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

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This page is for discussing the ways in which Doctor Who 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 is Grace supposed to know what a Neutron Ram is?

The Doctor often speaks in technical ways that his companions don't understand. Rose Tyler and Sarah Jane Smith pointed this out in DW: School Reunion and Donna Noble throughout the fourth series.

• How could the Eighth Doctor possibly have got any Jelly Babies?

They were in the pocket of the coat he took.

This, though, is extremely unlikely, for two reasons. First, most people don't keep anything in the pockets of costumes they're going to wear later at a party. Remember: the "Wild Bill" outfit isn't someone's street clothes. Second, Jelly Babies have precisely zero presence in the American market. America's ignorance of the sweet is demonstrated by Gareth and the Motorcycle policeman, both of whom react as if they've never seen a Jelly Baby in their lives. Jelly Babies are simply not available in America, except in very specialized import shops. There is no truly adequate explanation for this, as he remains separated from his previous incarnation's belongings until the end of the film, and doesn't enter the TARDIS until after he's already handed out Jelly Babies.

• Why does the police motorcycle drive at full speed into the TARDIS? Surely it would slow down as it was coming up to the wall.

Evidently, the motorcycle is experiencing malfunctioning brakes. The policeman can be heard alluding to his brakes.

• The Master is executed on Skaro but, Skaro had been destroyed by the Hand of Omega in Remembrance of the Daleks.

We do not know the Time placement in relation to the Daleks so the execution may have happened before the planet was destroyed. It has also been suggested in EDA: War of the Daleks that another planet, not Skaro, had been destroyed.

• The idea of the Doctor being half-human on his mother's side is not supported by any other televised episodes.

It's obviously a joke.

However, even if genuine information, it does not explicitly contradict any previous episodes.

IDW: The Forgotten suggests that it may have been a ruse.

The Doctor suggests earlier in the episode that he does have the ability to change species

Romana's regeneration in Destiny of the Daleks depicts her "trying on" what appear to be different species.

Immediately prior to his regeneration, the Ninth Doctor jokes to Rose that he might not return with a humanoid shape.

The Runaway Bride ambiguously suggests that humanity is "optional" for the Doctor, though it is uncertain whether he is talking about his own biochemistry or merely the beings with whom he chooses to associate.

Both versions of Human Nature hinge upon the fact that the Doctor can indeed become human.

On the other side of the argument, Journey's End suggests that half-humanity would create a fundamental flaw in the Doctor's makeup, and prevent him from regenerating.

• As the Doctor regenerates, an orderly watches Frankenstein on TV. The film jumps ahead about 20 minutes -- from the unwrapping of The Monster to his later menacing of Elizabeth -- in the space of only a few moments.

Bit of a stretch here, but: possibly the orderly was not watching the film itself but a documentary or "making of" that was airing on television.

Though it makes little sense to those familiar with Frankenstein, it's not strictly an error, because these two scenes were intended by the production team and they make a specific narrative point that would not have been available had the film been shown "in real time".

• The Doctor displays superhuman strength after his regeneration as he's able to pound down a thick steel door. He's never been shown displaying such physical strength before or since.

In The Green Death the Third Doctor showed immense physical strength. Also, immediately after regenerating, the Fourth Doctor was able to chop a brick in half (DW: Robot). The Tenth Doctor's fall from an immense height in The End of Time and the Eleventh Doctor's ability to hang on to the TARDIS by little more than his fingertips, whilst it was in flight in The Eleventh Hour, also belie superhuman strength. Moreover, both the Tenth and Eleventh Doctor's have been shown to have other superhuman abilities. The Eleventh Doctor displays extreme visual acuity in The Eleventh Hour. And both the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors have been shown to possess heightened senses of taste, used to determine the precise age or composition of materials. (DW: The Christmas Invasion, Tooth and Claw, Fear Her, The Eleventh Hour)

• Why would The Master speak with an American accent?

Aside from the fact he initially impersonates Bruce and needs to keep his voice constant, his previous takeover of a person's body, DW: The Keeper of Traken resulted in him speaking with the man's voice, so it may be a side-effect of the take over.

Put another way, why wouldn't he have an American accent? He's a Time Lord, not Southern English. The Ninth Doctor establishes that the Doctor can possess a Northern English accent. Tooth and Claw shows that he can easily slip into a Scottish accent, and the Seventh Doctor himself had a mild Scottish accent. There's no narrative reason the Master — or even, at the risk of causing offense, the Doctor himself — wouldn't be able to have an American accent.

• The Doctor died in his seventh incarnation in the BBC webcast Death Comes to Time. How can he be around to transport the Master's remains?

Death Comes to Time is generally considered non-canonical for this reason, although the events of the story are referenced in a couple of novels from that period.

• A popular mistake often pointed out is that the Seventh Doctor holds the sonic screwdriver the wrong way round. However this could be a reason for the Master managing to escape the casket.

The series has never been consistent in how the screwdriver has been used. Also, this is the first time a screwdriver had been seen since the Doctor's original one was destroyed in DW: The Visitation so perhaps it worked that way.

• When the Master was executed, the Daleks sounded completely different to Daleks we have seen in the series?

Some Daleks sound different to other Daleks, if you listen closely to past Dalek stories you can hear the variation of the voice pattern

Daleks have never been portrayed as clones, except perhaps for those seen in The Stolen Earth.

• At the start of the film, why would the Daleks be trying the Master in a court of law for anything, crime or not? Why would the Daleks hold a trial of any kind, much less allow the Doctor, their greatest enemy, to come pick up and then transport the remains of the Master? ::Russell T Davies writes, in the Doctor Who Annual 2006, that Romana, in her capacity as President of Gallifrey, was in peace negotiations with the Daleks, and that these included The Act of Master Restitution. Though details of this Act are not offered it can be inferred that this involved delivering the Master to the Daleks, on the proviso that he be legally tried, rather than executed outright. The Master's demand that the Doctor return his remains to Gallifrey may have been a legal right that the Daleks, however uncharacteristically, chose to honour. Of course, the Time Lords later resurrected the Master, so who knows?

The Daleks have, at times, behaved subserviently, as long as it helped further an ulterior motive. In Power of the Daleks, they are initially docile, and quite happy to help the humans. Likewise, they begin The Daleks' Master Plan as allies of Mavic Chen, only to betray him later. In Day of the Daleks, as well, they are not simply "evil"; they collude with humans to achieve their greater ends. It's reasonable to assume that their dealings with the Master might have been part of some greater plan to lure the Time Lords into believing they could be allies.

• At the beginning, the Doctor sets course for the 'Rassilon Era.' But the Master at that time had not been born yet, let alone died.

The Rassilon Era likely denotes the era that the Doctor and the Master are from in much the same way Anno Domini denotes time after the birth of Christ.

• How did the Master gain the ability to paralyse people with his spit? and why did it not affect Grace so badly?

As a part of becoming the snake form, the paralyse spit was an effect. The Doctor tells Grace that she is lucky that it only hit her arm

• Why were there meteorites in the Time Vortex?

The time vortex, when seen, can be seen as existing in space. Somehow, the time vortex is a physical existance somewhere in the universe, meteors travelling through space can fly into the vortex, only to be deposited at some period in the past or future.

• Evidence seems to state that the "Old Master" was the Ainley Master from the TV series, but how did he escape from the Cheetah World?

It is stated in NA: First Frontier, that he was able to recover enough to teleport from the planet.