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

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This page is for discussing the ways in which Boom Town 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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• After the Doctor reads the Welsh banner Blaidd Drwg, Rose asks what it means even though the TARDIS should have translated it in her head. Considering that written Latin was translated for Donna in DW: The Fires of Pompeii, this is an anomaly.

The recurrence of 'Bad Wolf' in the Doctor's time stream may be so unique as to be beyond the ability(or will) of the TARDIS to translate. In fact, it is likely a direct projection of the TARDIS, scattered through space and time when Rose looked into the Time Vortex in Parting of the Ways. Rose almost says as much in that story.

• It surely can't be legal to demolish Cardiff Castle to build a nuclear power plant in the middle of a major population centre. Besides, the site's almost certainly not big enough to house a nuclear power station.

Margaret has manipulated the situation politically to suit her needs.

• The timescale of Margaret's rise to power doesn't seem to work. In six months, she's gone from landing in a skip on the Isle of Dogs to having been Mayor of Cardiff long enough to rush through the plan for the nuclear power station. However, her spell as mayor is recent enough to warrant a recent newspaper headline Also, it's surprising that nobody notices that the new Mayor of Cardiff was one of the Slitheen - you'd have thought MI5 would have noticed, as she used to be employed by them. Also, in the real world, the Mayor of Cardiff is a ceremonial role, rather than one with any power.

The Slitheen have been on Earth quite long enough to have laid the groundwork for this as a contingency plan.

• The man in the cafe doesn't seem confused or upset at the Doctor ripping the newspaper out of his hands.

Different people react to situations differently. If you look at him when the Newspaper is taken, he is clearly annoyed.

• Why don't the Welsh speakers in Cardiff make any comment on the name of the project - 'Bad Wolf' isn't exactly the most reassuring name for a nuclear power station. It can't be due to Cardiff being less Welsh than the rest of Wales, as Welsh is taught in all the schools and knowledge of the language is on the up. Also, why wasn't it translated in the English part of the banner? Come to think of it, why doesn't the TARDIS translate "Bad Wolf" for Rose's benefit?

There are many projects with bad names, it's doubtful that there would've been much outcry over that. The TARDIS translation is not an absolute science. Some things are translated, some are not. Since all Bad Wolf references apparently have their origin with the Bad Wolf Entity, it's unknown to what extent she would have wanted the TARDIS to translate it for her past self.

• During the scene when Rose tries to say Raxacoricofallapatorius, the subtitles incorrectly spell the planet as 'Rexicoricophalvitorius'.

Rose is guessing the name, the subtitles are probably spelling the pronounciation.