History YMMV / DoctorWhoS29E2TheShakespeareCode

* HoYay: A memorable moment between Creator/WilliamShakespeare and the Doctor (keep in mind the real Shakespeare is widely speculated to have been bisexual):
-->'''Doctor''': Come on, we can all have a good flirt later!\\
'''Shakespeare''': Is that a promise, Doctor?\\
'''Doctor''': Oh, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet_57 fifty-seven academics]] just [[IKnewIt punched the air.]]

** The joke about the Doctor being a fan of Creator/JKRowling has aged rather badly since Rowling started airing her controversial views on gender identity in 2020. To make things worse, this episode was written by Gareth Roberts, who has also come under fire for transphobia.

** The joke about the Doctor being a fan of Creator/JKRowling has aged rather badly since Rowling started airing her controversial views on gender identity in 2020. To make things worse, this episode was written by Gareth Roberts, who has also come under fire for transphobia. It arguably loops around to HeartwarmingInHindsight as Tennant would express support for trans rights in general and his non-binary child in particular when the latter came out.

** The joke about the Doctor being a fan of Creator/JKRowling has aged rather badly since Rowling started airing her controversial views on gender identity in 2020. To make things worse, this episode was written by Gareth Roberts, who has also come under fire for transphobia.

** To a lesser extent, the Doctor blithely waving off Martha's worries about being a black person in a far less enlightened time got quite a bit of criticism - however, later in the same season, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E8HumanNature Human Nature]][=/=][[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E9TheFamilyOfBlood The Family of Blood]]" addressed it at some length. Certainly, it eventually got an AuthorsSavingThrow in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E3ThinIce Thin Ice]]" where the Twelfth Doctor takes Bill's similar concerns very seriously. While ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E3Rosa Rosa]]'', an episode that would revolve entirely around the Montgomery bus boycotts of the 1950s, focused on period racism altogether.

** The Doctor brushing off Martha's concerns about racism aged rather badly too, especially when it's compared to how in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E3ThinIce "Thin Ice"]] the Twelfth Doctor actually adressed his own black companion's concerns more tactfully, and in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E3Rosa "Rosa"]] the Thirteenth Doctor actually got roped in the Rosa Parks bus incident and treated it with the seriousness expected for the incident.

** After he left ''Doctor Who'', Creator/DavidTennant went on to play the main character in several highly successful Shakespeare-productions such as Hamlet in ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' and Benedick in ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing.''
** This also wouldn’t be the last time he [[Series/GoodOmens2019 visited Shakespeare at the Globe.]]

** The Doctor brushing off Martha's concerns about racism aged rather badly too, especially when it's compared to [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/DoctorWhoS36E3ThinIce Twelve's]] and [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/DoctorWhoS37E3Rosa Thirteen's]] reactions in similar situations.

** The "Good old J.K." bit has aged rather badly since Creator/JKRowling started airing her controversial views on gender identity in 2020. To make things worse, this episode was written by Gareth Roberts, who has also come under fire for transphobia.

* AlternativeJokeInterpretation: The Doctor telling Martha that he cried upon reading the end of the last ''Harry Potter'' book takes on a different context when one remembers that the show's "present day" is actually a year ahead of the real world, thanks to the events of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E4AliensOfLondon "Aliens of London"]]. To viewers at the time, the line can be read as the Doctor teasing Martha, as well as the viewer, with the fact that he's already read the then-fourthcoming, and highly-anticipated ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows]]'' (published three months after the episode's broadcast). Once FridgeLogic sets in, we realise that Martha would, in fact already be in on how the book ended, since she should actually hail from ''2008'', not the broadcast year of 2007. Thus, the tease becomes directed strictly at the audience.

* AlternativeJokeInterpretation: The Doctor telling Martha that he cried upon reading the end of the last ''Harry Potter'' book takes on a different context when one remembers that the show's "present day" is actually a year ahead of the real world, thanks to the events of ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E4AliensOfLondon Aliens of London]]''. To viewers at the time, the line can be read as the Doctor teasing Martha, as well as the viewer, with the fact that he's already read the then-fourthcoming, and highly-anticipated ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows]]'' (published three months after the episode's broadcast). Once FridgeLogic sets in, we realise that Martha would, in fact already be in on how the book ended, since she should actually hail from ''2008'', not the broadcast year of 2007. Thus, the tease becomes directed strictly at the audience.

* ValuesDissonance: Shakespeare's stereotypical greeting to Martha was a straight-up punch in the jaw (as the Doctor notes, it ''was'' 1599).

* AlternativeJokeInterpretation: The Doctor telling Martha that he cried upon reading the end of the last ''Harry Potter'' book takes on a different context when one remembers that the show's "present day" is actually a year ahead of the real world, thanks to the events of ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E4AliensOfLondon Aliens of London]]''. To viewers at the time, the line can be read as the Doctor teasing Martha, as well as the viewer, with the fact that he's already read the then-fourthcoming and highly-anticipated ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' (published three months after the episode's broadcast). Once FridgeLogic sets in, we realise that Martha would, in fact already be in on how the book ended, since she should actually hail from ''2008'', not the broadcast year of 2007. Thus, the tease becomes directed strictly at the audience.

** The "Good old J.K." bit has aged rather badly following Creator/JKRowling started airing her controversial views on gender identity in 2020. To make things worse, this episode was written by Gareth Roberts, who has also come under fire for transphobia.

** The "Good old J.K." bit has aged rather badly following Creator/JKRowling's controversial views on gender identity politics beginning in 2020. To make things worse, this episode was written by Gareth Roberts, who has also come under fire for transphobia.

** To a lesser extent, there's also The Doctor hyping up ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', since in real life there was a BrokenBase over whether it was a fitting ending to the series.

* WereStillRelevantDammit: The ''Literature/HarryPotter'' references, including one to the final book which came out three months after the episode aired,[[note]]And causes a minor ContinuitySnarl with Martha having not read it, despite coming from a year in the future.[[/note]] and "Expelliarmus!" turns out to be key to defeating the Carrionites (admittedly this was because the preceding word was hard to rhyme).