Theory:Doctor Who television discontinuity and plot holes/Spearhead from Space

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This page is for discussing the ways in which Spearhead from Space 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. 

• When he emerges from the TARDIS, the Third Doctor is wearing the Second Doctor's clothes. They seem to fit him well, despite the fact that the Third Doctor is taller than his previous incarnation.

His pants do look short on him.

• At the end of The War Games, the Second Doctor is left spiralling into the void. The beginning of Episode 1 of this story shows the Third Doctor emerging from the TARDIS and then collapsing. This means the Doctor's 2nd regeneration was not shown at the end of Episode 10 of The War Games.

The Second Doctor's change started, then at some point he was transported to the TARDIS, which was then sent to Earth. The two stories appear to be fully consistent. There is also a possibility that the Doctor did not regenerate at the end of The War Games (See the Season 6B theory).

First, choosing for something to happen off-screen does not make it a discontinuity. Furthermore, at the end of The War Games, the Time Lords say that The Doctor's appearance will be altered. So it's not entirely clear whether that is in fact intended to be a regular regeneration.

• If UNIT is a top secret organisation, how does the media know about it?

Being a "top secret organisation" doesn't mean the existence of the group is secret, but rather that its activities are secret. The CIA, MI5, and the KGB are all examples of this.

• In the cliffhanger of part 1, why would the UNIT soldiers open fire on someone they don't know? Even if it is a secure area wouldn't shooting someone be a bit unprofessional for UNIT?

With white clothes and erratic movements, the Doctor could have been mistaken for another alien by an inexperienced soldier. They had just head gunshots moments earlier. The soldier is chastised by partner immediately for the shooting as well, so its safe to say he's meant to be seen as unprofessional.

• If the Nestenes needed to take control of a plastics factory to create Autons, and they gained control of said factory through Channing, an advanced Auton, then who created Channing?

Perhaps Channing was a Scout Auton and fell to Earth with the first Energy Unit.

Something like this is almost certainly the case; the Nestene need the factory to create an Auton army, but considering that they're basically an immobile mass of tentacles in their natural form they would almost certainly need at least one Auton unit to come with them in order to do the legwork and preparation for them.

• The freshly regenerated Doctor sports a visible tattoo on one arm (which can be seen during the shower sequence), even though he hasn't been "alive" long enough to get one.

PROSE: Christmas on a Rational Planet suggests that this tattoo was applied to the Doctor by the Time Lords to mark him as an exile or criminal.

The regeneration came with a tattoo!

• Why don't the Nestenes kill General Scobie's replica, once duplicated, instead of leaving him in a waxworks museum?

Keeping the original alive helps maintain the copy, as was later pointed out when the same was done with Mickey.

• The Doctor is gurning as he's attacked by tentacles.

He's being attacked by tentacles. It is presumed to be painful/uncomfortable, which often results in distorted facial expressions.

• At the start of episode two the Doctor clutches his head before being shot.

No, he clutches his head before the shot is heard. Bullets travel faster than sound, which is why they make a loud bang.

• At the beginning of the story, the Brigadier says that since UNIT was formed there have been two attempts to invade the Earth and that the Doctor helped on both occasions. The only invasion attempt between the time UNIT was formed and the beginning of this story was during The Invasion.

The Brigadier was likely including TV:The Web of Fear. Even though it was not technically a UNIT operation, it did lay the groundwork for the forming of the organisation. Or he might have been refering to an offscreen invasion.

It is established that we do not see all of The Doctor's adventures on screen, even if you only use on-screen dialogue to do it. We have no way to know if the Brig is counting TV:The Web of Fear or some other, unseen adventure.

• At the end of Episode Two, Ransome is in his workshop. When the Auton stops in front of him, he turns around in horror. At the start of Episode Three, he turns around quickly and the Auton takes the cover of its hand off, revealing a small gun underneath. Why did the Auton not do that at the end of Episode Two?

Because the producers chose to keep that as a surprise for the next episode; that doesn't mean it's a discontinuity.

• According to PROSE: The Scales of Injustice, the frozen body of George Hibbert is stored in C19's Vault, along with those of Professor Melvin Krimpton (TV:The War Machines), Craftsman Stephen Weams (TV:The Web of Fear), Mark Gregory (TV: The Invasion) and George Ratcliffe (TV:Remembrance of the Daleks). Bearing in mind that Hibbert was clearly seen on-screen to be vaporised by the Autons, how come his body was able to be taken by C19 and placed in the Vault? (In this instance, "Gary Russell slipped up" doesn't count!)

If I'm reading you correctly, shouldn't this be listed under discontinuity for The Scales of Injustice and not for here? Or do things get listed both places?

You're correct, this should be listed under the discontinuity section for the later story. That's where the error occurred, not in Spearhead from Space.

To be fair, as there doesn't seem to be a discontinuity section for The Scales of Injustice (yet), this is really the only place this question can be asked. So, does anyone have a plausible explanation as to how the vaporized Hibbert can be in C19's Vault?

Not trying to be difficult, but to reiterate what the other contributor wrote, it's really not the fault of this story if, as you suggest above, "Gary Russell slipped up" when writing his novel many years later. Feel free to speculate that the body was whisked away by Transmat at the last second or something if you like.

The simplest explanation would be that he was transmatted there by a process that resembled a vaporisation (and maybe deliberately disguised as one), which is what everybody presumed it to be.

An alternate explanation is that the body identified as that of George Hibbert is not so; through some kind of error (intentional or not), someone else who died during the Nestene invasion was misidentified as George Hibbert and taken to the Vault. The latter work, after all, is purely in text, there's no visual confirmation who the body is, as they're sealed within metal vaults it seems the Doctor can't see in to verify who is in there, and the people storing the body at the time didn't know Hibbert personally, and any bodies recovered after the Auton attack would have been done so in a state of great confusion. All we really get is a label telling us it is George Hibbert; it theoretically could be anyone.

• When the Nestne attacks the Doctor why dose Channing walk off camera and do nothing? Why doesn't Channing attack Liz?

Considering he previously boasted the Nestene were indestructible in spite of the Doctor telling him he had built a weapon that could kill them, its probably a safe bet he's simply to overly confident for his own good.