Doctor Who/Recap/S3/E06 The Ark

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Take them to the security kitchen! —Monoid One spots a shortcoming in the Ark's design (right next to the laundry brig)

The titular Ark is a giant spaceship carrying Earth's surviving human, plant and animal life in suspended animation en route to a new planet, Refusis II. A few human guardians and their one-eyed, mop-topped servants the Monoids take care of the ship, but when the travellers arrive a plague quickly spreads. Dodo has a cold, and the common cold was wiped out a long time ago and neither human nor Monoid has any resistance.

The travellers are placed on trial for deliberately spreading the plague, but the Doctor manages to find a cure and they are allowed to leave...

only to rematerialise on board the Ark as it nears the end of its voyage. Since the plague, the Monoids have grown stronger and it is the humans who are the slave race. They plan to colonise Refusis II themselves, but the invisible Refusian natives help the Doctor persuade both races to live in peace.

Watch it here.

Tropes include

• Aliens Are Bastards: The Monoids.
• The Ark
• Bad Liar: The Monoid who gives the whole game away to Dodo.

Dodo: You'd better hurry up and get everyone down from the Ark. With all those people it's going to take awhile. Monoid: (chuckles) Don't worry, it might not take as long as you think! Dodo: What do you mean, are you up to something? Monoid: (glances nervously at the human slave behind him) N...n..no.

• Coconut Superpowers: The Refusians, being invisible, save money on rubber suits.
• Deus Ex Machina: how to deal with the nuke? The friendly aliens have massively powerful telekenesis!
• Earth-That-Was
• Enemy Civil War: the Monoids' violent disagreement on whether to colonise Refusis
• Exty Years From Now: In-universe. The Doctor and companions rematerialize exactly 700 years after they left.
• Generation Ships
• Human Popsicle
• Invisibility
• Made a Slave: The transition between the two slave races
• Relocating the Explosion
• The Revolution Will Not Be Civilised
• Slave Race: two of them
• Space Clothes: The Guardians (see above)
• Starship Luxurious
• We Will Have Perfect Health in the Future: Played straight and subverted. The Guardians have cured the common cold long ago. Unfortunately this means they have no resistance to it.
• We Will Use Manual Labor in the Future
• You Are Number Six: the Monoids after their revolt, seemingly voluntarily