- First a time machine, then a time machine that is alive and female, and now a living, female time machine that is Bigger on the Inside?!—Watson being introduced to the TARDIS
Picking up where "Smith and Holmes" left off, the Doctor has just landed in Victorian London, right outside 221B. Holmes is delighted to see the Doctor again, although somewhat less than enthusiastic at the thought of explaining the Time Lord & etc. to Watson. The Doctor makes one last appeal to Holmes, having been recently rejected by both Donna and Martha. Holmes understands only too well the Doctor's desperate need for companionship and rather reluctantly agrees to one adventure (being hesitant to risk Watson's safety).
Once things are explained to a rather overwhelmed Watson, the threesome settles on going to visit William Shakespeare at the Globe in the late sixteenth century. The basic adventure of "The Shakespeare Code" ensues, with variations such as Watson fanboying over Shakespeare and Shakespeare being even more Awesome by Analysis. In the end, Holmes decides (noting the wistfulness of both Doctors) to stick with the Time Lord for one more adventure...
Tropes:
- Arc Words: Fixed Points in Time, courtesy of Holmes:"Watson, there are certain Points in Time which are fixed, events which must always happen in order for Time to continue moving—"
- Awesome by Analysis: Shakespeare, even more so than originally as he deduces quite a lot about Holmes and Watson.
- "What most concerns me is that I actually seem to understand something of what just passed amongst you three."
- Bigger on the Inside: All the fantastic things Watson is being introduced to culminates in the revelation of the TARDIS's very relative dimensions.
- Blatant Lies/Exact Words:Watson: "Do you not sleep, Doctor?"
Doctor: "Nope"
Holmes: (gives him The Eyebrow)
Doctor: "I don't." - Call-Back:
- The TARDIS flirts a little with Holmes once again just to tease the Doctor.
- Holmes quotes something the Doctor told him in the previous episode, astonishing Watson: "Unless one has proof that a legend is not real, it is best to assume that it is."
- Clarke's Third Law: Invoked by the Doctor when explaining to Watson how "witchcraft" can exist.
- Continuity Nod:
- "And I was Merlin, all right, Watson?"
- "Nope—you can ask the hordes of Genghis Khan about that, if you like."
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: The Doctor & Co. visiting Bedlam. Watson doesn't like what he sees but the reality of his own time is not much better; Holmes is openly shocked.
- The Knights Who Say "Squee!": The two Doctors fanboying unashamedly over Shakespeare.
- Lighter and Softer: Than the first episode (and the majority of the series). Ten is doing his characteristic angst, but Holmes and Watson are doing well.
- Mythology Gag:Shakespeare: "Oh, you and your friend have obviously known each other for years. Mr. Holmes is a genius—you are a writer. It's elementary, my dear Watson."
- Naïve Newcomer: Watson, naturally — especially some remarks regarding the TARDIS.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: "Excuse me? Who are you, sir,
and what have you done with Sherlock Holmes?" - Overshadowed by Awesome: Averted for Watson, whom Shakespeare holds to be pretty awesome in his own right.
- Papa Wolf: Holmes is quite protective of his Watson.
- Royal Blood: Shakespeare suggests that Holmes has this, due to his overall... regal-ness.
- Running Gag: The small paradoxes created by the Doctor feeding Shakespeare his own lines as in the original story, eventually lampshaped by Watson:"Plagiarism is infectious, it seems..."
- Shout-Out: The word with which Shakespeare defeats the Carrionites is a bit different this time...
- The Watson: The Doctor makes a slip with Rose's name, then quietly explains that she was "kind of his own Watson".
