Theory:Doctor Who television discontinuity and plot holes/Extremis

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This page is for discussing the ways in which Extremis doesn't fit well with other DWU narratives. You can also talk about the plot holes that render its own, internal narrative confusing.

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• Why didn't the TARDIS translate the Pope for Bill when he showed up in her flat?

Perhaps we are seeing him from her friends' point of view; as we are not yet fully understood as to why the Pope is present?

Doesn't Angelo have to translate for the Pope later on, though?

Perhaps the Monks are unaware of the TARDIS's translation circuit and so it was not part of their simulation?

• How could River have given Nardole the diary to look after the Doctor when after Darillium River has it in the library?

We don't know that River gave Nardole the diary directly. The Doctor and/or Nardole could have retrieved it from the library shortly after the Tenth Doctor and Donna left. Or maybe Nardole gives it back to her after this.

Perhaps its simply a copy that River produced as a way of making sure that the Doctor was convinced that Nardole really was sent by her.

• So, it's Missy in the vault. The Doctor agreed to guard her for 1000 years, to keep her out of trouble. Isn't time relative?

What do you mean?

From what I understand, Missy has been imprisoned for a crime, but once the sentence is over, she could easily go back in time and make her incarcerators pay for her imprisonment! The punishment doesn't matter, she can still get her revenge. Time is relative!

Yes however the "incarcerators" were expecting her to be dead. The 1000 years is not a sentence, the 1000 years is, shall we say, a margin of error to ensure that the body doesn't come back to life. So from the incarcerators point of view, no, Missy could not easily go back in time once the 1000 years is up because she should be dead. Unfortunately for them, the Doctor stepped in.

But Missy is still alive, and could reek untold hatred towards her incarcerators!

See later episodes. The Doctor has been spending the 1000 years trying to make her good so they can be friends again, probably the bargain for her being spared.

Not much of a guarantee though, is it?

• Who is the Benedict IX referred to? The historical Benedict IX was of course not a woman. He was in fact one of the youngest and licentious popes in history. He was pope three times, on one occasion selling the papacy for money.

I think it is a Moffat twist. It could be a woman, and it might end up being a woman in a future episode!!

The Doctor Who universe is not the same as our universe, so there is no discontinuity in Pope Benedict IX being female.

And remember, it was a simulation done by the monks. Maybe they tried different scenarios to learn the behavior of the humans and conclude the best plan of attack.

• If everyone always thinks of the same "random" numbers, how is it that so few people have caught on to this fact over the entire time that the simulation has been going on?

There have been people, who noticed and all of them killed themselves. We only see a couple of them, but it is to be assumed, there have been more throughout the whole simulation. And I think, the monks could reset the simulation and try a different approach, if too many people did notice. On the other hand, people notice the thinking only, when they compare the numbers with other people. So if someone thinks, it is odd, they have to find others, who notice the same or take a scientific approach to the phenomeno and then kill themself.

• Missy's entire character arc up to this point was based around Clara Oswald, with Missy taking credit for Clara and the Doctor meeting in the first place. She also states in "Death in Heaven" and reiterates in "The Witch's Familiar" that one of her rationales was to torment the Doctor by matchmaking the two. Assuming their meeting in the flashback/prologue was their first since the events of "Witch's Familiar", it seems odd that Missy would reference the death of River Song and not Clara. Even if the Doctor has suppressed his memories of Clara, Missy didn't. If anything, it would give her an excuse to needle the Doctor, if not say "I told you so" if she is aware of the 4.5 billion years he spent in the confession dial.