Theory:Doctor Who television discontinuity and plot holes/Dalek: Difference between revisions

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Why didn't the millions of daleks in the stolen earth and journey's end save this dalek it says it was beaming out a distress signal for a while surely they would have heard it when they were flying all over the globe, even if they didn't want to rescue it because it may have been different they would still have wanted to kill it.{{Discontinuity}}
{{Discontinuity}}
* The map of the US shown on Van Statten's monitor is missing the upper peninsula of Michigan.
::This is 2012. Perhaps in the future the upper peninsula of Michigan had been destroyed or eroded.
:::...or maybe he had a bad experience there and deleted it from his map. He's shown to be quite cavalier. Also, maybe there was a yoopie (slang for denizen of the Michigan upper peninsula) on his staff that deleted it and he never noticed.


*Why is the Dalek of this story so mind numbingly stupid. The Daleks in Power of the Daleks and Victory of the Daleks where powerless too [the daleks in power at one point didn't even have guns] but they were smart enough to manipulate those around them, lesterson, winston churchil [both of whom were smarter and less corruptable than van statten] This Dalek should have been able to easily manipulate van statten, it could have offered him technology and stories about aliens [even if they were false] and could have then made use of van stattens technology when it got the chance, rather than just sit there silently, it was hardly the master manipulators of power of the Daleks who were able to manipulate both an intelligent , kind scientist and evil rebel or the daleks in victory who were able to manipulate one of the greatest military minds of all time and even the doctor, all van statten [ a foolish arrogant egotistical man who frequently makes mistakes] wanted to know was who the dalek was and it still couldnt manipulate him, deeply stupid unscary Dalek
* The Dalek can find no trace of his race on the Internet. Has no one recorded the events involving any Human and Dalek?
::The Doctor and the Daleks are Time travellers and Time is constantly in flux. At that point, Time had not been changed to allow the invasions to happen.
::Also, the virus the Doctor gives Mickey at the end of ''[[World War Three]]'' may have erased all mentions of Dalek invasions pre-revival and before 2012.


:: This Dalek admits in the episode it was waiting for orders. So it didn't need to manipulate. The Daleks in Power needed to because they needed the facilities to reproduce. The Daleks in Victory had to because they needed the Doctor to confess to the Progenitor that they were Daleks
* How can Van Statten, who seems powerful enough to own the President, not know what a Dalek is, even though they stole and attacked the Earth 3 years earlier in ''The Stolen Earth'' and ''Journey's End''?
::The Doctor and the Daleks are Time travellers and Time is constantly in flux. At that point, Time had not been changed to allow the invasions to happen.
::It is mentioned by the Eleventh Doctor that a Time Crack erased the events of these episodes.
::Yes but it is implied that the erased events (at the very least the ones preceding Series 5) were restored to their rightful place in time. Having said that it is likely that, as you say, the constant state of flux that time exists in compensates for this discontinuity and in deed many other across Dr Who's history (e.g. the Loc Ness Monster attacking London)
:::Actually it's stated later on that some things were not the same. We never saw if the events of [[The Stolen Earth (TV story)]] were restored or not.
::::In "The Waters of Mars" Adelaide Brooks remembers the daleks.
::::It makes no sense to say the time crack erased the events of the episode. Think about what that means: The crack eating up The Doctor, Rose, the Dalek, Van Statten, everyone. If the crack ate up the events of the episode, The Doctor and Rose would simply cease to exist, including his past and future regenerations. If the cracks took the whole planet, it would also cease to exist. If it spread further, maybe the whole universe, then there would be nothing left. If it's simply a case of time in flux, the events would catch up and Van Statten would know what it is. Then again, he'd still likely want to keep it down there and get it talking, so maybe the events wouldn't be such a paradox after all.
::::::Time cracks don't rewrite history and actually erase things from it. They simply make things disappear from the present (where the contact with the crack was made) and make everyone forget about things, alter people's memories, but all the consequences are kept as they were, that's the only way in can work, otherwise, for instance, Amy could possibly never get aboard the TARDIS if it wasn't for Rory (he was too important in her life, she could become a totally different person and her life would be completely different), or the world would blow apart about 9999 times without the Doctor in the end of 'The Big Bang' like it started to in 'The Name of the Doctor'.
:::::How about this: The Doctor travels in time but he is himself a creature that dwells in a linear timeline. Once events have resolved for him, later changes will not make a paradox unless he attempts to revisit them and invalidates an action of his own or that of another time traveller.
:::The Loch Ness Monster attack was stated as having been simply covered up. The explanation of the time crack wasn't that it removed this story, but was implied to have removed the Dalek invasions of ''Stolen Earth'' and ''Army of Ghosts''. That of course would leave Daleks relatively unknown in 2012.


:: Since when however have Daleks been so dependent on orders as robert shearmen makes out in this and other stroies. The daleks in power and victory didn't recieve any orders they just thought up that scheme on their own. Caan was the last of his kind and he went back in time, not just that the Daleks have overthrown their masters. Davros was overthrown many times, and in some spinoff material daleks have overthrown their dalek masters too, various spinoff material set between rev and remberance of the daleks has some daleks wanting to have davros rule them, they therefore defied their dalek master. They are conditioned to destroy all other life forms not just obey orders.
* The Dalek begs the Doctor for pity. It was established in ''[[Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)|Genesis of the Daleks]]'' and other stories that the Daleks cannot feel pity, having no concept of it.
::
::The Dalek had began to take on Human emotions when Rose touched it, hence why it eventually killed itself.
:: This Dalek clearly states that he was a soldier and that it was waiting for orders. Just because other Daleks don't need orders doesn't mean this one doesn't either. The Cult of Skaro were designed to ensure the survival of the Daleks which is why they were experimenting in Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks.
::A Dalek does not need to feel pity or have a concept of pity to beg for it. Only knowing the definition of it is necessary.


*The map of the US shown on van Statten's monitor is missing the upper peninsula of Michigan.
* How is the Doctor the absolute last of the Time Lords if many Time Lords fled Gallifrey?
::This is 2012, perhaps in the future the upper peninsula of Michigan has been destroyed, eroded, etc.
::Perhaps they chose to return to help fight the war. Given it was a war fighting the Daleks for the entirety of creation, it would involve them whether they wished it to or not.
::Plus he would sense any other Time Lords in his mind.
:::They established a general recall to Gallifrey to assist in the war effort before the war was time locked.


*The Dalek can find no trace of his race on the Internet. Has no one noticed the events of [[DW]]: ''[[Daleks in Manhattan]]'' / ''[[Evolution of the Daleks]]'', ''[[Remembrance of the Daleks]]'', ''[[Army of Ghosts]]'' /''[[Doomsday]]'' or ''[[The Stolen Earth]]'' / ''[[Journey's End]]''?
* Rose states that in 2012 she would be 26. She would have to be 19 in 2005 to be 26. She would actually be 25 in 2012.
::The Dalek is more likely looking for ''present'' information regarding Daleks on earth, in which case he is likely the only one in 2012 itself. In addition, dialogue within various [[Torchwood]] episodes, as well as Remembrance of the Daleks suggests that information about certain events was repressed from public knowledge. Stolen earth and journey's end were just because there are probably no daleks on earth in 2012 dosent mean there would be no useful info on the internet for this dalek. Also if it had access to the internet it could get access to secret files about extraterrestrials, [it is in van stattens vault] and could therefore find out info from unit and torchwood about , the cult of skaro, stealing of the earth and davros and indeed the daleks from doomsday
::Rose may not be that good at maths. She said in ''[[Rose (TV story)|Rose]]'' that one of the only things she was good at was gymnastics, stating, "I got the bronze".
:::These events could have been removed from history by the [[Cracks in Time]].
::We do not know how long Rose had been planning on travelling with the Doctor. Perhaps she had decided to travel for a few years until she was 19 or 20, then return to her life in 2006, thus making her 26 in 2012.
::Rose ''was'' 19 in 2005, before she started travelling with the Doctor.
::Remember that Rose returned to Earth in 2006 and stayed in that time afterwards in Aliens of London (?). It is 2006 for her in Dalek, not 2005.


*How can van Statten (who seems to own the President) not know what a Dalek is, even though they stole and attacked the Earth 3 years earlier in ''The Stolen Earth'' and ''Journey's End''?
* If the Daleks can hover around the city and even space with ease in ''[[The Parting of the Ways]]'', ''[[Doomsday (TV story)|Doomsday]]'' and ''[[The Stolen Earth]]'', why is this one slowly getting around hovering, especially since it also wants to get past the bulk head as fast as possible?
::Again, History may have been changed. Also, there is as yet no indication that any Dalek "remains" survived the Medusa Cascade incident for study. And the episode establishes van Statten as a megalomaniac - he may have simply made up the name Metaltron because he liked it better than Dalek; he says he'd rather find out the Metaltron's real name, but he could have been testing the Doctor. Note he doesn't make a big deal of it once the Dalek's name is revealed. In addition, later stories (but earlier events) establish that some Daleks have names ([[Dalek Caan]], for instance); who is to say van Statten wasn't looking for this information? '''' ''''''' Amy Pond in DW:Victory of the Daleks does not know of the Daleks' existence which leads one to believe the memory may have been wiped from the minds of all humans.''
::It is possible that this particular Dalek was of an older model, or that it was not 100% repaired when touched by Rose.
:::These events could have been removed from history by the [[Cracks in Time]].
::The Dalek hadn't hovered, or even moved in over 40 years, so it would likely been slower than others. It machinery and the electric energy repaired it, so it would be at 100%.
::It was also in deep thought as it's DNA was being mutated.


*The Dalek begs the Doctor for pity. It was established in [[DW]]: ''[[Genesis of the Daleks]]'' and other stories that the Daleks cannot feel pity, having no concept of it.
* If the ultimate purpose of the Daleks is to survive, why was the Dalek fitted with a self-destruct system?
::In this episode, however, the Dalek is knowledgeable about emotions to manipulate them without actually having any itself, hence why it was able to trick Rose into touching it. Plus a major point of the episode is how the Dalek takes on human characteristics after Rose touches it.
::The fact that the Dalek could destroy itself does not necessarily mean it had a "self-destruct system."
::The Daleks have been shown before and after as resorting to suicide bombing, older models had specific cases of carrying bombs to explode when they reached the enemy, and one Dalek in Asylum was shown to have a self destruct mechanism. The reason for this is because the ultimate purpose of the Daleks is for their RACE to survive, not to personally survive themselves. A Dalek will give up it's life without a moments hesitation if it thinks it will benefit the survival of the Dalek race. The reason for this is that it can actually help. Imagine if a Dalek gets captured, with its weapon destroyed. Not only would it be a big box filled with information on the Daleks that the enemy could use, the enemy may also have their guard down. "That Dalek won't be a problem, the guns broken. Now let's have a poke around inside and see what we can find..." * explodes, taking anything they could learn with it, and a large chunk of the ship too*. I would imagine the version we saw here was a controlled explosion in case a Dalek needed to erase itself to avoid information being found while avoiding harming the environment (there could be many cases where a huge explosion from one Dalek could inconvenience the rest).


*How is the doctor the absolute last of the time lords only one in all of creation, many time lords fled gallifrey seen in countless classic stories it is unbelievable that every single one of these time lords would be hunted down, especially if the daleks were focusing all their energy into a massive war. It is unbelievable that so many Daleks would survive, this Dalek, the emperor, the cult and millions in the genesis ark, but only two time lords would survive.
* The Doctor had to close the bulkhead quickly due to failing power. Yet power was not an issue in reopening it.
*Rose states that in 2012 she would be 26. yet she has to be 19 in 2005 to be 26. she should actually be 25 in 2012.
::Perhaps Van Statten lied, pressuring the Doctor in order to save his own skin? Or it was only a power flux at that moment, hence the urgency.
::Her birthday has not necessarily passed in 2005. In [[Aliens of London]], it says she disappeared in March. Her birthday is more likely to be after March than before. Also, the Doctor does not specify a date, so it could be an assumption. Rose may not be that good at maths - she said in [[DW]]: ''[[Rose]]'' that one of the only things she was good at was gymnastics, stating, "I got the bronze".


*If the Daleks can hover around the city and even space with ease ([[DW]]: [[Doomsday]]/[[DW]]: [[The Stolen Earth]]/[[DW]]: [[The Parting of the Ways]]), why is this one slowly getting around hovering? Since it also wants to get past the bulk head as fast as possible.
* The lock on the Dalek's cell is described by a soldier as having "a billion combinations," but when the Dalek hacks the lock it's shown to use an eight-digit numerical code which would have only one hundred million (100,000,000) possible combinations.
::It's possible that this particular Dalek was of an older model, or that it was not 100% repaired when touched by Rose. Also, this Dalek hadn't hovered, or even moved in over 40 years, so it would likely been slower than others.
::The soldier could have been using the phrase "a billion" figuratively rather than literally.
 
* I thought up an alternade scenario if the Humanised Dalek survived somehow and became Rose Tyler's companion on Pete's World; soon becoming leader for a new race of humanised Daleks.  
 
[[Category:DW TV discontinuity]]

Latest revision as of 19:19, 22 June 2024

You are exploring the Discontinuity Index, a place where any details or rumours about unreleased stories are forbidden.
Please discuss only those whole stories which have already been released, and obey our spoiler policy.

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

Remember, this is a forum, so civil discussion is encouraged. However, please do not sign your posts. Also, keep all posts about the same continuity error under the same bullet point. You can add a new point by typing:

* This is point one.
::This is a counter-argument to point one.
:::This is a counter-argument to the counter-argument above
* This is point two.
::Explanation of point two.
::Further discussion and query of point two.

... and so on. 
  • The map of the US shown on Van Statten's monitor is missing the upper peninsula of Michigan.
This is 2012. Perhaps in the future the upper peninsula of Michigan had been destroyed or eroded.
...or maybe he had a bad experience there and deleted it from his map. He's shown to be quite cavalier. Also, maybe there was a yoopie (slang for denizen of the Michigan upper peninsula) on his staff that deleted it and he never noticed.
  • The Dalek can find no trace of his race on the Internet. Has no one recorded the events involving any Human and Dalek?
The Doctor and the Daleks are Time travellers and Time is constantly in flux. At that point, Time had not been changed to allow the invasions to happen.
Also, the virus the Doctor gives Mickey at the end of World War Three may have erased all mentions of Dalek invasions pre-revival and before 2012.
  • How can Van Statten, who seems powerful enough to own the President, not know what a Dalek is, even though they stole and attacked the Earth 3 years earlier in The Stolen Earth and Journey's End?
The Doctor and the Daleks are Time travellers and Time is constantly in flux. At that point, Time had not been changed to allow the invasions to happen.
It is mentioned by the Eleventh Doctor that a Time Crack erased the events of these episodes.
Yes but it is implied that the erased events (at the very least the ones preceding Series 5) were restored to their rightful place in time. Having said that it is likely that, as you say, the constant state of flux that time exists in compensates for this discontinuity and in deed many other across Dr Who's history (e.g. the Loc Ness Monster attacking London)
Actually it's stated later on that some things were not the same. We never saw if the events of The Stolen Earth (TV story) were restored or not.
In "The Waters of Mars" Adelaide Brooks remembers the daleks.
It makes no sense to say the time crack erased the events of the episode. Think about what that means: The crack eating up The Doctor, Rose, the Dalek, Van Statten, everyone. If the crack ate up the events of the episode, The Doctor and Rose would simply cease to exist, including his past and future regenerations. If the cracks took the whole planet, it would also cease to exist. If it spread further, maybe the whole universe, then there would be nothing left. If it's simply a case of time in flux, the events would catch up and Van Statten would know what it is. Then again, he'd still likely want to keep it down there and get it talking, so maybe the events wouldn't be such a paradox after all.
Time cracks don't rewrite history and actually erase things from it. They simply make things disappear from the present (where the contact with the crack was made) and make everyone forget about things, alter people's memories, but all the consequences are kept as they were, that's the only way in can work, otherwise, for instance, Amy could possibly never get aboard the TARDIS if it wasn't for Rory (he was too important in her life, she could become a totally different person and her life would be completely different), or the world would blow apart about 9999 times without the Doctor in the end of 'The Big Bang' like it started to in 'The Name of the Doctor'.
How about this: The Doctor travels in time but he is himself a creature that dwells in a linear timeline. Once events have resolved for him, later changes will not make a paradox unless he attempts to revisit them and invalidates an action of his own or that of another time traveller.
The Loch Ness Monster attack was stated as having been simply covered up. The explanation of the time crack wasn't that it removed this story, but was implied to have removed the Dalek invasions of Stolen Earth and Army of Ghosts. That of course would leave Daleks relatively unknown in 2012.
  • The Dalek begs the Doctor for pity. It was established in Genesis of the Daleks and other stories that the Daleks cannot feel pity, having no concept of it.
The Dalek had began to take on Human emotions when Rose touched it, hence why it eventually killed itself.
A Dalek does not need to feel pity or have a concept of pity to beg for it. Only knowing the definition of it is necessary.
  • How is the Doctor the absolute last of the Time Lords if many Time Lords fled Gallifrey?
Perhaps they chose to return to help fight the war. Given it was a war fighting the Daleks for the entirety of creation, it would involve them whether they wished it to or not.
Plus he would sense any other Time Lords in his mind.
They established a general recall to Gallifrey to assist in the war effort before the war was time locked.
  • Rose states that in 2012 she would be 26. She would have to be 19 in 2005 to be 26. She would actually be 25 in 2012.
Rose may not be that good at maths. She said in Rose that one of the only things she was good at was gymnastics, stating, "I got the bronze".
We do not know how long Rose had been planning on travelling with the Doctor. Perhaps she had decided to travel for a few years until she was 19 or 20, then return to her life in 2006, thus making her 26 in 2012.
Rose was 19 in 2005, before she started travelling with the Doctor.
Remember that Rose returned to Earth in 2006 and stayed in that time afterwards in Aliens of London (?). It is 2006 for her in Dalek, not 2005.
  • If the Daleks can hover around the city and even space with ease in The Parting of the Ways, Doomsday and The Stolen Earth, why is this one slowly getting around hovering, especially since it also wants to get past the bulk head as fast as possible?
It is possible that this particular Dalek was of an older model, or that it was not 100% repaired when touched by Rose.
The Dalek hadn't hovered, or even moved in over 40 years, so it would likely been slower than others. It machinery and the electric energy repaired it, so it would be at 100%.
It was also in deep thought as it's DNA was being mutated.
  • If the ultimate purpose of the Daleks is to survive, why was the Dalek fitted with a self-destruct system?
The fact that the Dalek could destroy itself does not necessarily mean it had a "self-destruct system."
The Daleks have been shown before and after as resorting to suicide bombing, older models had specific cases of carrying bombs to explode when they reached the enemy, and one Dalek in Asylum was shown to have a self destruct mechanism. The reason for this is because the ultimate purpose of the Daleks is for their RACE to survive, not to personally survive themselves. A Dalek will give up it's life without a moments hesitation if it thinks it will benefit the survival of the Dalek race. The reason for this is that it can actually help. Imagine if a Dalek gets captured, with its weapon destroyed. Not only would it be a big box filled with information on the Daleks that the enemy could use, the enemy may also have their guard down. "That Dalek won't be a problem, the guns broken. Now let's have a poke around inside and see what we can find..." * explodes, taking anything they could learn with it, and a large chunk of the ship too*. I would imagine the version we saw here was a controlled explosion in case a Dalek needed to erase itself to avoid information being found while avoiding harming the environment (there could be many cases where a huge explosion from one Dalek could inconvenience the rest).
  • The Doctor had to close the bulkhead quickly due to failing power. Yet power was not an issue in reopening it.
Perhaps Van Statten lied, pressuring the Doctor in order to save his own skin? Or it was only a power flux at that moment, hence the urgency.
  • The lock on the Dalek's cell is described by a soldier as having "a billion combinations," but when the Dalek hacks the lock it's shown to use an eight-digit numerical code which would have only one hundred million (100,000,000) possible combinations.
The soldier could have been using the phrase "a billion" figuratively rather than literally.
  • I thought up an alternade scenario if the Humanised Dalek survived somehow and became Rose Tyler's companion on Pete's World; soon becoming leader for a new race of humanised Daleks.