History Recap / DoctorWhoS35E3UnderTheLake

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The one where the Doctor needs cue-cards.

* AnAxeToGrind: Ghost Moran goes after the Doctor and Clara with an axe.

* ArtisticLicenseSpace: The Doctor deduces that the "sword" in the coordinate is the sword on Orion's belt, with the Earth at the point of the sword as seen from space. However, this in an interstellar message depends on the recipients knowing that other stars visible from Earth create the approximate shape of a humanoid warrior, in order that the line of stars can be interpreted as a sword (and not all cultures on Earth even make this association). Further, the two stars and one nebula which form "Orion's sword" almost certainly don't line up to point at Earth (or, really, the Solar system in general). It's only workable if the signal's destination is ''directly'' on the opposite side of our solar system from Orion, and our Sun happens to lie in line with the sword's other stars from that location's perspective.

* ArtisticLicenseAstronomy: The Doctor deduces that the "sword" in the coordinate is the sword on Orion's belt, with the Earth at the point of the sword as seen from space. However, this in an interstellar message depends on the recipients knowing that other stars visible from Earth create the approximate shape of a humanoid warrior, in order that the line of stars can be interpreted as a sword (and not all cultures on Earth even make this association). Further, the two stars and one nebula which form "Orion's sword" almost certainly don't line up to point at Earth (or, really, the Solar system in general). It's only workable if the signal's destination is ''directly'' on the opposite side of our solar system from Orion, and our Sun happens to lie in line with the sword's other stars from that location's perspective.

* EpicFail: Clara's social-interaction cue cards don't work out the way she hoped.

* OurGhostsAreDifferent: The "ghosts" here display a lot of standard ghostly behavior -- they come out at night, they can walk through walls, they can lift and throw objects, they're supposedly the souls of dead people -- but they're also purposely created in order to transmit coordinates to an unknown point in deep space, and with each new ghost saying the words, the signal strengthens. They're also limited to metallic objects and can be trapped by a Faraday Cage, indicating they're electromagnetic entities of some kind. The day setting is what stops them, rather than it specifically being day.

** Even though this is the third episode of the season, Clara's urging the Doctor for more adventures - and the Doctor rising concern regarding his - establishes her character arc for the remainder of the season.

* FacialDialogue: Clara and the Doctor engage in this several times, with a particularly funny one being Clara's response to the Doctor accidentally reading all the options on his CueCard.
** During promotions for Series 9, Creator/PeterCapaldi and Creator/JennaColeman indicated in interviews that at this point in their relationship, the Doctor and Clara tended to express their feelings for one another through what was unsaid and through doing things while the other isn't looking. This episode -- one of only a handful this season in which the Doctor and Clara aren't separated -- demonstrates this, particularly during initial scenes after the opening credits, but continuing through to when they ''are'' separated and silently signify their trust in one another.

* LaserGuidedAmnesia: The Doctor's habit of "deleting" unneeded memories and knowledge is referenced again. This time he appears to have forgotten how to correctly communicate in and understand sign language (although according to fans who understand the language, his attempt at communicating with Cass results in him making a legitimate statement in ASL, just not the one he wanted. Some fans believe the Doctor subconsciously signs a rather intimate thought to Clara during their debate in the TARDIS (see ShipTease under YMMV).

** Cass says the Doctor can stay and do the "Film/TheCabinInTheWoods" thing.

-->''Every time I think it couldn't get more extraordinary it surprises me. It's impossible! I hate it! It's evil! It's astonishing! I want to kiss it to death.''

* ArtisticLicenseAstronomy: The Doctor deduces that the "sword" in the coordinate is the sword on Orion's belt, with the Earth at the point of the sword as seen from space. However, this in an interstellar message depends on the recipients knowing that other stars visible from earth create the approximate shape of a humanoid warrior, in order that the line of stars can be interpreted as a sword (and not all cultures on Earth even make this association). Further, the two stars and one nebula which form "Orion's sword" almost certainly don't line up to point at Earth (or, really, the Solar system in general). It's only workable if the signal's destination is ''directly'' on the opposite side of our solar system from Orion, and our Sun happens to lie in line with the sword's other stars from that location's perspective.

* DistaffCounterpart: For the first time, the Doctor openly expresses concern about Clara becoming this with regards to him.

* DoingInTheScientist: After previously denouncing "ghosts" as nonsense, the Doctor changes his mind and says that yes, they really are the souls of dead people. They're not something scientific like Auton duplicates, flesh avatar clones or digital copies "floating about the Nethersphere". He's ecstatic to meet a "proper ghost".

[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see the RadioTimes magazine poster for this episode:]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/under_the_lake.jpg ''" Every time I think it couldn't get more extraordinary, it surprises me. It's impossible. I hate it. It's evil. It's astonishing. I want to kiss it to death."'']][[/labelnote]]

* EarWorm: [[invoked]] Everyone who sees the mysterious writing inside the spaceship has their brains rewritten by it. When they die, they come back as ghosts who repeat the coordinates endlessly. The Doctor compares it to hearing "Mysterious Girl" by Peter Andre and being unable to get it out of your head. He uses the term "ear worm" to describe this.

The one where the disaster's already gotten a head start on the Doctor and his companion.

* AnAxeToGrind: Ghost Moran goes after the Doctor and Clara with an axe.

** The Doctor once met Creator/ShirleyBassey, which got him overexcited.

** The Doctor going all fanboy on Creator/ShirleyBassey.

** The Doctor recalls having such a moment when he met Creator/ShirleyBassey.

* TooDumbToLive: Pritchard goes outside looking for the missing power cell when there are angry ghosts running around killing people. Predictably, he gets caught in the airlock and flushed by the ghosts.

* BilingualBonus: Fans familiar with sign language have indicated that when the Doctor attempts to sign to Cass, although it appears he may be signing gibberish, in fact he's signing "you're beautiful". Later, when the Doctor warns Clara not to "go native" and just before he says "I just had to say something" his right hand forms an unusual gesture that ASL readers have said comes close to being the sign for "I love you". This is immediately before the season's first use of the phrase "duty of care" that [[spoiler: at the end of the season becomes a euphemism for "I love you"]].

* BilingualBonus: Fans familiar with sign language have indicated that when the Doctor attempts to sign to Cass, although it appears he may be signing gibberish, in fact he's signing "you're beautiful". Later, when the Doctor warns Clara not to "go native" and just before he says "I just had to say something" his right hand forms an unusual gesture that ASL readers have said comes close to being the sign for "I love you". This is immediately before the season's first use of the phrase "duty of care" that at the end of the season becomes a euphemism for "I love you".

* GenreSavvy:
** Cass compares their scenario to ''Film/CabinInTheWoods''.
** Clara's cue cards for the Doctor display her awareness of his LackOfEmpathy.
** The Doctor displays this with regards to the existence of ghosts, until he is briefly convinced they are. But he is ultimately proven correct.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/under_the_lake.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: Ghosts from the future? Good thing [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E3TheUnquietDead Charles Dickens]] isn't around.]]

->''"So we're fighting an unknown alien force that has taken the form of your commanding officer and a cowardly alien . . . underwater . . . in a nuclear reactor. Anything else I should know? Somebody got a peanut allergy or something?"''
-->--'''The Doctor'''

The first episode of a two-parter written by Toby Whithouse, continued in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E4BeforeTheFlood "Before the Flood"]].

** The Doctor immediately pegs the alien ghost as a Tivolian, the same species as the cowardly Gibbis from [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E11TheGodComplex "The God Complex"]].

** The Doctor expresses concern about Clara becoming too much like him. She has actually pretended to be him twice, in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E9Flatline "Flatline"]] and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E12DeathInHeaven "Death in Heaven"]], though he may not be aware of the latter.

* {{Dissimile}}: The Doctor likes adventures as much as the next man . . . if that man liked adventures.

** Twice in the episode, a tragic event later in the season is foreshadowed directly. [[spoiler:First, as the Doctor says one of the questions he'd like to ask the ghosts is whether death hurt, there is a close-up on Clara. Later, the Doctor says to Clara, "You live and you die. That's it." Again, we get a close-up of Clara as he says this. Both foreshadow Clara's painful death in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E10FaceTheRaven "Face the Raven"]].]]

* WeaselWords: Pritchard starts most of his sentences with phrases like "It could be argued . . ." that essentially insulate him from legal repercussions to his suggestions.

* WindowLove: The Doctor and Clara do this.