View More Comments. The latest from KYM. Loss is a meme that's outlived its lifespan, but somehow gets funnier whenever it reappears. Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next. We see that you're using an ad-blocker! You must login or signup first! Already a memeber? Historical Person Punchline : The writers enjoy occasionally introducing surreptitious historical cameos to keep viewers on their toes. In " The Legend Locators ", when Nikola Tesla 's time-travel experiment goes awry, the Inspector and his Associates must rescue his temporally stranded friend and lab partner, Sam , from a fifth-century British warlord called Rigotamos who has dragooned him into serving as court magician.
Once freed through the help of Layla of Dumnonia , Sam tells them that their adventure has provided him with the inspiration for his next novel. In "Spacewhip", the Inspector reveals that "the separation between past, present, and future is only an illusion, although a convincing one" to a young German stowaway on the Dimensioniser he calls " Bertie ". Insusceptible to Handcuffs : Trope Namer. The Monster of the Week cannot be apprehended with conventional police gear—at least not until the Inspector modifies them.
Journey to the Center of the Mind : The episode "Mindscrew" of course. Although as also indicated by the title, whose mind exactly can be a point a debate.. Jumped at the Call : First Inspector Associates Irma and Bart are classic examples, eagerly going off with the Inspector when offered the chance. Karma Houdini : The Sergeant.
Although the Inspector repeatedly foiled his schemes with the Blorgons, Eocenes, Orcons, and Sulphur Soldiers to name only a few , he could never amass conclusive evidence of the Sergeant's involvement in their conspiracies or disprove his nemesis's elaborate alibis.
Until their climactic final confrontation on Kayaclasch in the serial "The Lethal Murderer". Also Count Morbus, although he wasn't exactly a villain in his last appearance. He has since criticised the new series for its overuse of "that wonderful element 'makeitupasyougalongeum'" but confesses he finds it compulsively watchable.
Also applies to the Fifth Inspector's run, which further cranked back the body-count. London Gangster : Naturally, these appear throughout the Fourth Inspector's reassignment to late-twentieth century Earth, most prominently in "Exodus of the Blorgons" and "The Robot Revolution". Parodied with Terra Omega's Pearly King and his Button Men , whom the Seventh Inspector's investigates for pushing the drug " Cloud-9 " because of their neurologically deteriorated capacity for natural happiness.
Although its canonicity is established, its awkward plot, loose characterisation, and over-the-top acting , and make it something fans prefer to forget. Except maybe, ironically , Stephen Fry 's brief farewell performance as the Seventh Inspector. Doesn't help that they cast Christian Slater as The Sergeant. Mid-Battle Tea Break : Literally. Mirror Universe : In "The Worst Ally", the finale of the "Internal Investigation of the Inspector" plot-arc and Graham Chapman 's final appearance on the show, the Inspector was banished by the Infinity Knight leadership note Yes, yes, this is a massive simplification.
The Sergeant was involved. And the Indictor. And the Instructor. And almost certainly the Blue and Orange Wardens. More of the era's trademarked weirdness. He ended up killing himself so that the explosive renewal process would overload the Terran High Citadel's main reactor, ripping a "dimensional gap" large enough to send him hurtling back home. With the bonus that his new incarnation could not be tried again for the same "crimes".
One last time, the Sixth Inspector succeeded by failing. Misplaced Wildlife : The show used whatever animals it could scrounge up on a shoestring budget, so yeah. And for cryptozoology fans at least, having Skunk Apes turn up in Indonesia is a prime example.
Missed Him by That Much : The teaser for the Sixth-Inspector serial "The Only Inspector" featured the current Inspector and Jeffery in the foreground trying with their usual lack of success to keep the Exploding Rock from exploding again, while in the far background the Third Inspector and Mary-Sue re-create one of the tea-spilling scenes from " Incursion of the Mastodons.
Mockbuster : The Inspector appeared in the completely unauthorised Turkish film 5 Kudretli Adamlar lit. The film featured the Inspector teaming up with Blacula , El Santo , and advertising Mascot Mister Clean to defeat an extremely violent and sadistic version of Tintin.
The Inspector, wildly out of character throughout, wields a leftover Batarang prop from the Batman instead of his Optic Pocketknife.
Mood Whiplash : A common complaint about the TV Movie, which cuts jarringly from Stephen Fry's dignified and funereal last bow, to Steve Carell and Christian Slater competing to see who can bite off larger chunks of the set.
Moral Guardians : Christine Blackhall's Civic Eyes and Ears Council launched a public campaign against the programme during the Fourth Inspector's reassignment to Exo-Pol in the mids, complaining about its sci-fi treatment of violent crime in contemporary London and its generally darker shift in tone. The cliffhanger scene of the Sergeant stamping on the Inspector's fingers as he dangled from the edge of the Infinity Knights' Omnium Watchtower in "The Lethal Murderer" was singled out by Blackhall as, notoriously, "teatime terrorism for tykes".
Despite the serial's classic status, some fans still complain that they not only got the X7's colour wrong but also used an American-style phone booth. My Future Self and Me : The various incarnations of the Inspector have had their interactions over the decades.
The fact that the latter name proved to be spectacularly inappropriate was immediately lampshaded by the Fifth Inspector and her Associates upon their arrival there. Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! Nice Shoes : Associate Petula's white go-go boots.
Not to mention the fact that two consecutive actors playing the Inspector were named "Steve. The Quest : "The Bolt of Space" arc, in which over the course of half a dozen serials the Inspector searched for pieces of the titular MacGuffin , which was either a part of the Cosmic Portal Lock or the Fourth Dimensional Coupling , depending on whether one believed the Blue Warden or the Orange Warden.
Raygun Gothic : Intentionally invoked more than once in the sets of the Seventh Inspector's episodes, particularly with the Circuit-Chaps in "Bronze Friends". Whether this was another failing of the era or one of its few high points remains a point of contention among fans. However, the mechanical prop kept breaking down , so he was hastily rewritten as "Mimmek the Invisible".
Oddly enough, this has caused him to be supposedly one of the longest-running Associates, as Word of God says he's still travelling with the Inspector, but he's "just been very shy lately". A sadder example is Graham Chapman's early departure from the series due to his growing health problems. The Rival : Inspector Minerva. Her Catchphrase "No-one calls me baby!
Also "Return of the Infinite Cyclorama", though it was a really big "can".. Self-Fulfilling Prophecy : The attempt s to prevent the re-summoning of the eponymous artefact in "The Return of the Infinite Cyclorama". Sequel Hook : The serial "Sphere of the Strands" ended with one, which was finally followed up on ten years and two Inspectors later, with the Third Inspector's final serial "Return to the Sphere of Strands".
Might also qualify as a Brick Joke , although the Inspector had nothing to laugh about. Space Whale : In the serial, "Brouhaha on Beeb" the Inspector and Jeffrey are trapped on a spacefaring, living vessel, on the scale of a blue whale. The serial also serves as a Thriller on the Express , as they solve a mystery on a moving, closed vehicle. And of course, it's a jab at That Other Show, since "Beeb" turns out to be the name of the creature.
Starfish Language : The Theremen speak in high-pitched electronic squeals and squeaks. At one point the Inspector speculates these two might even be " The universe arguing with itself. The Superintendent : Trope Namer Head of Exo-Pol's London Branch, the old-fashioned Irvine Leith initially appeared as a Reasonable Authority Figure , but after a few stories, he began to embody this trope, as repeated exposure to extraterrestrial miscreants, as well the Fourth Inspector's mercurial personality, frustrated him considerably.
Swirly Energy Thingy : The Centripetus storyline involved nefariously controlled ceiling fans that emitted a still unknown, but harmful type of energy. Time Stands Still : A sign of the deteriorating condition of Travel Montage : Used extensively in the episode "Ferdinand Magellan". Unexplained Recovery : The Sergeant, beginning with his apparent death in "The Lethal Murderer" , has successfully, if inexplicably, come back after: dissolving due to an algebraic proof he did not exist in "Mathsville" , vanishing in his sabotaged Dimensioniser in "Space-Break" , drowning in a liquid planetoid in "Moon of Water" , and undergoing public execution by the Infinity Knights in the backstory to the TV movie.
We Need a Distraction : Associate Petula's go-go dancing was often a triple threat, used to distract guards, fill air time, and provide Parent Service though not so much the latter when she was played by Roy Higginbotham. Weaksauce Weakness : The Blorgons' infamous inability to swim. Their problem gets solved when the Orange Warden pops up and bestows on them an upgrade jocularly referred to as "a powerboating licence. What Year Is This? The Seventh Inspector typically announces he and Jeffery have arrived in a particular year only to be quickly corrected by a local.
Who Inspects the Inspector : The Infinity Knights' high command has on occasion taken exception to the Inspector's methods of performing his mission and conducted their own inquiries into them.
Their interventions suggest that their impartiality may be suspect, however. At the end of "Return to the Sphere of Strands", the Inspector successfully defended himself against their most serious criticisms, but he was nevertheless transferred to s Earth as a Time Police Liaison with Exo-Pol, effectively exiling him, and required to metamorphose into the Fourth Inspector.
By the end, the proceedings had gotten a bit silly , but that might have been the Inspector's plan all along. Wholesome Crossdresser : Yosif's sex wasn't revealed until a season after the character's introduction though the stated reason for crossdressing is that it was just easier. Who Wears Short Shorts? This also led to some questionable moments between Visor and the Fourth Inspector when crammed in the Booth together. In a case of massive over-compensation intentional or otherwise , following the Inspector's metamorphosis, Visor spent the next three seasons crammed in the Booth with three women, albeit with one of them wearing spurs.
Of course back in that era it was all just joking, unlike the famous kiss the Inspector gave Capt. James when the latter volunteered for a suicide mission on the Inspector's behalf. It's okay, James survived. But the kiss and subsequent separation from the Inspector helped James come to terms with his own pansexuality, though the creators revealed that nothing actually happened between him and the Inspector. Robbie McMillan. As opposed to Cougarton Abbey , which only lasted six episodes and ended with all of the characters dying by suicide , Britta promises that the long-running Inspector Spacetime originally premiered in and kept going and going, and thus, there are decades worth of episodes for Abed to enjoy.
Abed falls instantly in love with the show after watching one clip of the series, which introduces The Inspector played by an actor named Travis Richey, which will be important shortly and his faithful companion, Constable Reggie Derwin Jordan.
As reported by Tor. This included coming up with the casting for other incarnations of the Inspector , including Christopher Lee, Graham Chapman, Stephen Fry, and Steve Carell in the ill-fated attempt to adapt the series for an American audience and other riffs on the mythology and production history of the show.
To be clear, none of those actors actually ever played the Inspector on Community — this was all a fan fiction labor of love. Active Oldest Votes. Some clear parallels: Inspector Spacetime travels in a time traveling phone box: The Doctor travels in a time traveling police box: The enemies of the Inspector are know as the Blorgons: Which are a parody of the Daleks from Doctor Who :.
Improve this answer. Community Bot 1. You are my hero. Inspector Spacetime is a direct parody of Doctor Who. Markus Klein Markus Klein 3, 2 2 gold badges 21 21 silver badges 43 43 bronze badges.
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