The TARDIS travellers take a break on the beach world of Vektris. Hot sun, cold drinks and all the time in the worlds. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
A kidnapping, a spaceship heist and a desperate chase to a distant galaxy later, Turlough finds himself in a strange winter palace… along with a face from his past. The Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa, meanwhile, fight to escape its frozen catacombs, guarded over by a vast and deadly alien, The Morass.
But what connects Turlough to the ancient treasure hidden somewhere in the palace? And how far will he go to acquire it?
Kiss of Death contains the following examples of tropes
- Affectionate Nickname: Deela calls Turlough "Viz".
- Ambigious Robot: The Morass is a "living machine" that uses a form of living ice and flesh to assert itself.
- Beach Episode: The story begins on Vektris, a resort planet, and Nyssa and Tegan have spent the last few days sunning themselves and sipping cocktails.
- Big Damn Kiss: Deela and Turlough made one of these the password to the dimensional bubble.
- Call-Back:
- Tegan and Nyssa refer to their respective departures in Heathrow and Terminus, and their subsequent returns in "Arc of Infinity" and "Cobwebs".
- The Doctor again refers to having lost his Sonic Screwdriver, bemoaning not having replaced it.
- Turlough mentions he wears a (school) uniform as a reminder to himself that he's an outsider and, for his own good, should remain as one.
- Call-Forward: Trion is mentioned, and some greater detail about Turlough's family history and his exile to Earth is given.
- Catchphrase: The Doctor employs "Brave heart" again. Tegan interprets it as a sign that things are about to get worse.
- Cryptic Conversation: Tegan bluffs to Hoss that Nyssa and the Doctor were killed in their crash landing. As a way of letting Turlough know the truth, she tells him that they will never see their native Earth again.
- Deadpan Snarker: The Mouth on Legs further cements her reputation.Turlough: Trust me, you don’t want to get into an argument with Tegan.Deela: Why? What will she do?Tegan: Win.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Rennol shoots Deela, and Turlough holds onto her as she slowly dies.
- Doom Magnet: Turlough manages to get tracked down by mercenaries hunting for his genetic imprint, who just happen to be orbiting the planet the TARDIS is stranded on.Tegan: Ugh, that Turlough. Shows his face for two minutes and the holiday's over in three.
- Doppelgänger Attack: The Morass can duplicate Snowlems that look like people they have come in contact with to attack others en masse.
- Gravity Screw: Gravity bubbles around the Ice Palace cause it to be very low. This comes in handy when Nyssa falls off a cliff.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Renoll thinks that by shooting Turlough and Deela the Morass will go inert, and he runs off, only to be grabbed by it.
- Honey Trap: Rennol and Deela's plan to manipulate Turlough. Even mentioned explicitly by name.
- Humanoid Aliens: The Doctor and Nyssa not being human gives Tegan a chance to tell Turlough things without his kidnappers finding out.
- Karma Houdini: Though Kanch is injured, possibly permanently, he and Hoss are still allowed to fly off without any kind of punishment, despite having done their level best to murder all of the TARDIS crew at various points.
- Limited Wardrobe: Turlough's insistence on wearing his school uniform is finally explained: after being exiled to Earth and joining Brendon School, he decided to continue wearing the uniform as a reminder to himself that he will always be an outsider until he can return home, and that it would be dangerous for him to get close to anybody. Even after spending several days on a leisure planet, Tegan notes that he hasn't so much as loosened his tie.
- Locked Out of the Loop: While Tegan and Nyssa learn a little about Turlough's past and his home planet, the Doctor does not, maintaining his ignorance of Turlough's history that won't be changed until "Planet of Fire".
- Love-Interest Traitor: Deela is built up as Turlough's former childhood sweetheart, but is in cahoots with Rennol.
- The Mole: Deela is far from the innocent, kidnapped former love interest she appears to be.
- New Old Flame: Deela was Turlough's first love, and is introduced for the first time here.
- No One Gets Left Behind: The Doctor makes a point of insisting that they find a way to rescue Kanch, who had been attempting to kill them all. Hoss is shocked by this; Tegan just shrugs and says that this is what the Doctor does.
- Nothing Is Scarier: When Rennol dies his screaming stops midway, as living ice covers his entire body, possibly leaving him fully conscious just like the Doctor had previously. Nyssa hopes, for mercy's sake, it killed him instantly. Turlough hopes for the opposite.
- Open Sesame: The door to the Ice Palace opens only when Turlough and Deela place their hands against the door, and kiss.
- Sanity Slippage: Rennol starts out as quite the Smug Snake, but the more his plans start to unravel, so does his mental stability.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: The treasure Renoll is after doesn't exist anymore.
- Shout-Out:
- Tegan calls a security robot "Metal Mickey".
- Upon discovering that the palace is filled with Secret Underground Passages and Bookcase Passages, Tegan asks if Turlough's family bought the planet from Enid Blyton.
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: Turlough and Deela clearly used to be like this, to the point that they reformatted the entrance of their dimensional bubble to only open when they kissed in front of it. Turlough is a bit embarrassed by it now.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Turlough and Deela's families were on opposite sides of an interplanetary war, not that this kept them apart.
- Snowlems: The Morass can create ice-like constructs of people it has come in contact with.
- Taking You with Me: Turlough's great-grandfather set the Ice Palace's security system to kill those who'd taken his treasure, as he was dying anyway. The Morass proceeded to kill everybody.
- Vague Age: Turlough's age and the ageing rate of his species is made even more unclear than before; he was a student at Brendon School on Earth relatively recently, but talks about his "youth" and his teenage relationship with Deela as though they were a long time in his past.
- Vampiric Draining: The Morass is an energy vampire.
- Villainous Lineage: Turlough's great-grandfather was a smuggler and informant. Deela notes that this is probably where Turlough's devious nature comes from.
- We Have Reserves: The Morass Snowlems are noted as not being particularly strong, but they threaten to overwhelm the party through sheer force of numbers.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Rennol is happy to let Hoss and Kanch be killed by the Snowlems, just so that he doesn't have to pay them later.
