The Doctor Who Thread

[Susan Foreman]

Doctor Who over the years: Episode quotes

Remembrance Of The Daleks – Part 1

The Doctor: Whatever fired that weapon's trapped in there. There's no way out.
Gilmore: How can you be sure?
The Doctor: I've been here before.
(An army lorry drives in carrying a bunch of squaddies.)
Sergeant: Right, everybody out! Come on, quickly. Move it, move it. Squad, attention!
Gilmore: Stand at ease. Right, now the situation is this. we have an armed hostile pegged up in that lean-to shed. I want the squad to cover the entrance. No firing unless I give the command. Is that understood?
Soldiers: Yes, sir.
Gilmore: Remember, he's armed and hostile, so keep under cover as much as possible. Sergeant.
Sergeant: Sir.
Gilmore: Detail some men to clear these civilians.
Sergeant: Yes, sir. You two, come down with me and we'll sort this lot out. Now, let's have you all back as far as possible, please. Thank you, madam. There's nothing to be seen here.
Gilmore: Smith.
Mike: Yes, sir?
Gilmore: Take two men and get Matthews out of here.
Mike: Yes, sir. You two, fall out and follow me.
The Doctor: I don't think you realise what you're dealing with here.
Gilmore: Doctor, I assure you these men are hand picked. They can deal with anything, provided they can see it. Right men, take up positions.
(The Doctor joins Ace and Allison at Red 6 while Mike and the soldiers recover Matthews.)
Mike: Take his arms. Move him back to the truck.
(Something targets one of the soldiers and zaps him. There is a brief flash of his skeleton as he is flung back against some corrugated iron sheeting.)
The Doctor: Down!
Gilmore: Covering fire now! (Gilmore and the soldiers take up positions round and under the army lorry and send short bursts of bullets into the shed.) Cease firing! (The Doctor and Rachel run over to Gilmore.) Get down!
Rachel: What was it?
The Doctor: That was your death ray.
Rachel: I know that, but how? To transmit focused energy at that level, it's incredible. It's
The Doctor: Yes?
Rachel: It's beyond the realm of current technology.
Gilmore: If you can save the science lecture for a less precipitous moment. Now perhaps, Doctor, you could tell me what is going on?
The Doctor: You must pull your men back now. It's their only chance.
Gilmore: It's preposterous. We can't disengage now. Whoever is in there, my men can handle it. Sergeant!
The Doctor: Listen to me, Brigadier.
Gilmore: Group Captain. Group Captain Gilmore!
The Doctor: Nothing you possess will be effective against what's in there!
Sergeant: Sir?
Gilmore: Three men, rifle-grenades, even spread left right and centre. Fire on my command.
Sergeant: Yes, sir.
The Doctor: Captain, you're not dealing with human beings here.
Gilmore: What am I dealing with? Little green men?
The Doctor: No, Little green blobs in bonded-polycarbite armour.
Sergeant: Grenades are ready, sir.
The Doctor: Group Captain Gilmore.
Gilmore: Fire.
The Doctor: Humans.
Sergeant: Fire!
(KaBOOM and the shed is obliterated in a fireball. Ace joins the Doctor.)
Ace: That's some serious hardware. Did you see that, Professor? Unsophisticated, but impressive.
Gilmore: Smith!
Mike: Sir?
Gilmore: Get on the radio. Call up Blue Four and Six. Tell Four to pick up an ambulance on the way.
Mike: Yes, sir.
The Doctor: It doesn't matter how many men you get here. It isn't going to make any difference.
Gilmore: Doctor, my men have just put three high-explosive grenades into a confined area. Nothing even remotely human could have survived that.
The Doctor: That's the point group, Group Captain, it isn't even remotely human.

Remembrance Of The Daleks – Part 2

John: Can I help you?
The Doctor: A mug of tea, please.
John: Cold night tonight.
The Doctor: Yes, it is. Bitter, very bitter. Where's Harry?
John: Visiting his missus. She's in hospital.
The Doctor: Of course. It'll be twins.
John: Hmm? Your tea. Sugar?
The Doctor: Ah. A decision. Would it make any difference?
John: It would make your tea sweet.
The Doctor: Yes, but beyond the confines of my tastebuds, would it make any difference?
John: Not really.
The Doctor: But
John: Yeah?
The Doctor: What if I could control people's tastebuds? What if I decided that no one would take sugar? That'd make a difference to those who sell the sugar and those that cut the cane.
John: My father, he was a cane cutter.
The Doctor: Exactly. Now, if no one had used sugar, your father wouldn't have been a cane cutter.
John: If this sugar thing had never started, my great-grandfather wouldn't have been kidnapped, chained up, and sold in Kingston in the first place. I'd be a African.
The Doctor: See? Every great decision creates ripples, like a huge boulder dropped in a lake. The ripples merge, rebound off the banks in unforeseeable ways. The heavier the decision, the larger the waves, the more uncertain the consequences.
John: Life's like that. Best thing is just to get on with it.
(The little girl looks in the window at them, and leaves as the Doctor notices her.)
The Doctor: Did you see that?
John: See what?
The Doctor: Nothing. What would you do if you had a decision, a big decision?
John: How big?
The Doctor: Saving the world.
John: Really?
The Doctor: Really.
John: I wish you the best of luck.
The Doctor: Let's hope I make the right decision. Things could get unpleasant round here. I'd take a holiday if I were you.
John: Oh, sure. How long?
The Doctor: Two or three days. After that, it won't matter one way or the other. Thanks for the tea.
John: Any time. (The Doctor puts a coin on the counter and leaves. John picks it up.) Nineteen ninety one?

Remembrance Of The Daleks – Part 3

The Doctor: A long time ago, on my home planet of Gallifrey, there lived a stellar engineer called Omega.
Ace: Stellar? As in stars? You mean he engineered stars?
The Doctor: Ace!
Ace: Sorry. Go on.
The Doctor: It was Omega who created the supernova that was the initial power source for Gallifreyan time travel experiments. He left behind him the basis on which Rassilon founded Time Lord society, and he left behind the Hand of Omega.
Ace: His hand? What good was that?
The Doctor: No, no, not his hand literally. No, no, it's called that because Time Lords have an infinite capacity for pretension.
Ace: I've noticed that.
The Doctor: The Hand of Omega is a mythical name for Omega's remote stellar manipulator, a device used to customise stars with. And didn't we have trouble with the prototype.
Ace: We?
The Doctor: They.
Ace: And the Daleks want it so they can recreate the time travel experiments? But you said that both Dalek factions can already travel in time.
The Doctor: Oh yes, Daleks have got time corridor technology, but it's very crude and nasty. What they want is the power that Time Lords have, and they'll get that with the Hand of Omega, or so they think.
Ace: And you have to try and stop them.
The Doctor: No, Ace, I want them to have it.
Ace: Eh?
The Doctor: My problem is trying to stop Group Captain Gilmore and his men getting diced in the crossfire.
Ace: So, all this is
The Doctor: A massive deception, yes.
Ace: Oh, well devious. So the Daleks grab the Hand of Omega and go, and no one gets hurt. Brilliant.
The Doctor: Just one thing.
Ace: What?
The Doctor: I didn't expect two Dalek factions, and now I've got to make sure the wrong ones don't get their grubby little protuberances on it.
Ace: Shouldn't we take Mike?
The Doctor: No. Dalek hunting is a terminal pastime.
Ace: So what are we doing?
The Doctor: Dalek hunting.

Remembrance Of The Daleks – Part 4

Davros [on screen]: The Daleks shall become Lords of Time! We shall become all
The Doctor: Powerful. Crush the lesser races. Conquer the galaxy. Unimaginable power. Unlimited rice pudding, et cetera, et cetera.
Davros [on screen]: Do not anger me, Doctor. I can destroy you and this miserable, insignificant planet.
The Doctor: Oh, wonderful. What power, what brilliance. You can wipe out the odd civilisation, enslave the occasional culture, but it still won't detract from the basic fundamental truth of your own impotence!
Rachel: Careful, Doctor.
The Doctor: (covers the microphone) Don't worry, I know what I'm doing.
Davros: I will teach you the folly of your words, Doctor. I will destroy you and demonstrate the power of the Daleks!
The Doctor [on screen]: Davros, I beg of you, don't use the Hand.
Davros: Ah, Doctor, now you begin to fear.
The Doctor [on screen]: You're making a grave mistake.
Davros: Activate the Omega device!
Dalek: Omega device activated.
(A little star flies out of the Mothership.)
Dalek 2 : Plotting course to home planet Skaro.
Davros: Now the Daleks shall become the Lords of Time!
Dalek 2: Entering Skaro time zone. First stage expansion. Primary neutrino release.
Dalek: Core collapse instigated.
Dalek 2: Danger! Instability! Reaction out of control.
Davros: No, this cannot be correct!
Dalek: Home planet Skaro about to vapourise.
(The Hand leaves the system as the star goes supernova and takes the planets with it.)
Davros: You have tricked me!
The Doctor [on screen]: No, Davros. You tricked yourself.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Sylvester McCoy as the seventh Doctor (and friends) promoting Remembrance of the Daleks (1988)

[Susan Foreman]

Doctor Who over the years: Episode quotes

The Happiness Patrol – Part 1

Gilbert: They think it's easy. A thousand pounds of praline cracknel, indeed. They don't know his moods. He's terrible when he's roused. I keep telling them, but they won't believe me. They're lucky to get any sweets at all.
Kandyman: Enough! Where are my specimens?
Gilbert: If they think it's so easy they should have a go at making sweets themselves. They wouldn't know popcorn from peppermint.
Kandyman: I said, where are my specimens? It's time for an experiment.
Gilbert: I think they just slipped under the table.
Kandyman: There's no one there.
Gilbert: But I saw them.
Kandyman: Show me!
Gilbert: But I, I could have sworn they were under the table.
Kandyman: I can feel one of my moods coming on. (The Doctor and Earl make for the stairs, but a grill closes it off.) Welcome to the Kandy Kitchen, gentlemen.
The Doctor: I'm sure the pleasure's all ours.
Kandyman: I do hope so. I like my volunteers to die with smiles on their faces.

The Happiness Patrol – Part 2

David: Pick your gun up.
Alex: Why? There's no one there.
David: You're right. They've all gone to ground.
Alex: I don't mind. Good luck to them.
David: Shut it. Wait a minute. There's one. It's all right, I'll have him. Just let him get a little closer.
(The Doctor crosses the street below.)
Alex: Wait, he's not a drone.
David: He's fair game, and you're heading that way. All right, come on. Come and say hello.
(The Doctor comes up behind them.)
The Doctor: Hello.
David: Get back or I'll use the gun.
The Doctor: Yes, I imagine you will. You like guns, don't you.
David: This is a specialised weapon. It's designed for roof duty, designed for long range. I've never used one up close before.
Alex: Let him go.
David: No.
The Doctor: No. In fact, let him come a little closer.
David: Stay where you are.
The Doctor: Why? Scared? Why should you be scared? You're the one with the gun.
David: That's right.
The Doctor: You like guns, don't you.
Alex: He'll kill you.
The Doctor: Of course he will. That's what guns are for. Pull the trigger, end a life. Simple, isn't it.
David: Yes.
The Doctor: Makes sense, doesn't it.
David: Yes.
The Doctor: A life killing life.
Alex: Who are you?
The Doctor: Shut up. Why don't you do it then? Look me in the eye, pull the trigger, end my life. Why not?
David: I can't.
The Doctor: Why not?
David: I don't know.
The Doctor: No, you don't, do you. (The Doctor takes the gun from David.) Throw away your gun.
(Alex drops his gun.)

The Happiness Patrol – Part 3

(The Doctor climbs up out of the manhole.)
The Doctor: Kandyman, I don't believe you've met my young friend, Ace. An expert in calorification, incineration, carbonisation and inflammation.
(Ace runs across the kitchen and around the Kandyman's back.)
Kandyman: I beg your pardon?
The Doctor: She's come to look at your oven.
Kandyman: Has she, indeed? Then she should wait to be asked. Impolite guests get to feel the back of my candy hand.
(Ace hides a poker behind her back as the Kandyman advances on her.)
The Doctor: That may be, Kandyman, but the last time we met you said you were going to kill me.
Kandyman: Really, Doctor? Thank you for reminding me.
Ace: I wouldn't give that pimple head a hundred to one against you, Professor.
(Ace puts the poker onto the lit gas hob to warm up.)
Kandyman: Pimple head? I'm disappointed in you, Doctor. I expected you to choose your friends more carefully. Still, she won't be a friend much longer, will she.
The Doctor: I agree, you are a pimple head.
Kandyman: I'm finding this rather tiresome. Heads or tails, Doctor?
The Doctor: Tails. Well?
Kandyman: That would be telling.
(The Kandyman advances on Ace, who grabs the now red-hot poker.)
The Doctor: You're playing a dangerous game, Kandyman. That red-hot poker could cut through you like a knife through butterscotch.
Kandyman: I have to bow, however reluctantly, to your logic, which leaves me only one alternative.
(Ace throws the poker to the Doctor as the Kandyman turns on him.)
The Doctor: Quick, Ace. Open the oven door!
(Ace does. The Doctor uses the poker to ignite the gas and a massive flame shoots out. The Kandyman retreats through the manhole. The Doctor and Ace run up the stairs.)
Ace: What about the Kandyman?
The Doctor: Oh, he'll keep. He's full of colouring, flavouring and preservative.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Stewart Bevan and Katy Manning recreate a scene from The Green Death (1973) for the Radio Times Doctor Who special.

[Susan Foreman]

Doctor Who over the years: Episode quotes

Silver Nemesis – Part 1

(The Courtney Pine Jazz quartet are playing to an appreciative audience in bright sunshine, including the Doctor and Ace - who is wearing a short sleeved t-shirt in November?)
Ace: I could listen to them all afternoon.
The Doctor: And so we shall.
(Ace picks up the Daily Mirror with the headline Meteor Approaches England and reads the back page.)
Ace: Have you seen this? Charlton picked up three points.
The Doctor: This is my favourite kind of jazz, straight blowing.
(The Doctor's pocket watch beeps.)
Ace: I hate people whose alarms go off during gigs.
The Doctor: What's this? It's a reminder.
Ace: Well, go on, then.
The Doctor: Well, obviously, at this precise moment it's a reminder to change course for another destination.
(He closes the ornately enamelled cover of the digital device.)
Ace: Where's that?
The Doctor: I've forgotten. Oh, we'll have to go back and find out.
Ace: Oh, Professor. (The Doctor walks off while Ace gets Courtney to give her an autograph.) Excuse me, would you mind signing my tape?
Courtney: Not at all.
Ace: Thanks.
Courtney: Okay.
Ace: Bye.
(Ace joins the Doctor.)
The Doctor: Don't you find it embarrassing asking for autographs?
Ace: Not as embarrassing as forgetting what you set your alarm for.
The Doctor: Well, I probably arranged it centuries ago.

Silver Nemesis – Part 2

(The Doctor and Ace observe the Cyber spacecraft from underneath a hedge. It is guarded by the two headphone wearing men who knocked them into the river. Ace sneezes, so the Doctor shakes a branch and whistles like a bird. The men decide not to investigate.)
The Doctor: I don't suppose you've completely ignored my instructions and secretly prepared any Nitro Nine, have you?
Ace: What if I had?
The Doctor: Naturally you wouldn't do anything so insanely dangerous as to carry it around with you, would you?
Ace: Of course not. I'm a good girl. I do what I'm told.
The Doctor: Excellent. Blow up that vehicle.
(Ace grins, and picks up her rucksack.)

Silver Nemesis – Part 3

Remington: You must be parched from standing in the sun. May I offer you a little refreshment?
Richard: Thank you, no, madam.
Remington: Oh. Are you folks students?
Richard: Alas, I am but a servant, and cannot read or write.
Remington: Oh.
Richard: My mistress is of noble birth, and has some Latin and a little Greek.
Remington: Well, you must be on vacation at this time.
Richard: Go you far, ma'am?
Remington: Far? Oh, I just came over from London.
Richard: Two days ride.
Remington: Well, no, actually the traffic was pretty reasonable. I left about, let's see, forty minutes ago.
Richard: Forty minutes?
Remington: Folks from the south are never in a hurry. As a matter of fact, I'm here on a visit, checking out my roots.
Richard: Tis wise with crops this time of year, ma'am.
Remington: Oh.

[Susan Foreman]

Weeping Angels in Fairyland at Blackgang Chine on the Isle Of Wight

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald in the 2013 episode The Crimson Horror

[Gothmogxx]

Finished Mindwarp. Although its part of a 14 episode arc, taken as its own 4 episode Story, its Colin's best and one of my favourite Stories overall. I have no faults. Brian Blessed is amazing in it. The Cave sets are lit just enough so that it looks convincing. The ending (despite what gets revealed in episode 14) is brilliant.

I sound like a broken record but once again: Why on earth are people so harsh on Colins era? Only Seasons like 7 and 13 (tempting as it is to include 12 and 14, one has The Sontaran Experiment and the other has Deadly Assassin) and Series 1-4 are as consistently good without any screw ups. Even Season 22 wasn't that bad: Twin Dilemma is enjoyable in a so bad its good kind of way. Attack of the Cybermen, despite a weaker episode 2, works well. The Mark of the Rani is worth it if only for the 3 way conflict between the Doctor, the Master and the Rani, each trying to one up the other. Vengeance on Varos was as gritty as you could get. Two Doctors, despite the lack of combined Colin and Pat screen time, is fun enough. Timelash was a good concept done mostly right. Revelation of the Daleks has some of the best guest stars, great direction and Dalek vs Dalek action at the end.

I often wonder what it would have been like had Colin, against all the odds, stayed on for a few more seasons and gotten a better outfit...

[Demoncrat]

Revelation Of The Daleks

Did I mention I is partaking hic?

Colin and Hyacinth Bucket face the peppery ones once again. Aided ably by Clive Swift & William Gaunt, hampered slightly by Alexei Sayle, our tersely tempered twosome tackle the terrible sets they are forced to work in admirably. Deaths litter the storyline. Educational tis
SILVER NEMESIS NEXT!

[Susan Foreman]

Doctor Who over the years: Episode quotes

The Greatest Show In The Galaxy – Part 1

(A curious six legged gizmo with two small solar panels and an antenna on its head appears. The Doctor is on a step ladder hunting for his ball in the console room ceiling.)
The Doctor: What's that peculiar noise?
Ace: What peculiar noise? I don't hear any peculiar.
(They notice the gizmo.)
The Doctor: How extraordinary. (He comes down the ladder.) It materialised inside the Tardis. Just the kind of thing you'd expect to see in this part of the galaxy.
(The gizmo trundles across the floor to the console.)
Ace: Is that just what you'd expect too, Professor?
The Doctor: Not entirely, no.
(The gizmo then slaps a lead onto the console and the scanner starts up with an advertisement.)
Advert: Yes, it's festival time at the Psychic Circus, the Greatest Show in the Galaxy! So why not come along and have the time of your life with the nonstop action of its glittering circus ring. There's big prizes
Ace: No, I don't believe it. Junk mail. Used to get loads of this stuff through the letterbox and now we're being bombarded with it inside the Tardis.
The Doctor: Yes, junk mail gets everywhere.
Advert: If you want to watch or you want to compete, there's a great time for you on the planet Segonax. The planet has easy access via our special polyportable landing bays.
(Ace disconnects the gizmo.)
The Doctor: Oh, Ace, I thought you'd have been interested in the circus.
Ace: No, kid's stuff. I went once. Didn't even have any tigers. It was naff and it was boring. Apart from the clowns, of course.
The Doctor: What, you found them funny?
Ace: No, creepy.
The Doctor: I think you're being very unfair. A lot of the acts in the circus require a great deal of skill and courage. That's something you should appreciate. Anyway, I rather fancy entering the Festival talent contest myself.
(And starts to play a pair of salad spoons on his leg.)
Ace: Oh no, not the spoons again.
(The gizmo reattaches itself.)
Advert: Scared?
Ace: What?
Advert: Scared to come to the Psychic Circus?
Ace: No.
Advert: Scared to take part?
Ace: No, course not.
Advert: Well, if you are, then go ahead, ignore me. I quite understand.
Ace: I don't believe it. Junk mail that talks back.
The Doctor: Shall we just fling it away and forget about it? I mean, I'm sure the Psychic Circus isn't scary at all. It's just a device to get us to go.
Ace: Okay, you win, junk box. I'm not scared of anything.

The Greatest Show In The Galaxy – Part 2

Morgana: Welcome one and all to the Psychic Circus.
(Ace turns to leave but the Doctor pulls her back.)
The Doctor: Ace, you promised. (to Morgana) I'm the Doctor and this is Ace. I must apologise for my young friend.
Morgana: Oh, it is no problem. All of us around here believe in letting our feelings hang out. I mean, there is no point in getting uptight, now is there?
(Ace sees the clown watching and becomes tense.)
Ace: I don't believe this.
Morgana: That is why we got into circuses in the first place.
The Doctor: We?
Morgana: The founder members of the Psychic Circus.
The Doctor: Ah, I see.
Morgana: We were really into personal expression and the Circus gave us a chance to develop ourselves by expressing our individual skills.
(The Doctor sees three kites with eyes painted on them.)
The Doctor: I wonder if you've a special skill, if I might enquire.
Morgana: Fortune telling. Would you like to see the future?
(Morgana turns over the top card on her Tarot pack. It is the Hanged Man, symbol of major change. The Doctor does not turn round to look at it.)
The Doctor: Not just yet. (The funeral clowns carry the robot bus conductor backstage on a stretcher.) The Psychic Circus has grown into quite a sizeable operation, by the looks of it.
Morgana: The greatest show in the galaxy.
(The Doctor looks around their collection of advertising posters.)
The Doctor: Quite so, yes. My, you have travelled, haven't you? The planet Othris, the Boriatic Wastes, Marpesia and the Grand Pagoda of Cinethon.
Morgana: Yes, we used to have a great time in the old days, going from planet to planet. But we've really got settled in here since
The Doctor: Since?
Morgana: Well, you have to hang up your travelling shoes and stop wandering sooner or later, don't you?
The Doctor: So I've been told. Personally, I just keep on wandering.

The Greatest Show In The Galaxy – Part 3

Captain: So you've always been interested in the Psychic Circus, have you? Sit down.
Whizzkid: Oh yes, of course.
Captain: Ah.
(The Captain pours the tea.)
Whizzkid: I've never been able to visit it before now, but I've got all sorts of souvenirs. Copies of all the advertising satellites that have ever been sent out. All the posters. I had a long correspondence with one of the founder members too, soon after it started. Although I never got to see the early days, I know it's not as good as it used to be but I'm still terribly interested.
Ringmaster: Two minutes, Captain.
Captain: Thank you, Ringmaster. No doubt you dream of having the ultimate Psychic Circus experience as soon as possible.
Whizzkid: Sorry?
Captain: You ache for the moment when you can do your own act within that sawdust covered magic circle.
Whizzkid: Oh, yes, of course. I mean, there's no real danger, is there, really.
Captain: Only for those without resource or imagination or panache. I'm sure you have all those qualities.
Whizzkid: Well, I really don't know.
Captain: Come, come, dear boy, don't be so absurdly modest.
Mags: Don't listen to him.
Whizzkid: But this is one of my heroes, Captain Cook, the intergalactic space explorer.
Captain: Exactly. And shall I tell you what I'm prepared to do for you as a special favour?
Whizzkid: What?
Captain: Postpone my brief moment of glory in the ring so that you may enjoy the unforgettable experience before me, far beyond the bouncing Upas trees of Boromeo or the singing squids of Anagonia.
Whizzkid: Are you sure you can bear to let me go in first?
Captain: It is a sacrifice I am prepared to make

The Greatest Show In The Galaxy – Part 4

The Doctor: Enjoying the show, Ace?
Ace: Yeah. It was your show all along, wasn't it?
Mags: The Captain really is finished now, isn't he?
The Doctor: Yes. But you're just about to start.
Deadbeat: Doctor, I've been thinking.
The Doctor: What better way for a circus to begin than with a wonderful new act.
Ace: Yeah, weird and wonderful. Nice one, Professor. You'll knock them dead.
Mags: That's just what I'm afraid of. What if I can't control it?
The Doctor: Oh, you can, Mags. You already have.
Deadbeat: What about it, Doctor? You and Ace. Join Kingpin's new circus and travel the galaxy with us.
The Doctor: Thank you, Kingpin, but I'm afraid we've got other galaxies to travel. And besides, I find circuses a little sinister.