Inspector explains in 2011's Christmas Episode, "The 1981 Inspector Spacetime Holiday Special", it's a universal tradition for life forms to give each other "a gift at the end of each orbital cycle." So really, Time Day isn't a question of when but where.
Time Police: Literally, this was the function of the Infinity Knights before their society continued to expand and they slacked on their duties. Their arrogance eventually led to the Time Wave that destroyed the Inspector's civilization and most of the Blorgons.
Title Drop: This has always been favorite rhetorical device of the programme's writers, e.g. Constable Wigglesworth: "So you see, Detective and Chief Inspector, this evidence proves conclusively that the person before you was framed by The Previous Inspector!"
Town with a Dark Secret: As seen in Peacemist, Wylf-y-Fwyddoch is home to at least eight different dimensional rips, five buried alien spaceships, a meteor capable of reanimating the dead, and a very suspicious flock of telepathic sheep. Although it's not too dark; owing to the family-friendly nature of the show, Haggard generally resolves problems by inviting the demons/aliens/undead/sheep/whatever over for a pint of ale, shepherd’s pie, and a folk song.
Leslie French abruptly departed from the role as the First Inspector at the beginning of the fourth series after a dispute over typecasting with BTV.
Christopher Obi was credited under his screen name Daniel Landlord when he debuted as the Tenth Inspector but after finishing his tenure decided to revert to his given name to prevent being too closely associated with the role.
Villain with Good Publicity: Beloved candidate for Prime Minister, Henry Anglo, until the end of season three when he reveals to everyone that he is actually The Sergeant.
The Voice: The Operator has never actually appeared in any Inspector Spacetime media.
The Watson: the Inspector's many Associates, most recently the Constable. His recent Associates in the new seasons also include:
Angelica "Angie" Lake
Rory Williams
Mona Virtue
Yorke
Joanna Martin
Captain James Haggard
Minnie Smythe
Lily Taylor
Mary Sue Brown made a cameo return on the new seasons, bringing with her the lovable FE-Line
Weaksauce Weakness: The Blorgons' infamous inability to swim. Their problem gets solved when the Orange Wardenpops up and bestows on them an upgrade referred to as "a powerboating licence."
We Need a Distraction: Associate Petula's go-go dancing was often a triple threat, used to distract guards, fill air time, and provide Parent Service (though not so much the latter when she was played by Roy Higginbotham.)
Wham Episode: "The Corporation of the Blorgons". The Orange Warden returns and gives the Blorgons their "powerboat license", removing one of the race's major weaknesses. The Blorgon Commonwealth of Sentients collapses into three hostile factions. And then Jeffery dies.
Yorke: Human? Is that what you think I am, Inspector?
For the Anglo arc: "Remember your roots, Inspector, remember those ages past when you had so many adventures. They seem gone now, forgotten. So many things have been forgotten. Old enemies, old planets, even an old friend...."
"It's time you finally woke up."
The final lines of Series 6: "You've done so much: you've shattered the Time Cube, defeated the Blorgons countless times; you are the Scourge of Space, the Warrior of the Ten System, the Mythic Man. The daft Inspector traveling in space and time in his little red phone box... and you thought it was all real? No, no, no, my boy. You haven't been seeing the whole picture in so long. I'm contacting the mainframe and telling them to jolt you out of the hypersleep. Your reinvitigoration will be triggered artificially. You've been asleep too long, muttering in your sleep. It's time you finally woke up.It's time for quiet, time to rise."
"Maura, I didn't save you."
We want you to kill the Inspector, Brooke.
What Year Is This?: Averted. The Inspector typically announces he and his Associates have arrived in a particular year only to be quickly corrected by a local.
What Could Have Been: In the later seasons, new script editor Roger Giles decided that the Inspector was still 'too mysterious' and planned to reveal much of his background and personal information, including his family history, his exact age, his medical exam results, his favorite kind of filling, his name it's Chet, and his shoe-size. This became known as the 'Giles Counter-Plot'. The show's cancellation prevented this, thankfully, and much of the information that was planned to be revealed was made non-canonical by later Expanded Universe works, which means his name isn't Chet.
A lot of fans think that Richard Ayoade would have made a pretty awesome Ninth Inspector if not for the PTB wanting a bigger name to restart the franchise.
Who Inspects the Inspector: The Infinity Knights' high command has on on occasion taken exception to the Inspector's methods of performing his mission and conducted their own inquiries into them. Their interventions suggest that their impartiality may be suspect, however.
At the end of "Return to the Sphere of Strands", the Inspector successfully defended himself against their most serious criticisms, but he was nevertheless transferred to 1970s Earth as a Time Police Liaison with Exo-Pol, effectively exiling him, and required to metamorphose into the Fourth Inspector.
"The Internal Investigation of the Inspector" arc, obviously. By the end, the proceedings had gotten a bit silly, but that might have been the Inspector's plan all along.
Thorough Visor wears short shorts! This also led to some questionable moments between Visor and the Inspector when crammed in the BOOTH together. Of course back in that era it was all just joking, unlike the famous kiss the Inspector gave Capt. James when the latter volunteered for a suicide mission on the Inspector's behalf.
It's okay, James survived. But the kiss and subsequent separation from the Inspector helped James come to terms with his own pansexuality, though the creators revealed that nothing actually happened between him and the Inspector.
What, no mention of Robbie McMillan? His kilt was at least a handspan too short!
Kenny, the robot-obsessed youngster in the FE-Line spin-off series, is never seen without them.
Wholesome Crossdresser: Yosif's sex wasn't revealed until a season after her introduction (though she states that the only reason she crossdresses is because it's easier to be a man).
World of Silence: Tacitropolis. "A punishment worse than death." To be banished there is crueler than the Inspector thinks any sentient deserves.
The X of Y: The traditional method of creating titles for Inspector Spacetime adventures. Just mix and match from Column A and Column B with "of" or "of the".
Affectionate Parody: Very much so. Fans use IS as both a way to poke fun at Doctor Who and to celebrate what they love about it.
Bizarro Universe: Many things the fans come up with parallel, contrast, or subvert Doctor Who in some way.
Breakout Character: The Inspector was just a Doctor Who parody, now he's developing his own canon and universe. Notable in that a) The Inspectrum is actually taking a few steps to differentiate it from Doctor Who, and b) the 26 second parody aired less than a week before any of this started materializing.
Throw It In: Basically how all of canon is created in the Inspector Spacetime continuum. Doctor Who, both the classic and the new series, is the preferred source of pastiche/parody for the Inspector Spacetime television programme, but its Expanded Universe is a free-for-all. Community sets the tone for the sense of humor. Anything that hasn't already been established goes.
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