History Recap / DoctorWhoS36E3ThinIce

Written by Sarah Dollard.

* {{Hypocrite}}: The Doctor says he "doesn't have the luxury of outrage". Creator/TheABC's review show ''Whovians'' had great fun with that line, compiling a montage of all the times the Doctor became outraged.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* VeryPunchableMan: Lord Sutcliffe gets his face clobbered by the Doctor, no less, within less than a minute of his introduction. That definitely qualifies.

The one where the Doctor punches a racist.

** The Doctor has Bill decide what to do about the creature, as the decision on whether to free something that could kill hundreds of thousands of humans needs to be made by a human. This calls back to the last time he did something like this in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E7KillTheMoon]]" – the difference is that this time he is far more open and deferential to her about it, in a situation where he knows the stakes are real, unlike the last time where Clara ultimately took it as a patronising SecretTestOfCharacter for the PunyEarthlings.

* ImmediateSelfContradiction: Before the Doctor and Bill confront Lord Sutcliffe, the Doctor gives Bill a long lecture on how they are here to collect information and not reveal themselves, and no matter what disgusting thing the villain does or says she mustn't react emotionally. Cue Lord Sutcliffe walking into the room and instantly starting to racially abuse Bill, at which point the Doctor decks him and gets them both tied up.

* ForeignQueasine: (Or Historical Queasine in this case). Bill enthusiastically declares that she's going to try everything. Until she sees the food on offer, such as sheep's heart, ox cheek, and the suspiciously-shaped piece of anatomy that the Doctor is eating. She finally settles on a fish pie, but even they turn out to be AlienLunch.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Bill remarks that, in 1814, she would have to deal with slavery. While that would be true if the TARDIS landed in ''America'' in 1814, chattel slavery (as opposed to serfdom) was never legal in Britain and the courts had ruled against the practice decades earlier, in the Somerset case. Encounters with slave ''owners'' were still a possibility, as British-owned colonial outposts still engaged in chattel slavery, but Bill herself being thought a slave was not. This could be a [[JustifiedTrope justified]] misconception, however, as Bill is not familiar with the time period, but the Doctor does seem to concur with her (or at least seeks to assuage her concerns). The actual episode never has any slaves or slavery in it, unless the river creature's bondage qualifies.
* ArtisticLicensePhysics: The shockwaves from several bombs going off underwater would almost certainly crack the ice.

** Bill wants to know if they'll be totally defenseless while diving beneath the ice in primitive diving gear to investigate the MonsterOfTheWeek.

* HypocriticalHumor: The Doctor tells Bill to let him do the talking when they meet Sutcliffe, saying the situation requires tact and diplomacy, and she has a bit of a temper. He ends up punching Sutcliffe for lobbing racial insults at Bill.

* MainliningTheMonster: Sutcliffe has been feeding people to the serpent so he can have its ''poop'' dredged up and used to fuel his factories.

* DeliciousDistraction: Rather than explain what happened to their fellow urchin who got eaten, the Doctor suddenly decides he's hungry and produces pies [[PullARabbitOutOfMyHat from his hat]].

** A non-eating version when Bill realises she's rubbing her fingers in the creature's poo.

* SpotOfTea: Nardole gets a DeathGlare from the Doctor when he mentions adding a spot of coffee to it.

* BerserkButton: It takes a lot to anger The Doctor enough for him to straight-up ''slug'' somebody. Congratulations to Sutcliffe for figuring out the secret.

* HeyYouHaymaker: The Doctor's reaction to Sutcliffe insulting Bill is to tap him on the shoulder, then deck him.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Bill remarks that, in 1814, she would have to deal with slavery. While that would be true if the TARDIS landed in ''America'' in 1814, chattel slavery (as opposed to serfdom) was never legal in Britain and the courts had ruled against the practice decades earlier, in the Somerset case. Encounters with slave ''owners'' were still a possibility, as British-owned colonial outposts still engaged in chattel slavery, but Bill herself being thought a slave was not. This is a [[JustifiedTrope justified]] misconception, however, as Bill is not familiar with the time period specifically. The actual episode never has any slaves or slavery in it, unless the river creature's bondage qualifies.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Yes, kids, Bill enjoys eating fish pie.

* BrokenAesop: Lord Sutcliffe comes across as such a CardCarryingVillain that it looks like the writers felt the need to hold the viewers hands to show how bad racism is. This winds up undermining the episode, because he's so blatant about it that it's hard to take the Doctor's reaction to him seriously. This is the same Doctor that [[Recap/DoctorWhos34E2IntoTheDalek risked his life to save a dying Dalek]], now punching some idiot over a racial slur, then breaking his own ThouShaltNotKill rule, because intolerance is now apparently the only evil that he can't stand.

* BrokenAesop: Lord Sutcliff comes across as such a CardCarryingVillain that it looks like the writers felt the need to hold the viewers hands to show how bad racism is. This winds up undermining the episode, because he's so blatant about it that it's hard to take the Doctor's reaction to him seriously. This is the same Doctor that [[Recap/DoctorWhos34E2IntoTheDalek risked his life to save a dying Dalek]], now punching some idiot over a racial slur, then breaking his own ThouShaltNotKill rule, because intolerance is now apparently the only evil that he can't stand.