Doctor Who/Recap/S32/E12 Closing Time: Difference between revisions

The penultimate episode of the 2011 ''[[Doctor Who]]'' season. It is a sequel to the 2010 episode "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S31 /E11 The Lodger|The Lodger]]", bringing back Craig and Sophie.

Someone knocks on his door, and Craig is surprised to find the Doctor there. He immediately suspects the Doctor is investigating something alien. The Doctor refutes this, and is only there to drop by and say hello. Why? No reason. He's just making a normal social call in Craig's normal house. That's what normal people do. After [[Baby Language|speaking to little Alfie]] and learning that the boy really wants to be named [[Awesome McCoolname|"Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All"]], the Doctor turns to leave as suddenly as he arrived.

Craig takes Alfie with him shopping at the department store the next day, and is shocked to find the Doctor there, working as a clerk in (where else?) the toy department. The kids love him. He's got a name badge and everything. The Doctor takes Craig aside, explaining that he's traced power fluctuations to the store, and has heard rumors of a "silver rat". While they investigate, Craig tries the same methods that the Doctor always uses: be brass, be confident, talk to everyone. He's immediately mistaken for a pervert. The baby doesn't help either, even though the Doctor claims that carrying a baby makes everyone act nice towards you. In fact, that's why he always takes a human along. The Doctor has to bail Craig out of a very awkward talk with the store's clerks, and everyone breathes a sigh of relief when they realise that Craig isn't a pervert -- hepervert—he's obviously [[Mistaken for Gay|just the Doctor's boyfriend]].

As the two step into a lift, they quite suddenly find themselves transmatted onto a spaceship -- onespaceship—one built by Cybermen hands. The Doctor's first instinct is to distract Craig from the approaching Cybermen by wrapping himself around Craig, [[Ho Yay|declaring his passionate love for him and attempting to kiss him to prove it]], all the while configuring his screwdriver behind Craig's back. Craig is just extremely confused and dodges, reminding the Doctor that he's already taken. With the Doctor's plan failing quite spectacularly, Craig inevitably notices that they're in space.

The Doctor quickly reverses the transmat before they are discovered, and disables the transmat device. As Craig departs, the Doctor spots a familiar couple in the department store: Amy and Rory. He stops himself from going to see them and instead hides himself behind some underwear. The two are doing well: Amy has become a famous model for a line of perfume called [[Doctor Who/Recap/S32 E4/E04 The DoctorsDoctor's Wife|Petrichor]], a scent for "the girl who is tired of waiting".

That night, the Doctor and Craig sneak into the store after hours to track the "silver rat": [[Doctor Who/Recap/S5 E1/E01 The Tomb of the Cybermen|a Cybermat]]. Though they capture it, the Doctor is set on by a poorly-functioning Cyberman in the store's basement, but he is quick to disable it. However, the Doctor is curious as to how it got into the store with the transmat disabled.

Meanwhile, Craig learns where the Doctor has gone to, and leaves Alfie with one of the clerks. Finding the tunnel, Craig enters the ship and is also captured by the Cybermen. The Cybermen decide to convert Craig into a new warrior, and put him into the cybernetic transformation device. The Doctor pleads for the Cybermen to stop and to take him instead, but they refuse. As the process nears its end, Alfie's cries, heard through monitors the Cybermen have in the store, echo through the ship. Craig, on hearing this, fights to be the best dad he can be, and rejects the cybernetic transformation. The emotional feedback of [[The Power of Love]] causes the other Cybermen to regain their full consciousness and sanity. [[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S2 E6S28/E06 The Age of Steel|As happened before]], the ensuing [[Body Horror]] causes them to overload, and they die in anguish. It sends the ship into a self-destruct cycle. The Doctor and Craig safely escape while the ship explodes, the damage confined to the rocky underground chamber. Craig quickly reunites with Alfie, and the Doctor comments that Alfie now finally considers Craig to be his dad.

After a long sleep, Craig wakes up not only to find his home spotless and the damage from the night before cleaned up, but even repainted. The Doctor appears and admits he used his TARDIS to complete all the work in time before Sophie arrived home. The Doctor explains, with sadness and resignation, that he is now [[Doctor Who/Recap/S32 E1/E01 The Impossible Astronaut|off to America]]. Craig gives him a Stetson hat from a mate's stag night, while the Doctor borrows four deep-blue envelopes. When Sophie arrives, the Doctor vanishes, leaving Craig to explain what happened that weekend. And why Alfie's first word is "Doctor".

=== Tropes ===

* [[Bi the Way]]: The Doctor once again shows how, [[Eighth Doctor Adventures|pretty much ever since 1997]], the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' writers all collectively refuse to write him as straight. He sees nothing special about trying a [[Fake-Out Make-Out]] on Craig and doesn't stop to consider that Craig may have some hangups. Very much lampshaded throughout this episode.

** We see how the Doctor got the [[Nice Hat|Stetson]] and envelopes he used in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S32 E1/E01 The Impossible Astronaut|The Impossible Astronaut]]".

** As we've already seen in [[Doctor Who/Recap/S26 E3/E03 The Curse of Fenric|"The Curse of Fenric"]] and [[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S2 E9S28/E09 The Satan Pit|"The Satan Pit"]], the one thing the Doctor believes in after having pretty much [[Seen It All]], are his Companions.

** The Doctor asking if Craig named the baby after him is reminiscent of when [[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S4 S30/E13 Journeys End|Jackie Tyler told him that she didn't name her baby boy The Doctor.]]

** The Doctor ''still'' hasn't figured out that [[Doctor Who/Recap/S31 /E11 The Lodger|air-kissing isn't a normal way to greet people]].

** The Doctor likes having a nametag [[Doctor Who/Recap/TVM the TV Movie/Recap|in case he forgets who he is. It sometimes happens.]]

** Sophie, once again, [[Doctor Who/Recap/S31 /E11 The Lodger|forgets her keys]] and has to knock on the door of her own home.

* [[Conservation of Ninjutsu]]: In "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S32 E7/E07 A Good Man Goes to War|A Good Man Goes To War]]", the Doctor and Rory are able to singlehandedly destroy the whole of the fifth Cyberlegion in the first five minutes. In this episode, six Cybermen are able to almost defeat the Doctor, kill Craig, and assimilate the whole planet - and are given the full forty minutes to do it.

** "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S32 E7/E07 A Good Man Goes to War|I speak Baby.]]"

** The scene where Craig opens the door in mid sentence to find the Doctor is a [[Call Back]] to "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S31 /E11 The Lodger|The Lodger]]".

** The Doctor's comment "You've redecorated! I don't like it." is a tip of the hat to the [[Doctor Who/Recap/S10 E1/E01 The Three Doctors|Second Doctor]].

** {{spoiler|Amy's perfume}} being advertised in the store is called "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S32 E4/E04 The DoctorsDoctor's Wife|Petrichor]]" - [[Doctor Who/Recap/S32 /E10 The Girl Who Waited|for the girl who's]] [[Doctor Who/Recap/S31 /E01 The Eleventh Hour|tired of waiting]]. [[Don't Explain the Joke|I wonder if it smells of dust after rain?]]

** The Doctor tries to give a rational explanation as to why Craig was able to overcome the Cyber-conversion process, but gives up and just passes it off as [[The Power of Love]]. He attempted something similar in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/2010 CSACS A Christmas Carol/Recap|A Christmas Carol]]", only to be told to just go with the simple explanation.

** The Cybermen state that six of them are enough to take over Earth — a nod to "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S6 E3/E03 The Invasion|The Invasion]]", where (because of the number of costumes available) at most six Cybermen are seen together at any time.

** Once again, {{spoiler|the Cybermen undergo [[Your Head Asplode|headsplosion]] when [[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S2 E6S28/E06 The Age of Steel|overwhelmed by emotions]].}}

** The Doctor once again battles non-organic lifeforms in a department store, a la [[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S1 E1S27/E01 Rose|Rose]].

** The Doctor has also made the observation "Not a rat, a Cybermat" [[Doctor Who/Recap/S12 E5/E05 Revenge of the Cybermen|at least once before]].

** As we previously heard in [[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S2 E9S28/E09 The Satan Pit|"The Satan Pit"]], if the Doctor believes in one thing, it's his companions...

* [[Fake-Out Make-Out]]: The Doctor tries one with Craig. Craig dodges.

* [[Foil]]: The Doctor to baby Alfie/Stormageddon. One's just been born, and has his whole life ahead; the other is about to face his death.

** Also, Craig checked both the upstairs and the neighbors to make sure it was real and no one were aliens.

** Also, Val, the lovely lady who is a colleague of the Doctor's at the department store, and who mistakes the Doctor and Craig for a couple, is Lynda Baron, AKA [[Open All Hours|Nurse Gladys Emmanuel]], who also featured as Captain Wrack in [[Doctor Who/Recap/S20 E5/E05 Enlightenment|Enlightenment]]. British kids who grew up watching [[Come Outside]] might have also gleefully recognised her as Auntie Mabel.

* [[Ironic Nursery Tune]]: ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S32 E9/E09 Night Terrors|Tick Tock Goes the Clock]]'' is reprised to chilling effect:

* [[Lampshade Hanging]]: The Doctor is, once again, [[Exposition Fairy|explaining everything]] for the audience, to a random shop girl.

* [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]]: {{spoiler|Kovarian implies the Silence have erased River's memories of her past with them, explaining why she doesn't recognise the woman who trained her to be an assassin and why she doesn't remember being in the spacesuit in "The Impossible Astronaut".}}

** It was also explained as a result of repeated exposure to {{spoiler|[[Doctor Who/Recap/S32 E2/E02 Day of the Moon|the Silence]]}}.

* [[Papa Wolf]]: Craig… eventually.

* [[The Power of Love]]: Craig isn't turned into a Cyberman because he hears Alfie crying. [[Lampshade Hanging|The Doctor tries to explain that's really overly sentimental; it was the Power of the Human Instinct to Protect Their Own Genes… okay, it's Love.]]

** ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]] 3'' and [[Cars|Lightning McQueen]] Legos can be seen over the Doctor's shoulder in the toy shop.

** They also {{spoiler|try to assimilate Craig by closing a Cyberman head around his own}}. Old Series Cybermen were implied to still have their human faces underneath their masks([[Doctor Who/Recap/S19 E6/E06 Earthshock|Earthshock]] even had their chins visible through a clear bit), new series ones just take the brains.

*** Then again, a Cyberman with an entire skull inside was seen in [[Doctor Who/Recap/S31 /E12 The Pandorica Opens|The Pandorica Opens]]; the Doctor mentioned that it was a lower-level conversion or something.

*** [[Word of God]] was that the Cybermen in [[Doctor Who/Recap/S31 /E12 The Pandorica Opens|The Pandorica Opens]] were also Mondas cybermen (or at least were supposed to be, but they didn't have time to change the suits.

* [[Time Skip]]: [[Word of God]] states that between [[Doctor Who/Recap/S32 /E11 The God Complex|The God Complex]] and this episode, the Doctor spent the 200 years engaged in the wacky hijinks shown at the beginning of ''The Impossible Astronaut''.

* [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]]: {{spoiler|River Song}} in the closing scenes.