History Recap / DoctorWhoS14E1TheMasqueOfMandragora

* DressingAsTheEnemy: The Doctor tries to absorb the energy of the possessed Hieronymous by wearing armour. Both parties are weakened, but Hieronymous is [[CommercialBreakCliffhanger shown calling on Mandragora to aid him]]. We then cut to the masked ball where Sarah sees a man walking around in the lion mask and thinks he's the Doctor, until a DramaticUnmask reveals TheBlank face of the Brethran, making it look like the Doctor lost. Other people at the ball start throwing off their costumes to reveal the BlackCloak of Demnos and start blasting away at the guests, until a masked and robed Hieronymous appears and puts a stop to it, ordering the survivors be brought to the temple for a proper HumanSacrifice. Turns out it's the Doctor imitating [[VoiceChangeling Hieronymous's voice]] so he can lure his followers into the same fate he inflicted on their leader.
* EnergyBeings: The Mandragora Helix.

* InadvertantEntranceCue: Guiliano is holding off Count Federico's soldiers while the Doctor
-->'''Giuliano:''' Go on, for you'll need an army to do your work!
-->'''Count Federico:'''FEDERICO: Oh, you craven-gutted curs. He's but one man.
(The Doctor runs out of the catacombs brandishing a sword.)
DOCTOR: [[IncrediblyLamePun You can't count, Count.]]

* WhatTheHellAreYou: When giving a YouExclamation, Hieronymous then asks "What are you?" having been [[HearingVoices told by his voices]] that the Doctor has come from the stars.

* HumansAreSpecial: The Mandragora Helix wants to conquer Earth because they believe that the ConstantlyCurious nature of the human race will cause them to spread beyond their own galaxy and challenge their own power.

* ArmorIsUseless: Averted; the Doctor dons a suit of armor under his clothes to channel Hieronymous's energy blast via a wire attached to it. In the novelisation the wire melts from the energy pouring through it, forcing the Doctor to absorb the final blast unaided.

* DressingAsTheEnemy: The Doctor tries to absorb the energy of the possessed Hieronymous by wearing armour. Both parties are weakened, but Hieronymous is [[CommercialBreakCliffhanger shown calling on Mandragora to aid him]]. We then cut to the masked ball where Sarah sees a man walking around in the lion mask and thinks he's the Doctor, until a DramaticUnmask reveals TheBlank face of the Brethran, making it look like the Doctor lost. Other people at the ball start throwing off their costumes to reveal the BlackCloak of Demnos and start blasting away at the guests, until Hieronymous appears and puts a stop to it, ordering the survivors be brought to the temple for a proper HumanSacrifice. Turns out it's the Doctor imitating [[VoiceChangeling imitates Hieronymous's voice]] so he can lure his followers into the same fate he inflicted on their leader.

* DressingAsTheEnemy: The Doctor dresses in Hieronymous's robes and mask and [[VoiceChangeling imitates his voice]] to stop the Brethren from massacring everyone at the masked ball, then lures them into the same fate he inflicted on Hieronymous.

* ArmorIsUseless: Averted; the Doctor dons a suit of armor under his clothes to channel the energy blast via a wire attached to it.

* ArmorIsUseless: Averted; the Doctor dons

* {{Astrologer}}: Hieronymous; a foil for the scientific Doctor (despite them both having awful fashion sense and a tendency to speak gobbledygook).

* StepfordSmiler: When the Doctor starts clowning around in the lion mask, Sarah is not amused. "The worse the situation, the worse your jokes get!" [[ExplainExplainOhCrap She then realises that things really are bad]], which the Doctor acknowledges.

* DressingAsTheEnemy: The Doctor dresses in Hieronymous's robes and mask and [[VoiceChangeling imitates his voice]] to stop the other cultists from massacring everyone at the ball, then lures them into the same fate he inflicted on Hieronymous.

* WhenThePlanetsAlign: Hieronymous invokes this, and there's likely some truth in it as the Doctor at the end of the episode says that the constelation the Mandragora Helix is in [[TheEndOrIsIt will be in the right position from another attempt in 500 years]].

* WhenThePlanetsAlign: Hieronymous invokes this. He even appears to believe it.

* DressingAsTheEnemy: The Doctor dresses in Hieronymous's robes and mask to stop the other cultists from massacring everyone at the ball, then lures them into the same fate.

* ReligionOfEvil: The Cult of Demnos.

* TheStarscream: Federico thinks Hieronymous is his loyal (but despised) underling. Hieronymous has other ideas, though his goals are a lot larger than a mere dukedom.
* StepfordSmiler: When the Doctor starts clowning around in the lion mask, Sarah gets stuck into him. "The worse the situation, the worse your jokes get!" [[ExplainExplainOhCrap She then realises that things really are bad]], which the Doctor acknowledges.

* TranslatorMicrobes

* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Averted; Federico [[TimeTravelersAreSpies thinks the Doctor is a spy]] (and is certainly a troublemaker) so orders he be taken out and executed.

* TheBlank: Hieronymous, after absorbing the Mandragora Helix. Federico gets a nasty shock when [[DramaticUnmask he rips off his mask]].

* {{Astrologer}}: Hieronymous.

* BelievingTheirOwnLies: Federico scoffs at Hieronymous for this, but it's implied that the Helix has been feeding Hieronymous visions to manipulate him.

* TheBlank: Hieronymous, after absorbing the Mandragora Helix.
* BloodlessCarnage: Giuliano and Federico both get wounded in swordfights, but not a drop of blood in sight. In Giuliano's case the Doctor even says he has to bandage him to stop the bleeding.
* BlueBlood: The Duke and his uncle the Count.

* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Sarah Jane.
* CallBack: Sarah plays a few notes on a recorder she finds in the TARDIS control room, presumably belonging to the Second Doctor.

* CoolMask: The cultists' gilded masks, especially the one Hieronymous wears.

* DamselInDistress: Three guesses who, given there's only one damsel in the entirety of the main cast (excluding dancers at the Masque)
* DragonWithAnAgenda: Hieronymous.
* DramaticUnmask: Federico gets quite a shock when he rips off Hieronymous' mask.

* EvilUncle: Count Federico.
* {{Handwave}}: The reason why everyone speaks EternalEnglish is explained as a [[UniversalTranslator Time Lord gift]] that the Doctor passes on to his companions. [[MoralMyopia Without their knowledge]], which the Doctor is called out on [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E2TheEndOfTheWorld in the New series]].

* IdiotBall: The Doctor realises that Sarah is NotHerself just because she chooses this moment to ask how she's able to speak whatever language the locals are using, which she's apparently never done before, despite her being a nosy journalist. Companions in New Who will be more curious on the subject.
* KickTheDog: Count Federico is introduced slaughtering some peasants to MakeAnExampleOfThem for allegedly plotting insurrection. Whether they were is another question; his nephew sarcastically implies he was just doing it for sport.

* LockedInTheDungeon: First Marco is locked in the dungeon, later on the Doctor, Sarah Jane and Giuliano join in on the fun.
* MagiTech: The Doctor examines a cult mask and identifies it as "Predeluvian sandstone with a complex circuit of base metal fused into it."
* MalevolentMaskedMen: the Cult of Demnos.

* TheMole: Sarah Jane is hypnotized into trying to kill the Doctor with a poisoned needle. Fortunately the Doctor realises what's happening.

* NothingCanStopUsNow: Federico after The Doctor and Giuliano are thrown into his dungeon. He regards Hieronymous as a fraud, so has no idea the man is a threat to him despite being the only one who hasn't been captured.

* {{Corpsing}}: During filming, Creator/TomBaker apparently made himself a nuisance by messing around off-camera in order to make Tim Piggot-Smith (as Marco) crack up during his torture scene.

* TheStarscream: Federico thinks Hieronymous is his loyal (but despised) underling. Hieronymous has other ideas.

* {{Handwave}}: The reason why everone speaks English is explained as a Time Lord gift that the Doctor passes on to his companions. [[MoralMyopia Without their knowledge]], which the Doctor is called out on in the New series.

* IdiotBall: The Doctor realises that Sarah is NotHerself just because she chooses this moment to ask how she's able to speak whatever language the locals are using, which she's apparently never done before, despite her being a nosy journalist.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Sarah calls the Doctor out for this, telling him she knows when the situation has gotten apocalyptic because his jokes get more strained.