History Recap / DoctorWhoS30E7TheUnicornAndTheWasp

'''Original air date:''' May 17, 2008

'''Production code:''' 4.7

Written by Gareth Roberts.

* AccentRelapse: After she's revealed a fraud The Unicorn drops her RP accent for a lower-class, vaguely Cockney one.
* ActorAllusion:

** David Tennant is from Scotland, and the national animal of Scotland is the unicorn.
** Felicity Kendal (Lady Eddison) is best known for her role on ''Series/RosemaryAndThyme'', which is about two garden designers who solve crimes & mysteries at the same time, much like the story of this episode. And just like Lady Eddison, Kendal also spent some time in India, where she was brought up. As a result of this, she is fluent in Hindi.
** Fenella Woolgar and David Tennant also acted together in BBC miniseries ''He Knew He Was Right''.

JustForFun/TheOneWith Creator/AgathaChristie, Creator/DavidTennant's [[TheCameo dad]] and a giant, blasphemous wasp. [[TabletopGame/{{Clue}} In the mansion]], with a BigDamnKiss.

* WickedWasps: The MonsterOfTheWeek is a Vespiform: a giant, blasphemous wasp driven to commit murder.

Donna takes issue with the Doctor calling her a "plucky young girl"[[note]]"'The plucky young girl who helps me out'?! [...] I'll ''pluck'' '''you''' in a minute!"[[/note]], but the Doctor defensively explains that there are no policewomen in 1926. While Agatha keeps the others in the sitting room until he's ready to question them, Donna asks the Doctor why they aren't calling the real police. The answer is quite simple: he's found morphic residue, a byproduct of shapeshifting, on the floor, meaning that one of the guests is an alien in human form. Donna is weirded out by the idea of Agatha Christie being literally surrounded by murder, comparing it to Charles Dickens being surrounded by ghosts at Christmas (not realizing that the Doctor has actually experienced just that), or finding Enid Blyton having tea with Noddy.

* BuryYourGays: Roger. Which, per the trope, would have almost made his sexuality usable in the story in the real 1920s since he was killed, appropriately enough by [[HeteronormativeCrusader the Vicar]].

%% * 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.

->'''Agatha:''' [[{{Creator/AgathaChristie}} Agatha Christie.]]\\

* PluckyGirl: The Doctor invokes this with Donna by calling her "the plucky young girl who helps me out" to explain why she's going to investigate with him as policewomen didn't exist in the 1920s. Donna is offended.

* DownerEnding: For poor Lady Eddison who tragically loses both her sons and with Roger's death the Curbishley/Eddison line comes to an end.

* RunningGag: The one about the Doctor and Donna not being married and the one where the companion attempts an accent, and the Doctor tells her not to. Hilariously enough, the [[SheIsNotMyGirlfriend protestations]] turn out to be unnecessary; [[SherlockScan Christie noticed Donna didn't have a wedding ring.]]

* WickedWasp: The MonsterOfTheWeek is a Vespiform: a giant, blasphemous wasp driven to commit murder.

The one with Creator/AgathaChristie, Creator/DavidTennant's [[TheCameo dad]] and a giant, blasphemous wasp. [[TabletopGame/{{Clue}} In the mansion]], with a BigDamnKiss.

'''The Doctor:''' [[IncrediblyLamePun Murder at the vicar's rage.]]\\

* UnstoppableRage: [[Literature/TheMurderAtTheVicarage Murder at the Vicar's Rage]] ([[IncrediblyLamePun *ahem*]]) ensues when the boys are stealing things from the church.

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Agatha Christie thinks her books will be soon forgotten.

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Agatha doubts Donna’s insistence that her work will have any staying power with the public, since they’re not “great literature”and will be forgotten.[[note]]By the 2020s, she remains one of the highest selling authors ''ever'', only outsold by Creator/WilliamShakespeare and Literature/TheBible[[/note]]

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Agatha doubts Donna’s insistence that her work will have any staying power with the public, since they’re not “great literature”. [note]By the 2020s, she remains one of the highest selling authors ''ever'', only outsold by Creator/WilliamShakespeare and Literature/TheBible[/note]

* NoodleIncident: The Doctor has been hunting in Belgium for Charlemagne, who'd been kidnapped by an insane computer. We don't know ''why'', ''when'' or ''how'' this occurred (we can guess that the Doctor did ''something'' to cause it, he usually does!), but it may be related to the events occurring at the end of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E10Blink Blink]]", as the Doctor has the same bow from that episode.

He pops up as Agatha sits back down and starts, "Thank you! At this point, when we consider the lies and the secrets that are key to these events..." Firstly, the Doctor points at a confused Donna... to give her credit for her realization that everything in this case has been acted out like a murder mystery from one of Agatha's books. The Doctor dismisses the idea of Agatha being the killer, saying that she simply wrote those brilliant, clever books. The Doctor then points at Lady Eddison, who is an admirer of Agatha's works, and asks what she was doing the previous Thursday night. It turns out that Lady Eddison was reading her favourite Agatha Christie book, ''The Murder of Roger Ackroyd''. She asks how it is relevant. The Doctor then points out that something else happened on Thursday night: Reverend Golightly subdued two thieves who broke into his church.

%% Why is The Unicorn classy in the first place. What happened?

* ElephantInTheLivingRoom: Agatha's just learned of her husband's affair, but doesn't want to admit to it (see StiffUpperLip). The Doctor reminds Donna of exactly why this was the case.

* ImpersonatingAnOfficer: The Doctor passes himself off as an inspector from Scotland Yard so no one calls the ''real'' police, especially because he's just noticed some morphic residue...

* {{Troperrific}}: And the Doctor clearly knows, and is loving every moment of it.