Talk:Time differential

Lead

The lead's really muddy right now, and because I'm not sure what's trying to be said, I'm not sure how to change it. Clearly we need something simple.

A time differential was — what, exactly?

The gobbledygook that's there now just doesn't parse correctly. It's not straightforward English. We need something short and punchy in the lead. Maybe some of these would work:

• the underlying cause of the Blinovitch Limitation Effect
• essentially the temporal "gap" between two differently-aged versions of the same being. When these two versions touched, the differential caused the Blinovitch Limitation Effect, typically resulting in an explosion that was usually detrimental to the very fabric of space and time.

I have no idea if you're trying to say anything like that, but somehow I think we need to be moving towards more direct language like that.
czechout<staff /> ☎ ✍ 22:01: Thu 06 Oct 2011 

I don't really see what's wrong with it. The "time differential" was how the narrative described a certain aspect (what sort of aspect has never been explained) of different points on a single timeline which had made contact. I think the current lead describes that general effect as best as we can while staying in-universe. — Rob T Firefly - Δ∇ - 22:05, October 6, 2011 (UTC)

I've condensed it a bit for readability. How does it look now? — Rob T Firefly - Δ∇ - 22:12, October 6, 2011 (UTC)

Well, I don't think we're there yet. Looking at it from the position of someone who might not have encountered those stories, it's still pretty arcane. It's not really your fault or anything — the source material doesn't give us much to work with — but I don't walk away from the lead feeling any the wiser. Since the sources don't actually give us a plain English explanation, maybe we should switch away from

A time differential was . . .

to

A time differential occurred when . . .

Maybe that could go something like:

A time differential occured when a single entity met another version of itself from a different point on its own timeline. The temporal gap between them was known as the time differential. If the two touched, the Blinovitch Limitation Effect would be encountered, the time differential would be "shorted out", and an explosion would usually occur.

Such explosions were seen when two versions of the Brigadier and two versions of the Eleventh Doctor's sonic screwdriver touched. (TV: Mawdryn Undead, The Big Bang)

On other occasions, different results occurred. When Rose Tyler touched her infant self, there was no explosion, but the Reapers came through the wound created in the fabric of the space-time, and began to destroy reality. (TV: Father's Day) On various occasions, the Time Lords were able to allow different incarnations of the Doctor to interact and physically touch each other without the appearance of any sort of time differential issues. (TV: The Three Doctors, The Five Doctors, The Two Doctors) After the demise of the Time Lords, the Tenth Doctor was able to interact with the Fifth Doctor with minimal difficulty. The worst effect seemed to be that the Fifth Doctor temporarily aged as a result of the differential being shorted out. However, these effects were said to have vanished after he returned to his proper time stream. (TV: Time Crash)

I dunno if this is at all close to what you're trying to say, but I offer it as something to think about, anyway.
czechout<staff /> ☎ ✍ 00:42: Fri 07 Oct 2011 

The time differential wasn't really a thing which occurred as such, it was a description of the comparative states of being of multiple things (young person and their older self, multiple timeline points, etc.) which could affect and be affected by events. The closest real-world concept I can think of to compare it to is perhaps an age difference; there is an age difference when you compare person 1 and person 2, but there's no such thing as an age difference occurring on its own independent of those people. Also, narrowing it down to a single entity excludes the Wedding of River Song example where it's basically the time differential of the whole Earth (or the whole of reality, I need to rewatch the ep) which is being shorted out; I think we can best generally describe the time differential as a factor or property of timelines, whether they be personal timelines or the Universe's timeline.

I don't know if we have info in canon to suggest the Time Lords had anything to do with allowing the Doctors to cross their timeline without going ZAP; IIRC we know simply that the Doctors could safely meet although they avoided it. — Rob T Firefly - Δ∇ - 02:36, October 7, 2011 (UTC)

See, you keep using this phrase "the comparative state of being (multiple things)", which I think means nothing to most readers. Heck, it means nothing to me. I'm pretty well versed in the episodes you're citing, and I'm not sure where you're getting that phrase from. I think those are your words — of necessity, in a way, since the sources are pretty damned silent — but they're getting in the way, I feel. What I'm looking for is some other combination of words that completely ignores the phrase "comparative state of being", or anything like it.

It's unclear to me, as well, why you've ignored the sonic screwdriver moment in The Big Bang. I think there's some information in Father's Day about the importance of Time Lords to what happens when a person meets herself from a different point in the same timestream. That is, the reapers come because there aren't Time Lords there to manage the situation.
czechout<staff /> ☎ ✍ 18:10: Fri 07 Oct 2011 

The statement "a comparative state of being" seems clear enough terminology to me, but then again I'm a massive nerd. At any rate, that bit had already been reworded out of the intro, and I think we just might be somewhere near a readable lead for the article.

I haven't deliberately ignored anything from The Big Bang, I just don't recall what you're referring to. It's been a while since I rewatched that episode. — Rob T Firefly - Δ∇ - 04:34, October 9, 2011 (UTC)

Add info?

Shouldn't we add sometihing about The Girl Who Waited? OttselSpy25 ^{talk to me} 21:58, November 15, 2011 (UTC)

This page is pointless. Why must you people be so literal? There is a simpler explanation for why the doctors appear older when they return, such as the second doctor in thw two doctors as he has aged considerably-THE ACTOR HAS SIMPLY AGED. Unlike you people, I can think outside the doctor who universe. Not everything has to be expained. This time differential is a lot of rubbish. The fifth doctor looked older becuase peter davidson has aged. And the same happened and will happen for every other multi doctor story. – The preceding unsigned comment was added by Coop3 (talk • contribs) .

Pointless page?

This page is pointless. Why must you people be so literal? There is a simpler explanation for why the doctors appear older when they return, such as the second doctor in thw two doctors as he has aged considerably-THE ACTOR HAS SIMPLY AGED. Unlike you people, I can think outside the doctor who universe. Not everything has to be expained. This time differential is a lot of rubbish. The fifth doctor looked older becuase peter davidson has aged. And the same happened and will happen for every other multi doctor story.

Also this idea was only made by steven moffat because of all the nagging stupid people who couldnt just accept why the actors had aged. Where they not allowed to age? Idiots. – The preceding unsigned comment was added by Coop3 (talk • contribs) .

Time Differential is mentoned by the tenth doctor and is therefore canon. Why wouldn't we have a page about it? Also, if you think Moffat is being too literal, let me remind you that the same mentality led to one of the fundamentals of Doctor Who, the concept of regeneration. They didn't have to explain replacing William Hartnell, James Bond gets replaced all the time and nobody cares. If the makers had your attitude we wouldn't have any multi doctor stories at all.