History Recap / DoctorWhoS28E7TheIdiotsLantern

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Tommy gives one to his father:
-->"You don’t get it, do you? You fought against fascism, remember? People telling you how to live. Who you could be friends with. Who you could fall in love with. Who could live and who had to die. Don’t you get it? You were fighting so that little twerps like me could do what we want, say what we want. Now you’ve become just like them. You’ve been informing on everyone, haven’t you? Even Gran. All to protect your precious ''reputation''."

--> '''Rita:''' Tommy, go with the Doctor and do some good. Get away from this house and its ''poison''. (angrily turns in Eddie's general direction) We have a ruddy monster under my roof, [[StealthInsult and it weren't my mother]]!

'''The Doctor:''' ''[handing Mr Connelly the Union Flags he'd just ordered his wife to put up around the room]'' Then get busy
* TakeThat: In response to Mr. Connelly's bluster "I AM ''TALKING''!", the Doctor retorts with a fed-up "AND I'M! NOT! ''LISTENING''!!!"

'''The Doctor:''' ''[handing Mr Connelly the Union Flags he'd just ordered his wife to put up around the room]'' Then get busy!

-->'''Rose Tyler:''' Look at all the TV aerials... looks like everyone's got one. That's weird, my nan said tellies were so rare they all had to pile into one house.
-->'''Mr. Magpie:''' Not round here, love. Magpie's Marvellous Tellies, only five quid a box.

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: When DI Bishop asks the Doctor to tell them everything he knows, the Doctor [[ExactWords answers]], "Well, for starters, I know you can't wrap your hand round your elbow and make your fingers meet." One of the policemen can be seen trying it in the background.

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: When a policeman asks the Doctor to tell them everything he knows, the Doctor glibly replies "Well, for starters, I know you can't wrap your hand round your elbow and make your fingers meet." One of the policemen can be seen trying it in the background.

* GetOut: The last words Rita Connolly says to her abusive soon-to-be-ex husband Eddie are "Get out."

* WifeBasherBasher: The Doctor to Eddie Connelly, in a rare nonphysical example. This includes his BigShutUp above.

* TranquilFury: Rita Connelly reacts this way when she learns her husband was responsible for all the faceless people getting taken away, including her own mother.

* TheTelevisionTalksBack: The Wire inhabits a television when its not stealing faces, and is quite capable of interacting with others while doing so.

* TheTelevisionTalksBack: The episode has an evil... spirit-thing called "The Wire" that steals faces and screams at people.

* NoSell: The Wire is capable of using electricity to [[DisintegratorRay disintegrate]] humans, but it doesn't do anything to the Doctor beyond giving him a nasty shock.

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Eddie gets high and mighty about his military record, fighting Nazis, but then Tommy points out the truth. He's been informing the government about the people in the neighborhood who've lost their faces because they're "filthy" and a threat to his reputation. In other words, he came home from a war against fascism and began practicing it at home.

* ForgotAboutThePhlebotinum: The Doctor flashes his psychic paper on a couple of occasions, but doesn't use it when the police show up to take the faceless Gran away.

* BrickJoke: Apparently, Magpie Electricals survived beyond the demise of its proprietor, as the brand frequently shows up in the present day of Earth, and even on the Eleventh Doctor's first TARDIS desktop monitor.

* TheFifties: ''Just'' as much of the sexist, {{Stepford|Smiler}}esque bad as the idyllic, cutesy good.

The Doctor sports some marvelous aviator sunglasses and a quiff with unequalled resilience to motorcycle helmets, but even that can't keep Rose from getting her face eaten. The Doctor and an abused kid called Tommy storm the TV store and meet the Wire. Mr Magpie puts the Wire into a portable TV and runs off to put her in the broadcasting tower at Alexandra Palace. The Doctor climbs up after Magpie (masquerading as the King of Belgium to get past the guards) and sort of electrocutes everything. Magpie is disintegrated by the Wire, the Wire is trapped in a Betamax tape and everybody gets their faces back. Tommy's bastard of a dad is kicked out of the house by his wife as everyone learns an important lesson about speaking out when things are bad. The Doctor and Rose, however, encourage Tommy to chase after his dad and see if he can't TakeAThirdOption -- because even abusive 1950s fathers are still fathers. As for the Wire, the Doctor mulls over plans to tape over her someday ([[IronicDeath hopefully not with an episode of]] ''Series/TheWire'').

* BigShutUp

* CelebrityParadox: The Doctor references Music/KylieMinogue, who would guest star on the show a couple years later.

--> '''The Wire:''' I'm the Wire. And I will gobble you up, pretty boy. Every last morsel. And when I have feasted, I shall regain the corporeal body which my fellow kind denied me.\\

* FreezeFrameBonus: The writing on the video tape's label has been scribbled out and started again, like the Doctor can't think of a good name for it. Even better, it's not in English but Gallifreyan.

-->'''FEEEEEEEEED MEEEEEEEEEEE!!!'''
** The Doctor - "AND I'M NOT LISTENING-A!"

* PopCulturedBadass: Although the Doctor owns up to it -- he says that the wise person he was quoting was Music/{{Kylie|Minogue}}.

* RealityEnsues: Over the years, the Doctor has been able to talk his way out of situations us mere mortals can only dream of. However, on this occasion, in trying to reason with the police taking away the faceless grandma, he gets a mean right hook for his troubles. Fortunately, being a Timelord, it doesn't knock him out for long.

** This is then intentionally subverted by the Doctor in spectacular fashion - at least for a short while.
-->'''The Doctor''': Mr Connelly, what gender is the Queen?
-->'''Mr Connelly''': She's a female.
-->'''The Doctor''': And are you suggesting that the ''Queen'' does the ''housework''?
-->'''Mr Connelly''': ''(stunned)'' Well, no!
-->'''The Doctor''': ''(handing Mr Connelly the Union Flags he'd just ordered his wife to put up around the room)'' Then get busy!

-->'''The Doctor:''' Hold on a minute. There are three important, brilliant and complicated reasons why you should listen to me. One-- ''[punched out by TheMenInBlack]''
* TalkingIsAFreeAction: The Doctor starts: "Hold on a minute! There are three important, brilliant, and complicated reasons why you should listen to me. One--" and is promptly [[TalkToTheFist KO'd with a punch to the face]].

'''The Doctor:''' It's never too late, as a wise person once said. ''(to himself)'' Music/{{Kylie|Minogue}}, I think...
* WifeBasherBasher: The Doctor to Eddie Connelly in a rare nonphysical example. This includes his BigShutUp above.

The Doctor sports some marvelous aviator sunglasses and a quiff with unequalled resilience to motorcycle helmets, but even that can't keep Rose from getting her face eaten. The Doctor and an abused kid called Tommy storm the TV store and meet the Wire. Mr Magpie puts the Wire into a portable TV and runs off to put her in the broadcasting tower. The Doctor climbs up after Magpie (masquerading as the King of Belgium to get past the guards) and sort of electrocutes everything. Magpie is dissolved by the Wire, the Wire is trapped in a Betamax tape and everybody gets their faces back. Tommy's bastard of a dad is kicked out of the house by his wife as everyone learns an important lesson about speaking out when things are bad. The Doctor and Rose, however, encourage Tommy to chase after his dad and see if he can't TakeAThirdOption -- because even abusive 1950s fathers are still fathers. As for the Wire, the Doctor mulls over plans to tape over her someday ([[IronicDeath hopefully not with an episode of]] ''Series/TheWire'').

* DisneyVillainDeath: Played with in Magpie's case. [[HeelFaceTurn He realizes the error of his ways]] and begs for peace, and [[BigBad the Wire]] responds by zapping him in cold blood and he falls from Alexandra Palace, but his body [[NoBodyLeftBehind turns to dust]] before he hits the ground.

** Eddie Connelly gets the full front of this from his son. This his wife joins in.

The one with a bastard father.