Doctor Who/Recap/S2/E07 The Space Museum

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
< Doctor Who‎ | Recap‎ | S2
Have any arms fallen into Xeron hands?
—A Morok, in "one of the great stupid lines of Doctor Who."

The TARDIS heads for the future again, and manages, because of the Timey-Wimey Ball, to arrive at a space museum where it and its current occupants are exhibits. The museum is that of the conquests of the great Morok empire, and the planet is Xeros, one of the many under the dominion of the Moroks.

Time sorts itself out again, and then the TARDIS properly arrives on Xeros and the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki have to prevent themselves becoming exhibits. This is mainly accomplished by assisting the native Xerons in smuggling in arms, following which they rise up and free themselves from the Moroks.

As the travellers depart, we cut to a deserted planet, where a Dalek reports that the TARDIS is underway, and is told that the Daleks' own time machine is in pursuit and the Doctor will soon be exterminated.

It can be watched here.

Tropes

  • Dead Guy on Display
  • La Résistance
  • Mind Probe: The Moroks subject the Doctor to one, but he cheerfully subverts it and causes it to display a succession of irrelevant images.
  • Reckless Gun Usage: Ian and Vicki with the rifle they find in the museum. Especially Vicki walking around holding it under her arm with the end of the barrel tucked into her armpit.
  • Refuge in Audacity: how Vicki gets into the Morok armory.

Armory Computer: Purpose for which the weapons are required?

Vicki: Revolution!
—*door opens*
  • Scare Chord: Three times. First when they notice that they don't leave footprints in the sand, again when they see the Dalek casing, and once more when they notice their bodies on display.
  • Timey-Wimey Ball: the theory of time travel used in this episode is unclear. At some point, the Doctor and his companions landed on Xeros and through an unknown sequence of events were turned into exhibits for the Moroks' museum. They also arrive, walk around on Xeros while not really being there at all while an instrument in the TARDIS is stuck, and then when they finally "arrive", the display cases disappear. It almost appears to be a case of the TARDIS offering a glimpse into an alternate possible timeline rather than something that actually happened as a result of time travel.
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