Following potential clues to the disappearance of Hebe Harrison ("Chronomancer"), the Doctor and Mel arrive in New York in the late 1930s, but find no clues... until they see a poster advertising Mel as the star act in the Broadway show Behold America!. An encounter with the Doctor's future self prompts the two to go back in time a few weeks to investigate this further, which leads to the discovery that the whole situation is actually a complex plan for revenge on the Doctor himself.
Tropes Include;
- All for Nothing: Ultimately the villains' plans amount to nothing, as they not only fail to kill the Doctor but can't even ruin his reputation as the photographs they obtained were wiped as a side-effect of the Doctor's efforts.
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Aluminium Christmas Trees: Brought up when Mel assumes that American Nazis are a sign of the anomaly they're tracking, but the Doctor has to inform her that such things were actually a part of real history. - But for Me, It Was Tuesday: The whole play was staged as a trap for the Doctor by a group who call themselves "the Alliance of Retribution", consisting of people who have been thwarted by the Doctor in the past. However, when pressed the Doctor can't remember most of them, musing that they must be some of his more forgettable adversaries as he's been doing this for a very long time and can't be expected to remember everybody.
- Evil Is Petty: The Alliance's goal in staging this elaborate trap was to fake a picture of the Doctor apparently attending a party with an American fascist with the goal of ruining his reputation.
- My Future Self and Me: When they first visit the theatre showing Behold America, the Doctor and Mel not only see another Mel on stage, but then meet the Doctor's future self outside, who advises them to leave the theatre for the moment and come back later.
- Never the Selves Shall Meet: The Doctor "weaponises" this by disrupting the villains' equipment with the energy released when two different versions of his cat badge (one from the coat he left in the lobby on his first visit and the other badge from basically five weeks in its future) make contact with each other.
- Remember the New Guy?: None of the members of the Alliance of Retribution appear to be from previously-recorded confrontations with the Doctor, even though he suggests that they have all encountered him in his past rather than any of them being from his future.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Julian Arnstein of the Alliance proclaims himself the Doctor's arch-enemy, but after asking if Julian is some new version of the Master or the Rani the Doctor admits that he has no idea who the man is.
- Timey-Wimey Ball: The Doctor and Mel only go back to take part in Behold America because they saw posters of Mel in the show and the Doctor's future self helped them realise that was what they had to do.
