“City of Death” quotes from Doctor Who

I say; what a wonderful butler, he's so violent!

The Countess Scarlioni

I was rather under the impression that it was Mr. Duggan who was following me.

Ah. Well, you're a beautiful woman, probably; and Duggan was trying to sum up the courage to ask you to dinner. Weren't you, Duggan?

The Countess Scarlioni

Who sent you?

Who sent me what?

Duggan

Can anyone join in this conversation, or do you need a certificate?

Theodore Nikolai Kerensky, a scientist's job is to ask questions.

[calling out] Leonardo...? Your paintings went down very well. Everybody loved them. Last Supper... Mona Lisa... You remember the Mona Lisa? That dreadful woman with no eyebrows who wouldn't sit still, eh?

If there's one thing I can't stand, it's being tortured by someone with cold hands.

Doctor, how very nice to see you again. Seems like only 474 years since we last met.

Indeed, indeed, yes. I so much prefer the weather in the early part of the 16th century, don't you?

Romana II

Where are we going?

Are you speaking philosophically or geographically?

Romana II

Philosophically.

Then we're going to lunch.

I suppose the best way to find out where you come from is to find out where you're going, and then work backwards.

How very curious. Two thieves enter the Louvre Gallery and come out.. With a bracelet! Couldn't you think of anything more interesting to steal?

Well, I just thought it was awfully pretty, er... terribly unusual design. 'Course it would have been much nicer to have stolen one of the pictures, but I've tried that before, and all sorts of alarms go off, which disturbs the concentration.

Hah-hah, yes it would. So you stole the bracelet simply because it's... pretty.

Yes. ...Well, I think it is; don't you?

Yes...

The Countess Scarlioni

My dear, I don't think he's as stupid as he seems.

My dear, nobody could be as stupid as he seems.

I wouldn't make a very good criminal, would I?

No. [brandishes pistol] Good criminals don't get caught. I see you've found some of my pictures. Rather good, aren't they? By the end of this evening, I shall have a seventh.

May I ask you where you got these?

No.

Or how you knew they were here?

No.

They've been bricked up a long time...

Yes.

I like concise answers!

Good. I came down to find Kerensky.

Oh?

But he doesn't seem to be able to speak to me. [Duggan knocked him out earlier]

Oh.

Can you throw any light on that?

No...

Duggan

I can.

Duggan, why is it that every time I start to talk to someone, you knock him unconscious?

Duggan

Thought these places were meant to be open all night.

Romana II

You should go into partnership with a glazier. You'd have a truly symbiotic working relationship.

Duggan

...What?

Romana II

I'm just pointing out that you break a lot of glass.

Duggan

You can't make an omlette without breaking eggs. [smashes the neck off a bottle of wine]

Romana II

If you wanted an omlette, I'd expect to find a pile of broken crockery, a cooker in flames, and an unconscious chef.

How long have you been married to the Count?

The Countess Scarlioni

Long enough.

Oh, "long enou..." I like that. Discretion and charm. So civilized. So terribly unhelpful.

The Countess Scarlioni

Discretion and charm. Hm. I couldn't live without it, especially in matters concerning the Count.

There is such a thing as discretion. There's also such a thing as willful blindness.

The Countess Scarlioni

Blind? I help him to steal the Mona Lisa, the greatest crime in the century, and you call me blind?

Yes! You see the Count as a master criminal, an art dealer, an insanely wealthy man. And you'd like to see yourself as his consort. But what's he doing in the cellar?

The Countess Scarlioni

[bitterly] ...Tinkering. Every man must have his hobby.

Man? Are you sure of that? A man with one eye, and green skin, eh? Ransacking the art treasures of history to help him make a machine to reunite him with his people, the Jaggeroth?

And you didn't notice anything. How discreet. How charming.

Now Count, this is what I've come to say. If you're thinking of going back in time, you better forget it.

Now why do you say that?

Well, because I'm going to stop you.

Oh no, on the contrary, Doctor. You're going to help me.

I am?

You are, indeed. And if you do not, it'll be so much the worse for you, for this young lady, and for thousands of other people I could mention if I happened to have the Paris telephone directory on my person.

Count, that sort of blackmail won't work, because I know what the consequences will be if you get what you wanted. I can't let you fool about with time.

What else do you ever do?

[caught out] ...Ah, well, I'm a professional; I know what I'm doing.

To me, one of the most curious things about this piece is its wonderful afunctionalism.

Yes, I see what you mean. Divorced from its function and seen purely as a piece of art, its structure of line and colour is curiously counterpointed by the redundant vestiges of its function.

And since it has no call to be here, the art lies in the fact that it is here.

Exquisite. Absolutely exquisite.