When the TARDIS arrives in Russia in 1918, the crew soon realise that they are there on the eve of a great tragedy…
Tropes:
- Arbitrary Scepticism: Barbara is initially skeptical of the idea that Susan can sense the TARDIS.
- Blatant Lies: The idea that the windows were painted for the Romanovs’ protection is known to be a lie.
- Call-Forward: The Doctor all but explicitly mentions fixed points in time.
- Chekhov's Skill: Barbara finds Susan meditating in the TARDIS, and Susan later tries to teach this to Anastasia.
- Closest Thing We Got: The Doctor is forced to perform a medical examination on the Romanovs because the usual doctor is unavailable.
- Did Anastasia Survive?: Barbara mentions the popular belief that Anastasia might have survived her death, and Susan speculates that the meditation techniques she tried to teach Anastasia might help her escape.
- Everyone Has Standards: Where he just accepted the situations they encountered in the show, here the Doctor expresses his frustration with the inevitability of history when he talks with the Tsar.
- Heroic Sacrifice: The Tsar agrees to go quietly to his death if his executioners will let the TARDIS crew go free.
- Hope Spot: The TARDIS crew provide one to the Romanovs, but they all know they can’t save the family.
- Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance: Susan didn’t know much about the Russian Revolution before these events, as the Doctor didn’t talk about this period of history and Coal Hill history looked at the French Revolution.
- "Not So Different" Remark: The Tsar observes that, in the end, the revolutionaries have resorted to the death of innocents and other such practices that they claimed to be trying to reject.
- Oh, Crap!: The Doctor says ‘Oh dear’ when he realizes where and when they have arrived.
- Pragmatic Hero: Barbara at least tries to be this when stopping Susan from leaving the ship to try and help the captured Doctor and Ian.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: The Tsar is relatively calm about his captivity, treating his guards with civility despite their own attempts to provoke him.
- Self-Serving Memory: After seeing the TARDIS dematerialize, a man decides to ignore it as it doesn’t fit his view of reality and just act as though it never happened.
- Shout-Out: Anastasia recalls her father reading The Scarlet Pimpernel to her and her siblings.
- Swapped Roles: Barbara, who once tried to save the Aztecs, now acknowledges that history can’t be changed, while Susan, from a culture of time-travellers, wants to do more in the current situation.
- Tempting Fate: The Doctor walks out of the TARDIS despite the foreboding atmosphere of their current location, and he and Ian are swiftly arrested as deserters.
