History DoctorWho / TropesAToC

* ABoyAndHisX: A Boy And His TARDIS is the core premise of the show. The Doctor stole his TARDIS from a museum and ran off to see all of everything ever, and save most of it from something else. "The Doctor's Wife" (Nu Who Series 6) tells us that it's just as much "A TARDIS and her Boy", as she claims she "wanted to see the stars", stole him by leaving her doors unlocked and that what made him "think I'd give you back"? The phrase "A boy and his box - off to see the universe" is also uttered in the episode.

** The Twelfth Doctor does it at the end of his premiere episode, "Deep Breathing".

** When River Song was first introduced, the fact that she knew what his real name seemed to be a big deal, big enough for the Doctor to begin trusting her completely, and for him to tell her before she died that "there was only one reason why [he] would ever tell anyone [his] name, there's only one time [he] could". However, later on the Doctor's real name, while still a mystery, seemed to have lost most of not all of its importance, with the Doctor himself claiming that the name "Doctor" is what was important, and not his real name. Even Clara found it scribbled on a page in a book of the library (although she forgot it by the episode's end). River Song still appears to be the only person to know the Doctor's real name, but about that special "one time he could", she merely says that she made him tell her, and that it wasn't easy. Presumably, it involved handcuffs.
** The New Dalek Paradigm. The rebuilding of the Dalek race was set up to be a major plot point in the Eleventh Doctor but was scuttle for 2 reasons a) audiences didn't like the new Dalek design and b) Moffat thought the Daleks had been overused by this point and wanted to put them on hiatus until he could think up of a good story for them. So when the Daleks do reappear - they've rebuilt their Empire entirely offscreen and the old Russell T. Davies era Daleks are back and back for good.

** Time Lords have names ranging from the ridiculous (Romanadvoratrelundar) to the mundane (Susan). Although, Susan is not be her real name -- according to the [[http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Susan_Campbell the TARDIS Index File]], her Gallifreyan name is Arkytior, which translates as "[[EpilepticTrees Rose]]". Also, it's revealed (much later) that Time Lords pick the names they'll be known by, and those names are quite official (Lord President Rassilon addressed the Doctor and the Master as "Lord Doctor" and "Lord Master" while being particularly formal.) It makes sense that these names would be derived from all sources -- words describing what they do (like the Doctor and the Master), names of people on worlds that had an impact on them (presumably Susan, possibly anyone whose name isn't a dictionary word), or whatever they [[RuleOfCool felt sounded cool at the time]] (Romana's whole name, and the Doctor's "school" name of Theta Sigma).

** ''The Two Doctors'' was an allegory about meat-eating, hunting and butchering, ending with the Doctor announcing to Peri that, "from now on it's a healthy vegetarian diet for both of us!" Writer Robert Holmes was a vegetarian.

** The Doctor, particularly Ten, puts his companions (who are usually, if not always, young and female) before anyone else. Also the new ''Doctor Who'' series suggests that his companions represent his humanity in a universe full of mass death[[note]]And arguably the old series, ever since Ian Chesterton stopped the First Doctor from bashing a caveman's head in.[[/note]], as seen in "The Fires of Pompeii" when Donna convinces him to go back for one family among all those destroyed in Pompeii. It's mentioned some times that he feels responsible for them because it's his fault that they are in danger, since he brought them to wherever it is they are. The Doctor has sacrificed two of his regenerations for a girl now.
** Then you have Rory:

'''Rory:''' [[HeyYouHaymaker (punches him)]] '''SHE IS TO ME!'''\\

** The Eleventh Doctor also saved both Amy and Rory by dropping them off back home, having finally gotten GenreSavvy enough to realize the danger he puts them in. [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E5TheAngelsTakeManhattan Temporarily]].

* AbortedArc: When River Song was first introduced, the fact that she knew what his real name seemed to be a big deal, big enough for the Doctor to begin trusting her completely, and for him to tell her before she died that "there was only one reason why [he] would ever tell anyone [his] name, there's only one time [he] could". However, later on the Doctor's real name, while still a mystery, seemed to have lost most of not all of its importance, with the Doctor himself claiming that the name "Doctor" is what was important, and not his real name. Even Clara found it scribbled on a page in a book of the library (although she forgot it by the episode's end). River Song still appears to be the only person to know the Doctor's real name, but about that special "one time he could", she merely says that she made him tell her, and that it wasn't easy. Presumably, it involved handcuffs.

* BookSnap: In "Day of the Doctor", after Clara motorbikes her way into the TARDIS while the Doctor is reading ''Advanced Quantum Mechanics,'' he snaps the book shut. "Fancy a week in ancient Mesopotamia followed by future Mars?"

* ChekhovsBoomerang: The Doctor's Hand is an extremely persistent one.
** "The Christmas Invasion" (Dec 2005), it gets chopped off in a swordfight above Earth. It is (at some point) picked up by Captain Jack.
** ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'', Series 1 (2006-07), Jack has a mysterious hand in a container for the entire first series.
** "End of Days" (''Torchwood'') /"Utopia" (Jan/June 2007), Jack hears the TARDIS and sees the hand respond ([[ChekhovsGun bang]]), grabs it, and joins the Doctor.
** "The Sound of Drums" (June 2007), The Master uses the Doctor's DNA (from the hand) in order to age him to reflect how old he actually is ([[ChekhovsGun bang]]).
** "Last of the Time Lords" (June 2007), The Doctor takes back his hand and leaves it in the TARDIS.
** "The Doctor's Daughter" (May 2008) the hand detects Time Lord DNA and the TARDIS transports Donna, Martha, and the Doctor to Messaline so he could be cloned creating his "daughter" Jenny and close the StableTimeLoop the hand detecting Jenny before she existed caused.
** "Journey's End" (July 2008), After being shot by a Dalek, the Doctor sends his regeneration energy into the hand and continues his adventure. Unknown to him, the hand grows into a full clone of the Doctor and imbues Donna with the Doctor's mind, effectively creating ''three Doctors'', two and a half years after the hand was first cut off. ([[ChekhovsGun BANG]])
** The hand itself wasn't seen, but the ramifications of its last use were brought up ''again'' in "The Time of the Doctor" (December 2013) when it turned out that the creation of the clone Doctor actually used up one of the Doctor's regenerations even though he didn't change his face- therefore, the "Eleventh Doctor" is actually on the 13th and last life of his (at the time, only) regeneration cycle.

The "New Paradigm" Daleks introduced in ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E3VictoryOfTheDaleks Victory of the Daleks]]'' have an organic eye visible at the end of their eyestalks. Apparently this is the eye of the internal creature, with its optic nerve extruded down a metal pipe.

** Used straight in ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E2TheArkInSpace The Ark in Space]]'' (albeit realistically: Sarah Jane Smith is the only one small enough to fit and even she get stuck).

** Series 1 had the phrase Bad Wolf. It's Rose Tyler [[PhysicalGod after staring into the heart of the TARDIS]].
** Series 2 had Torchwood.
** Series 3 had various mentions of a Mr Saxon, evidently a public office figure running for Prime Minister. Who is later revealed to be the Master.
** Series 4 was chock full of them, tied together by a theme of things disappearing. First there was talk of vanishing bees, then planets, then moons, and finally Wilfred's "the stars are going out." This all turned out to be due to the Daleks and their planet-stealing operation. Occasionally the phrase "Medusa Cascade" appeared as well; the season finale ended up taking place there. Unusually, Series 4 also had arc words specific to each of the two main characters. The Doctor had "she is returning," while Donna Noble had the thoroughly unsettling "there's something on your back." In addition to that, The Doctor also referred to The Shadow Proclamation on several occasions before it was properly revealed.
*** The Series 4 specials had "Something is returning" and "He will knock four times" (the latter being tied to the Doctor's death). In "The End of Time", we learn that the "something" is Gallifrey, and the knocking turns out to come from Wilf, who's trapped in a box that's about to be irradiated unless the Doctor gets in the adjoining box and takes the radiation flood himself.
** Series 5 had "cracks" which is spoken often but also emphasized visually. Near the end most episodes, after the Doctor had left, the camera would linger on some part of the scenery where a mysterious crack similar to the one that appeared in the first episode of the series had appeared, later revealed to be a result of the TARDIS exploding on June 26, 2010. The cracks played a more prominent role in some episodes than others.
** Several times in Series 6, a hatch opens in a nearby wall, revealing woman with a silver eyepatch, who says a few words to Amy and vanishes. It's [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Madame Kovarian]], who has abducted the real Amy and is trying to [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E7AGoodManGoesToWar steal Amy's baby to raise as a LaserGuidedTykebomb]].

** Perhaps the biggest arc words spanning the whole series is: "Doctor Who?" It is also the question that will be asked, the question that has been [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall hiding in plain sight]], where "Silence will fall." And then it gets played with, lampshaded, and ultimately subverted]] in season 7. The Doctor's true name is never revealed, and is explicitly stated as unimportant. What matters is the name he has chosen.
** Series 7 has "Run, you clever boy. And remember." They're the last words of Clara Oswin Oswald, who has died twice in two different lives, each time with the same last words. Trailers aired after the 2012 Christmas special and in March 2013 revealed they were invoked at least twice more in Series 7.

** ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E1NewEarth New Earth]]'' had the Doctor discovering an underground lair full of cloned humans infected with, in his words, ''"EVERY DISEASE IN THE UNIVERSE."'' They didn't die since all the diseases kept each other in equilibrium but if they touched ''you'', you died instantly and painfully. How did the Doctor cure these poor souls? Why, he doused himself in ten or so ''intravenous'' solutions designed to cure the diseases, then transmitted the cure by touch. One of these diseases, called "petrifold regression", [[TakenForGranite turns you into stone]].
** In ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E4DaleksInManhattan Daleks in Manhattan]]'', the Daleks are using a giant lightning rod to power their genetic experiments. Okay. The Doctor mixes his own DNA into the results ''by hugging the lightning rod as it's struck by lightning''. Whu? DNA is conducted by electricity now?

* BadAss: The Doctor himself, of course. He's the Gallifreyan equivalent of Chuck Norris.

First, in "Victory of the Daleks", they let him declare himself as the Doctor and identified his enemies. This was exactly what the Daleks wanted, as their Progenator wouldn't recognize their spoiled DNA. They needed their oldest and most powerful enemy to tell the Progenator who they were, setting off the creation of a new bigger, badder, and [[ColorCodedforYourConvenience Technicolor Dalek race. NiceJobBreakingItHero...]].\\

* [[ABoyAndHisX A Boy And His TARDIS]]: The core premise of the show. The Doctor stole his TARDIS from a museum and ran off to see all of everything ever, and save most of it from something else. "The Doctor's Wife" (Nu Who Series 6) tells us that it's just as much "A TARDIS and her Boy", as she claims she "wanted to see the stars", stole him by leaving her doors unlocked and that what made him "think I'd give you back"? The phrase "A boy and his box - off to see the universe" is also uttered in the episode.

** The Cybermen were alternate humans, from Earth's twin planet Mondas who, in an example of CyberneticsEatYourSoul, converted themselves into emotionless cyborgs. They are exclusively concerned with the survival of their race, and the best way to do that is to forcibly convert humanity into them. That they are a direct threat to mankind means that they have also sought to destroy them, or sizeable chunks, in the distant future when we manage to successfully fight back. In the revival, the Cybermen were reinvented as originating from a more advanced parallel Earth. Created by a man desperate to transcend the limitations of his crippled body, these Cybermen see their mission as "upgrading" humanity in a perverse attempt to free mankind from physical deterioration and emotional pain. However, the revival's "Cybus Cybermen" have, as of series 6 and beyond, been giving way to different Cybermen closer to the classic design, which WordOfGod has established as descendants of the original Mondasians.

** The [[SdrawkcabName Kaleds]], ancestors of the Daleks, wear [[PuttingOnTheReich black military uniforms very close to the standard Nazi uniform]], complete with faux-Iron Crosses at the neck and give Roman salutes with heel clicking.

* AnyoneCanDie: Unless someone happens to be a historical figure (and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E4TheGirlInTheFireplace even]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E10VincentAndTheDoctor then]]...), there is a good chance they will die before the end of the episode. The Doctor and his companions are not immune to death, either.

** Series 8 so far has used The Promised Land as an arc word. Additionally, there's the recurring command of "Do as you are told", from the Doctor to Clara and vice versa.

* AnAesop: ''The Two Doctors'' was an allegory about meat-eating, hunting and butchering, ending with the Doctor announcing to Peri that, "from now on it's a healthy vegetarian diet for both of us!" Writer Robert Holmes was a vegetarian.

** Foremost on the list are the Daleks; super-intelligent, genetically engineered, AlwaysChaoticEvil [[ANaziByAnyOtherName space Nazis]] encased in non-humanoid PoweredArmor. They were designed to feel no emotions other than hatred, prejudice, anger and cruelty. They also experience fear but try not to show it. They are utterly fanatical about their own [[FantasticRacism inherent superiority]], to the point where civil wars have broken out amongst them if factions start displaying minor differences, and have chosen death when "contaminated" by foreign DNA. Their goal is nothing less than to ''[[CatchPhrase ex-term-i-nate]]'' all life in the universe (and, once, the {{multiverse}}). They often tend to find themselves dealing with Earth, which they hate. (But what ''don't'' they hate?)

* TheAllegedCar: More like "The Alleged TARDIS" though it's in even worse shape by the 2005 series. He's had it for several centuries, and it was already ancient when he got it, yet it's still immensely powerful and advanced, even by alien standards. In "The Eleventh Hour," however, the TARDIS regenerated along with the Doctor and seems to be in a bit better shape. One person (rather than the designed six) piloting it doesn't improve its poor state and ExplosiveInstrumentation either.
** Inverted with Bessie, the Doctor's car from his UNIT days. It's an antique roadster that looks like it should be pathetically slow. It's not, and the Doctor has rigged it with enough exotic devices to make JamesBond green with envy.

* ActionGirl: At some point (at least from the 1970s onwards), one of the Doctor's female companions will find herself coming to the Doctor's rescue, often with a blaster or other weapon in hand. (Examples include Sara Kingdom, Sarah Jane Smith, Leela, Romana, Amy Pond, Clara Oswald, Madame Vastra, etc.) though two that stand out in the fanbase are Ace and River Song.

** Series 8 so far has used The Promised Land as an arc word.

** The Doctor, particularly Ten, puts his companions (who are usually, if not always, young and female) before anyone else. Also the new ''Doctor Who'' series suggests that his companions represent his humanity in a universe full of mass death [[note]] the precursor for this, was in the first serial, when The Doctor was about to bash a caveman's skull in with a rock, Ian Chesterton intervened. So the Doctor ever since, saw his companions as his conscience and is afraid that if he is in solitude for too long he will lose his moral compass [[/note]], as seen in "The Fires of Pompeii" when Donna convinces him to go back for one family among all those destroyed in Pompeii. It's mentioned some times that he feels responsible for them because it's his fault that they are in danger, since he brought them to wherever it is they are. The Doctor has sacrificed two of his regenerations for a girl now.

* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: It's become generally accepted, by fans and production alike, that The Doctor's name is '''''not''''' "Doctor Who", but the media doesn't seem to know this. Even the end titles sometimes list the character as "Doctor Who". (That last is less {{egregious}} of an error in [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness early episodes]], when the name distinction wasn't firmly established yet.)

** Time Lords have the ability to psychically connect with other advanced, telepathic beings. They can also wipe minds and put images into someone's head by concentrating and touching them. At one point the Doctor downloads his backstory into someone's mind by head butting him. They have a higher brain function than humans and can process way more at a time: understanding the nature of space-time is basically instinctive.