Theory:Doctor Who television discontinuity and plot holes/Dalek

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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.

• 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 preceeding 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)

• 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 timelords in his mind

• 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.

• 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."