Theory:Doctor Who television discontinuity and plot holes/Aliens of London

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This page is for discussing the ways in which Aliens of London 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 Doctor states that he is 900 years old, contradicting the last on-screen reference to his age, 953, in Time and the Rani.
He could have been lying about his age, "rounding down" or only counting his years of travelling in the TARDIS.
Voyage of the Damned gives an exact number, 903.
He had spent around three years travelling with Rose and Martha, so had aged three years by that time.
The Doctor may be counting time differently than done on Earth, or that for some reason as yet unchronicled, perhaps due to the Time War, he has forgotten some years of his life.
The Ribos Operation, among others, also established that the Doctor was not adverse to lying about his age.
Steven Moffat has said before that he believes that the Doctor simply does not know his age.
  • It is unlikely that no higher minister than Joseph Green could be found to be acting Prime Minister.
Downing Street was panicking and maybe they just grabbed the first MP they could.
The Slitheen had been planning this for a while so they would have people everywhere who would be pushing for a rushed decision involving Joseph Green.
  • The Doctor is excited about the concept of being on Earth for first contact, and says that he did not know first contact was going to happen that day. The Doctor, whose "history is perfect" would know that this is not first contact. Furthermore, he recognizes first contact in 1986 during The Tenth Planet.
The Doctor states multiple Times in the revival that time and events are constantly in flux, meaning some details about history can change.
The public largely believed that it was a hoax, so history wouldn't necessarily record the event as "first contact".
  • The Slitheen have only three appendages on each hand, yet when they are inside their Human skinsuits, they are able to manipulate all five of the hand's appendages.
This is probably something to do with the compression field, the Slitheen still manage to control their Human eyes, even though their real eyes are much bigger.
  • How did Jackie know that the Doctor's ship was called a TARDIS? It was never said in front of or near her before she rang up the public alien helpline.
It is plausible that Rose told her off-screen.
The subtitles on the DVD and behind the scenes footage clearly shown Jackie saying "She called it a TARDIS" confirming the possibility that she was told by Rose offscreen.
  • Concerning Rose being missing for one year: Why didn't Jackie just call Rose on her Superphone? Roses phone was upgraded in "The End of The World" and it is later established that one could call a Superphone just like a regular one.
There is no evidence to suggest that Jackie didn't try to call Rose on her superphone. It is possible that Rose just chose not to answer the phone when her mother was calling - it is likely she preferred to travel with the Doctor rather than talk to her mother.
Jackie's line about "putting a pound in the Lottery syndicate" indicates that the phone call travelled back in time to the day that Rose first met the Doctor.
  • Why would Tosh, from Torchwood 3, investigate the space pig? Presumably Torchwood 1 would take over that, and she is not even a qualified doctor.
The Torchwood episode Exit Wounds established that Owen was supposed to conduct the examination of the space pig, but was hungover, so Tosh covered for him.
As Jack would be head of Torchwood 3 at this point and due to his own personal history with The Doctor, knew he would be here at this time so he wanted to send a member of his team undercover to report back to him, so as to preserve his personal timeline meeting with The Doctor later.
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