[It looks like the doctor isn't mad at him, which is a relief. He actually has to smile—] You are from my future as well! Not so far, of course—it is 1881—but even so, a good four years. Are you saying that such wonders as this aren't developed in the next half a decade?

[It's another attempt at a joke (his smile says so) because OH ROMANTIC FICTION PROMISING ALIENS AND SPACESHIPS AND STUFF, hilarious]