History Recap / DoctorWhoS34E10InTheForestOfTheNight

Written by Frank Cottrell-Boyce.

* RevealShot: The camera lifting over the trees to show all of London is covered in foliage.

* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple:
** Clara and Danny arguing over the Doctor. Lampshaded by their students.
--->'''Bradley:''' "Who said they're in love? Why are they shouting at each other?"\\
'''Ruby:''' "That's what people do when they're in love. Don't you know ''anything''?"

The Doctor's inside, and a bit aggrieved (it's his default state now), but even though the girl hasn't got a Doctor's appointment, he lets her in anyway. Eventually, he figures out she must have a name and asks it -- it's Maebh. Maebh's one of Danny Pink's students from Coal Hill, who appears to have gotten lost.

* AnAesop: "Fear less, trust more" -- The trees turn out to be benevolent, and Danny's reaction to Clara's secretiveness is not to make any kind of scene, but to reasonably request an explanation; by the end, Clara is less afraid of being honest with others and showing her imperfections, and while Danny and the Doctor still don't like each other, they have more or less stopped seeing each other as someone who might ruin Clara's life.
* AlwaysABiggerFish: It turns out the wolves are running from a tiger. Which makes sense because 9 times out of 10, wolves aren't really interested in being a danger to humans and would rather just avoid them. Big cats, on the other hand...
* ArtisticLicenceBiology: No attempt is made to explain where the trees got all the biomass they needed to cover the Earth, or how they managed to cover ''the oceans''. Who knows, maybe it's kelp.

** Enriching the atmosphere with oxygen is the ''last'' thing anyone should do to prevent a fire. Removing oxygen would be much more efficient (but of course, that way all animal life would choke instead of burn to death).
* ArtisticLicenceLaw: CRB checks (a check of a person's criminal record to verify they have not committed crimes against children) have been superseded by DBS checks. "CRB" is the more familiar term, and still very much in common parlance, so that's the term used in the episode, even though Danny and Clara, as professionals employed to work with children, would be more likely to use the correct term.

** Solar flares are electromagnetic radiation, not fire. This means they do not require oxygen to produce heat (otherwise, how would they survive the journey through space?). The fireproof trees depicted in the episode would be useless against radiation.

* AsYouKnow: Subverted; turns out the children ''didn't'' know the world was about to be destroyed, as Clara had been keeping that information from them.

* BigDamnHeroes: Danny saves the Doctor and Clara from a tiger.

** Bradley's blindingly bright torch. It seems like an unremarkable object at first, just serving to develop Bradley's character as a troublemaker and getting confiscated by Danny when he annoys Samson with it, reasoning that he shouldn't have a light so ridiculously strong simply for his fear of the dark. Then Danny discovers it's really good at blinding tigers, too.

** Danny tells Clara to go home and think about what she's going to say to him. She does this in the next episode, with post-it notes.
* ChildHater: The Doctor is the mild version; he finds them irritating and his child-minding skills could do with some work.

** This isn't the first time the Doctor mistook a [[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E1TheMysteriousPlanet plant-ravaged Earth for a different planet]]...

* DamselInDistress: The Doctor lampshades Maebh as the "standard defenceless little girl".

* EasilyConqueredWorld: The Doctor says that if this is an AlienInvasion, they've won already.

* ExtraStrengthMasquerade: Apparently the whole of the world will collectively forget a forest grew overnight and then evaporated. Presumably the damage caused by the trees (such as Nelson's Column and the animal cages in the zoo) will be given some more mundane explanation, the way humanity in the Whoniverse has tended to do for the various [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E12TheStolenEarth alien invasions]], [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E5ThePoisonSky environmental disasters]], [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime corporeal hijackings]] or [[Series/TorchwoodMiracleDay Miracle Day]].[[note]]Except that the Whoniverse is by this point TheUnmasquedWorld -- but maybe this one is different somehow?[[/note]]

* FreezeFrameBonus: In one scene a double-decker bus can be glimpsed in the background. Clearly visible on the side of the bus (which in reality was a large cardboard cutout so this ''was'' intentional) is part of an actual real-world advertisement for ''Doctor Who''; the ad is actually more noticeable in the trailer for the episode.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: An ad for ''Doctor Who'' is clearly visible on the side of a double-decker bus in the background of one of the scenes. See FreezeFrameBonus, above.

--->'''Bradley:''' Who said they're in love? Why are they shouting at each other?\\
'''Ruby:''' That's what people do when they're in love. Don't you know ''anything''?
** The above quote also serves as ShipTease for the Doctor and Clara since that's what they do, too.
* LiteralMinded: Ruby is this in spades, doing a version of the "Find x" gag in a flashback. It's right there on the board!

* MeaningfulEcho: The Doctor pleads with Clara to let him help our planet, saying [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E7KillTheMoon he walks our Earth, breathes our air]].

* NextSundayAD: According to the Doctor, this episode (aired in 2014) is set in 2016, establishing a two-years-ahead timeframe for the modern-day episodes featuring Danny and Coal Hill School (and consistent with an earlier episode, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E6TheCaretaker The Caretaker]]", taking place a year after Danny Pink joined Coal Hill and first met Clara in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E2IntoTheDalek Into the Dalek]]"). This look-ahead timeframe, similar to what previous showrunner Russell T. Davies maintained in 2005-2008, would not be consistently followed, with the later spin-off ''Series/{{Class|2016}}'' creating a dating ContinuitySnarl.

** Lampshaded by the Doctor when he and Clara observe the flare arriving at Earth, and the Doctor half-jokingly says that it would be embarrassing if he was proven wrong.
* NightmareFuelColoringBook: Maebh's exercise book full of drawings predicting the events.

* NotSoAboveItAll: The Doctor's frustrated words about how sonic screwdrivers don't work on trees might just imply that even he isn't completely beyond the PrimalFear factor of the forest; not that extraneous given that Gallifrey was said to have forests as well, whatever fancy colours they might come in. Also, the Doctor yells at everyone that they should listen when a child talks (referring to Maebh), but Danny points out the Doctor didn't listen to her, either. The Doctor concedes the point.
* PapaWolf: Danny is repeatedly shown to be quite protective about his students, a trait that Clara values and finds attractive.
* PrimalFear: Upon finding herself lost in the forest, Clara specifically notes that she's having a different type of fear reaction from what the situation logically warrants (and she's been in enough life-or-death situations to know what she's talking about). The Doctor points out that "the forest" is the location of every fairy tale that scares human children, and is essentially humanity's collective nightmare. The Doctor himself is not completely immune to it. It turns out that the reason for this instinctive terror is a buried and distorted memory of the last time trees saved them from a terrifying global disaster.
* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Technically more Companion-Centred Morality, but after finding out that Earth is (apparently) about to be destroyed, Clara says that they can use the TARDIS to at least rescue the kids. The ''very next scene'' has Clara suddenly turn around and berate the Doctor for wanting to save the kids, telling him that they'd rather die with their parents than live on in the knowledge that their families are all dead. The Doctor doesn't agree with this; sure, being the last of your kind is rough but he still wants to save the kids.
* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: The Gifted and Talented kids seem to be made up mostly of the weird kids that Clara and Danny thought had something special.

* RunningGag:
** Newcomers to the TARDIS are amazed at how it's BiggerOnTheInside but no-one asks how, so he explains.
** The sonic screwdriver still doesn't "do wood". No moving parts, you know?
** The Doctor still can't retain Danny's name, nor that he is a math teacher instead of a P.E. teacher.
* SavageWolves: A pair of wolves hunt Maebh. Then they catch up with the gang... and run past them, ignoring them. Turns out they weren't running ''after'' her, but ''away'' from the tiger!

* ShipTease: Despite the episode having a BigDamnKiss moment between Clara and Danny, this episode is also considered one of the strongest episodes of Series 8 with regards to the relationship between the Doctor and Clara, from the fact the episode includes both LongingLook and HeldGaze moments between them, to Danny essentially yielding the floor to allow the two to continue travelling together, though he unambiguously indicates to Clara that she is going to have to choose between them sooner or later.

* SingleBiomePlanet: Earth is temporarily a forest planet.

** ZigZagged -- Clara is focused investigating the possibly world-threatening Crisis of the Week, while Danny is focused on protecting the children, their immediate responsibility. They're both trying to keep people safe, but going about it in different ways.
** Danny's more upset that Clara has been lying about her adventures with the Doctor than he is happy that an expert is on the case. Also, he's more concerned with Maebh being with the Doctor than relieved that she's not lost in the mysterious forest.

* StarfishAliens: The trees were created by dust-like creatures which have lived as long as the Earth and can spontaneously grow entire trees worldwide in one night. These, the Doctor hypothesizes are the inspiration for human conceptions of FairFolk.

* SupportingProtagonist: The Doctor, Clara, Danny and the children have little effect on the overall course of events except for broadcasting a plea not to defoliate the trees. From start to finish the trees have everything under control.

* TrueCompanions: Danny ruefully recognises Twelve and Clara are this, when he sees yet again how instantly they spring into action together in response to a threat. He's been (somewhat) oblivious to her lies and initially thinks she hasn't seen the Doctor in months, whilst the truth had her having seen the Doctor just the Friday before (and the story allegedly takes place on a Tuesday).

%%* WalkInChimeIn: The Doctor meeting the rest of the students.
* WeHaveTheKeys: Clara urges Maebh to climb the fence to escape the wolves. She runs a few feet to the side and opens a gate.

** Danny's more upset that Clara has been lying about her adventures with the Doctor than he is happy that an expert is on the case. Also, he's more concerned with Maebh being with the Doctor than lost in the mysterious forest.

[[caption-width-right:350:Great, [[Film/{{Creepshow}} Jordy Verrill]]'s been here! [[note]]And no, the tiger statue is ''not'' real, thank god.[[/note]]]]

She's also surprisingly unflappable when it comes to the TARDIS's [[BiggerOnTheInside famous dimensional disparity.]] After all, you can't know everything. Even the Doctor can't -- he was aiming for UsefulNotes/{{London}}, and the TARDIS keeps telling him he's there, but that can't be right! This is a forest planet, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E8MummyOnTheOrientExpress maybe this is that planet of shrubs ]]--

... oh. OH. [[EarthAllAlong OK, so this is the Planet of Pudding Brains.]]

All that "civilization" and "having cities" stuff humanity's been doing for the past few millenia's just gonna have to stop right there, because the trees have moved back in. Why? Maybe the plants are invading -- [[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E6TheSeedsOfDoom it's happened before.]] Or something's trying to terraform the place with forests so they can move in later -- [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E5TheSeedsOfDeath again, wouldn't be the first time...]]

These aren't your grandma's woods. There's a [[LiteraryAllusionTitle Tyger]] and some wolves, and something far more fearful than symmetry -- there's a solar flare on the way, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E5TimeHeist just like the one that scorched the Bank of Karabraxos.]] Soon the whole ''planet'' will be burning bright.

** This isn't the first time the Doctor mistook a [[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E1TheMysteriousPlanet plant-ravaged Earth for a different planet...]]

-->--'''The Doctor'''

The one where no one can see the forest for the trees.

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: The Doctor states that the year is 2016, establishing a two-years-ahead timeframe for the modern-day episodes featuring Danny and Coal Hill School (and consistent with an earlier episode, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E6TheCaretaker The Caretaker]]", taking place a year after Danny Pink joined Coal Hill and first met Clara in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E2IntoTheDalek Into the Dalek]]"). This look-ahead timeframe, similar to what previous showrunner Russell T. Davies maintained in 2005-2008, would not be consistently followed, with the later spin-off ''Series/{{Class|2016}}'' creating a dating ContinuitySnarl.

* NextSundayAD: The Doctor establishes at one point that the episode is set in 2016, despite airing in 2014.

The one with the voice of WesternAnimation/PeppaPig. And a metric f[-**-]k-tonne of trees.

* MeaningfulName: Maebh -- named for a mythological queen of fairies, ultimately helps to establish communications with the fairy-like creatures behind the forest. Her last name, "Arden", is a reference to the famous Forest of Arden in Warwickshire, a former real-life version of TheLostWoods and most well known for being the setting of William Shakespeare's ''Theatre/AsYouLikeIt''.

* NiceHat: Samson wears a variant New York Yankees cap throughout.

* TheLostWoods: Apart from having sprung up overnight instead of being older than memory, the forest takes on many aspects of the Lost Woods. At the end of the episode, the Doctor theorizes that the forest that features in myths and fairy tales is a remnant of a cultural memory of an earlier occasion when something like this happened.

* ArbitraryScepticism: Averted. Due to the trees suddenly springing up overnight, the children aren't surprised by the TARDIS being BiggerOnTheInside.

The one with the voice of WesternAnimation/PeppaPig. And a metric fuck-tonne of trees.

* ArbitrarySkepticism: Averted. Due to the trees suddenly springing up overnight, the children aren't surprised by the TARDIS being BiggerOnTheInside.
* ArtisticLicenseBiology: No attempt is made to explain where the trees got all the biomass they needed to cover the Earth, or how they managed to cover ''the oceans''. Who knows, maybe it's kelp.
* ArtisticLicenseChemistry:

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: CRB checks (a check of a person's criminal record to verify they have not committed crimes against children) have been superseded by DBS checks. "CRB" is the more familiar term, and still very much in common parlance, so that's the term used in the episode, even though Danny and Clara, as professionals employed to work with children, would be more likely to use the correct term.
* ArtisticLicenseSpace:

* ArtisticLicenseAstronomy:
** Solar flares are electromagnetic radiation, not fire. This means they do not require oxygen to produce heat (otherwise, how would they survive the journey through space?). The fireproof trees depicted in the episode would be useless against radiation.
** The atmosphere is not what shields the Earth from flares, but the magnetosphere which is generated by the Earth's iron core.

She's also surprisingly unflappable when it comes to the TARDIS's [[BiggerOnTheInside famous dimensional disparity.]] After all, you can't know everything. Even the Doctor can't -- he was aiming for London, and the TARDIS keeps telling him he's there, but that can't be right! This is a forest planet, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E8MummyOnTheOrientExpress maybe this is that planet of shrubs ]]--

* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Technically more Companion-Centered Morality, but after finding out that Earth is (apparently) about to be destroyed, Clara says that they can use the TARDIS to at least rescue the kids. The ''very next scene'' has Clara suddenly turn around and berate the Doctor for wanting to save the kids, telling him that they'd rather die with their parents than live on in the knowledge that their families are all dead. The Doctor doesn't agree with this; sure, being the last of your kind is rough but he still wants to save the kids.

All that "civilization" and "having cities" stuff humanity's been doing for the past few millenia's just gonna have to stop right there, because the trees have moved back in. Why? Maybe the plants are invading –- [[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E6TheSeedsOfDoom it's happened before.]] Or something's trying to terraform the place with forests so they can move in later –- [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E5TheSeedsOfDeath again, wouldn't be the first time...]]

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: The Doctor states that the year is 2016, establishing a two-years-ahead timeframe for the modern-day episodes featuring Danny and Coal Hill School (and consistent with an earlier episode, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E6TheCaretaker The Caretaker]]", taking place a year after Danny Pink joined Coal Hill and first met Clara in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E2IntoTheDalek Into the Dalek]]"). This look-ahead timeframe, similar to what previous showrunner Russell T. Davies maintained in 2005-2008, would not be consistently followed, with the later spin-off ''Series/Class2016'' creating a dating ContinuitySnarl.

* ArtisticLicenceAstronomy:

* ArtisticLicenceBiology: No attempt is made to explain where the trees got all the biomass they needed to cover the Earth, or how they managed to cover ''the oceans''. Who knows, maybe it's kelp.

* ArtisticLicenceLaw: CRB checks (a check of a person's criminal record to verify they have not committed crimes against children) have been superseded by DBS checks. "CRB" is the more familiar term, and still very much in common parlance, so that's the term used in the episode, even though Danny and Clara, as professionals employed to work with children, would be more likely to use the correct term.

* CallBack: To Clara's "breathe our air" line from "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E7KillTheMoon Kill the Moon]]".

* FreezeFrameBonus: In one scene a double-decker bus can be glimpsed in the background. Clearly visible on the side of the bus (which in reality was a large cardboard cutout so this ''was'' intentional) is part of an actual real-world advertisement for ''Doctor Who''; the ad is actually more noticable in the trailer for the episode.

* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: Clara and Danny arguing over the Doctor. Lampshaded by their students.
-->'''Bradley:''' Who said they're in love? Why are they shouting at each other?\\

* NightmareFuelColouringBook: Maebh's exercise book full of drawings predicting the events.

* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Technically more Companion-Centred Morality, but after finding out that Earth is (apparently) about to be destroyed, Clara says that they can use the TARDIS to at least rescue the kids. The ''very next scene'' has Clara suddenly turn around and berate the Doctor for wanting to save the kids, telling him that they'd rather die with their parents than live on in the knowledge that their families are all dead. The Doctor doesn't agree with this; sure, being the last of your kind is rough but he still wants to save the kids.

** Newcomers to the TARDIS are amazed at how it's BiggerOnTheInside but no one asks how, so he explains.

* ScreamingWoman: It works, enabling the Doctor and Clara to find Maebh when she screams after seeing the wolves.

** The [[Creator/TheBrothersGrimm Grimm's Fairy Tales]] of Literature/LittleRedRidingHood and Literature/HanselAndGretel get explicitly referenced with Maebh's red coat, the wolves wandering around the woods, and Maebh dropping items to make navigation around the forest easier. The Doctor even namechecks both fairy tales.

** Danny's more upset that Clara has been lying about her adventures with the Doctor then he is happy that an expert is on the case. Also, he's more concerned with Maebh being with the Doctor than lost in the mysterious forest.

* TrailOfBreadcrumbs: Maebh drops various items so Clara and the Doctor can find her as she runs to the source of the forest. Literature/HanselAndGretel get a mention.

->''[[Creator/MichelleGomez "Now, that was surprising. And I love surprises."]]''