Theory:Doctor Who television discontinuity and plot holes/Mawdryn Undead

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

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• Mawdryn Undead has the unfortunate distinction of contributing to one of the biggest and most widely discussed contradictions in the Doctor Who universe: the "UNIT dating controversy".

Actually, this story makes an attempt to resolve the controversy - with debatable success. The controversy, of course, pre-dated this story, with elements of prior UNIT stories alternatively indicating either the "present day" at the time, or the near future - although the only explicitly given year was Sarah Jane Smith's comment in Pyramids of Mars that she was from "1980". If you assume that she was generalizing or rounding up (admittedly, a bit of a stretch), this story is more or less consistent then.

Are you having a laugh? The intention was always for the UNIT stories to be set in the "near future". Exactly how far into the future was not always consistent. There was nothing that indicated the "present day" at the time, with everything from technology to politics to throwaway comments all indicating that it was not the "present day" but rather taking place years in the future. The only controversy was how far in the future. One one side, Professor Travers stated that 1935 was over forty years ago(not 'forty years ago' or 'nearly forty years ago' or 'about forty years ago',,,over forty years ago), the Brigadier stated that The Invasion was "four years" after that(not 'nearly three years' or 'about four years') and that Spearhead from Space was "several months" after that. This ties in with Derrick Sherwin and Jon Pertwee saying that Season 7 was set "in the 1980's", and the novelisation of The Sea Devils saying that 1978 was "years ago". On the other side, the BBC voiceover for The Invasion said it took place "in 1975", and Sarah Jane says in Pyramids of Mars that she's from 1980. And she would have no reason to "round up". Would you today say that you're from 2020? So, it was always set "in the near future".

• The Brigadier states that he has seen the Doctor regenerate twice. In fact, he has only seen him regenerate once, in TV: Planet of the Spiders The former might refer to PROSE: The Touch of the Nurazh or his thoughts on that the Third Doctor had changed back to the Second in TV: The Three Doctors.

Alternatively, he might simply have chosen his words poorly and been referring to his knowledge of the Doctor's regeneration from Second to Third, even though he did not physically witness it. Also, his actual words are that he has 'seen it twice' which could just as easily refer to the after effects of regeneration (amnesia, disorientation, etc) and not the process itself.

• With a whole cosmos to choose from, couldn't the Black Guardian have selected a more reliable assassin to deal with the Doctor than Turlough?

He is limited to picking someone who will come in contact with the Doctor, having no power to directly influence what happens within the universe. Turlough is the most likely candidate of who he has to choose from.

A resentful, amoral, exiled military officer from a decidedly ruthless-sounding culture (inclined, as we later learn, to "imprisoning" its political criminals - including babies - on a volcanic hellhole of a planet) is not actually that bad-sounding of a choice, however silly he looks in a school uniform ... The Black Guardian could at least depend upon him being bitterly envious of the Doctor's freedom. His biggest mistake in this particular story, characteristically, was completely underestimating the amount of support the Doctor would get from a mere human (Lethbridge-Stewart).

Also, being the embodiment of chaos, he may not want to, or even not be able to, use a plan that's absolutely guaranteed to succeed.

• If Mawdryn and his associates really wanted to die, couldn't they simply have rigged the engines of their ship to explode (as we see happen at the end of the story). The explosion would surely have been enough to scatter their molecules across space, making further regeneration impossible. The same would, after all, certainly kill a Time Lord.

Their journey was in part meant to be a punishment. The engines might have been designed to be tamper-resistant.

The Target Novelisation of this story elaborates on their perpetual regeneration rather horribly, and makes it clear that nothing but the Doctor's Artron energy will save them: although subject to constant, agonising mutation, their actual body cells and inherent consciousness are indestructible, and will continue being alive and self-aware even if splattered across the vacuum of space (hence the "undead" tag). With the facilities of the ship, they keep their chance, however remote, of one day encountering a Time Lord to end their plight.

• Why did the Doctor have to kill Mawdryn and the others, if he only wanted to save Tegan and Nyssa? He could of simply just cured those 2 without killing the others.

The Doctor is a very egalitarian person and probably thought it was wrong to help Teagan and Nyssa, but not the Mawdryn, just because he happened to be friends with the former. Also, since the treatment involves physically restraining the Doctor in the machine, it would probably have been impossible to stop at least some of the Mawdryn from plugging themselves into the machine after the Doctor himself was plugged in.

• A strange new definition of "Time Lord" is repeatedly emphasised by this serial, as "one who is capable of regeneration." This stands in contrast to previous and later serials, in which "Time Lord" is almost (if not completely) synonymous with "indigenous humanoid of Gallifrey," whether or not they are still capable of regeneration (and even if they are in illegal possession of a Trakenite body...).