Theory:Doctor Who television discontinuity and plot holes/The Crimson Horror

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 The Crimson Horror 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. 

• How did Mrs Gillyflower create such advanced technology (Rockets, Presevation chambers) with 1893 technology? Sure its stated she's a genius (a Chemistry genius though) but isn't it a bit stretching it she can make things that are decades ahead of the time?
  • I assumed mr Sweet was sentient and taught her things from the Silurian era.
• How did Stax get the top of the tower so quickly?
  • Strax, bad as he may be when it comes to social interactions, is still a skilled Sontaran warrior and could probably think of a good tactical method of quickly ascending the tower. Also, considering all of the weaponry that he mentions having at times, it's entirely possible that he had some sort of grappling device.
• If it was really Gillyflower who experimented on her daughter causing her go blind, not her drunk husband as she claimed how exactly did she convince Ada?
  • The poison probably wiped Ada's memories, so she (Ada) believed the lie that the drunk husband was to blame.
  • Additionally, the poison was probably administered very subtly.
    • She could still have been hit, I suppose, just that it wasn't that causing the blindness.
• How did Ada get the doctor into the secret room without anyone noticing? And keep him for so long without anyone finding out?
  • Well, I doubt the Doctor was in the room for much more than a few days.
• How long has Gillyflower been planning this? To build a building and a town it must have taken years, and to set it up to her specifications must have taken a long time, plus she already has enough survivors to quickly skip to the end, but everyone treats Sweetville as if its a new thing.
• For all her plans of rebirth, it never seems to occur to Gillyflower that a poison capable of wiping out all life on earth, would poison the waters and lands for years, (unless it had a very short sell by date, in which case how does such a little leech produce so much?) Six months hardly seems a reasonable rest phase.
  • Gillyflower had developed an antidote to the poison, so presumably she would give it to her workers after reviving them. Or perhaps being poisoned and then revived has the same effect as an antidote.
• If the poison makes her workers loyal, then how did she get the workers in the first place?
  • She still recruited them via her meetings and preaching. It wouldn't be too hard to find a few who actually believed her and shared her vision...
• Strax and Vestra seem way to calm about people knowing there true identity, considering how intolerant the Victorians were to there fellow humans, do they really think its a good idea to show there are monsters walking about?
  • ...And who would believe anyone who saw them?
  • Considering the rise in legends such spring heel jack, and the devils footsteps, its doubtful it would disappear without a trace. Plus is traumatizing several innocent people really a good thing, considering they would simply get locking in an asylum as mad.
• How would the children come across Clara on the web, and how would they just assume it's her and not photoshopped or some-one who looks like her? Also, why would Clara give in when they threatened to tell Dad? That blackmail wouldn't work as their father wouldn't believe her. Photos (which can be faked) of a woman who resembles her would not be proof that it was her, just some-body simmalar looking. Plus how would they come across her in the first place, and how would they search for more? It is unlikely you would find her by pure chance and how would you search for her face on the Internet? It is extremely doubtfully they are ALL co-incidences.
  • They did see the doctor before, right? Even if it's a lot of luck to actually find all those pictures, the presence of both Clara and the Doctor is too much to ignore.
• When did the Russians start taking photographs of the interior of their submarines and/or their crews?
  • Why wouldn't Soviet submariners have personal cameras? Either it was a picture taken by an individual mariner published decades later or an official Soviet Navy photo declassified after the fall of the USSR.