10 Doctor Who Easter Eggs Only Hardcore Fans Spotted
8. “Shush!” (War Of The Sontarans)
For all their showboating and tightly-choreographed group dancing, the Sontarans are pretty dim.
The Doctor uses this to her advantage in War of the Sontarans, warning captured potato-head Svild that the Sontarans’ sworn enemy is present in the Crimea, while omitting one vital detail – that the Doctor is her.
Her cover is nearly blown when Mary Seacole begins to butt in, but the Doctor is able to stop Mary before she can finish her sentence, with nothing more than a death stare and the word “Shush!”.
Casual viewers won't have thought anything of this moment, but dedicated fans will recall that this isn’t the first time we’ve seen the Doctor use this ability.
It was first deployed by the Eleventh Doctor in Closing Time to stop the mighty Stormageddon from crying – then to leave his dad, Craig, and shop assistant Shona equally lost for words.
It’s not entirely clear what this strange power is, where the Doctor picked it up, or how it works. All we’re told in Closing Time is that it’s limited to lifeforms with “underdeveloped brains” – i.e. anything other than a Time Lord!
The most likely explanation is that it’s a form of hypnosis – similar to the technique the Doctor uses to send Rupert Pink to sleep in Listen, or to erase memories in Journey’s End.