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

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This page is for discussing the ways in which The Next Doctor 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. 

• The Cybermen are too weak to kill a single Dalek with an army. So how did they steal their technology?

It was never said that it was taken through combat. The Cybermen are known to use infiltration, as when they set up a base in Torchwood 1 without detection. Considering it was the events in Journey's End that allowed them to escape the void. It's possible the same reverse of machinery that killed the Dalek's in the Crucible expanded into other universes including the void. So the Cybermen simply salvaged the machinery from destroyed Daleks.

Let's consider who made the claim: "they would defeat the Cyberman army with one Dalek"... A Dalek... During a boasting competition with Cybermen... This is not a very credible source! And surely cannot be considered a fact.

• In Doomsday there were no Daleks seen with any devices or machines, (except the Cult of Skaro with the Genesis Ark) so where did the technology come from?

Deconstructed Daleks and Cybermen, or more likely from the Genesis Ark which was sucked into the Void as well.

• How did the info-stamps have images from times when the Daleks were not present?

The Daleks may have used methods as yet unrevealed; there is precedent for "time scanners" to view people without their knowledge from afar, such as seen in TV: The Chase.

Subsequently, it is shown that info stamps are connected to the dimension vault, implying that it is gathering the information throughout time and space.

I feel like this is somewhat explained in later episodes. For example, the Twelfth Doctor makes a comment that goes something like The Daleks have the biggest database in the universe in Twice Upon a Time meaning that they have info of almost everything that's happened in the universe.

• Why is there no War Doctor on the info-stamp? He has met the Daleks.

Since he did not use the 'Doctor' name, it's possible the Daleks did not realise they were the same person. Also, some Daleks, such as the Cult of Skaro, were not aware he survived the Time War. Some of the Daleks from the Genesis Ark may have mistakenly believed the Tenth Doctor was a pre-war incarnation, if they did know the War Doctor was the Doctor then perhaps he does appear in the info-stamp but after the Tenth Doctor.

• Everyone in London saw a giant CyberKing walking through the city. Would this not have re-written history?

Time is in Flux, and some events are able to change - nothing major was changed as the attack didn't last long.

RTD offers the possibility in the podcast that after Torchwood was established, it cleaned up all references.

This fact is brought up by the Doctor in TV: Flesh and Stone, so might better be considered an element of foreshadowing rather than a continuity error.

The 'crack' mentioned throughout the fifth series, seems like it may have something to do with it.

It was stated that the crack was responsible for the erasure of the Cyberking from history, although this doesn't necessarily square with the admittedly debatably canonical Captain Jack's Monster Files episode about the Cybermen. The Doctor visits the present day and future after the Next Doctor and history doesn't seemed to have been dramatically changed. While it is possible the events of the Crack were at work as early as before the Tenth Doctor's regeneration, the events of the Big Bang 2 might have restored the Cyberking. What's more it is entirely possible that, like the Slitheen ship which crashed into Big Ben in Aliens of London, the entire incident was attributed to a hoax. Recall that the events of Aliens of London were broadcast throughout the world using modern media outlets and this was nevertheless attributed to a hoax. The appearance of a Cyberking on Christmas day in the Victorian era when such media outlets did not exist; combined with the unlikely ability of people of that era to possibly comprehend what they were seeing (Whereas the public masses of the year 2006 were not aware of extraterrestrial life; the notion of it existing was not an impossibility. After all, science fiction, fantasy and events such as those of Roswell have long accustomed humanity to the idea if not certainty that extraterrestrial life exists.) could lead to witnesses or reporters dismissing what they saw as mass hysteria, drunkenness (it was Christmas), a mass hallucination or something like this. The damage would likely have been blamed on a fire or a riot or something. As I said before modern media outlets did not exist then, no one outside of London (and even then they'd have to be within a certain radius of the Cyberking) would have seen or possibly even heard the Cyberking. Thus its existence would have been questioned by those who were not eyewitnesses. Even if eyewitnesses reported the truth as accurately as possible (given how there can be multiple versions of the truth even in this day and age) the story would have been so outlandish that the mass public would be unlikely to believe it. We also must consider the less than reliable journalism of the day. Finally any further records, or witnesses of the event would likely have been hushed up by Torchwood after they were created over 2 decades later; by which time the story would likely have been forgotten or otherwise quietened down. Torchwood could have had an easy job of removing any further records in to maintain public order.

• In Age of Steel, behind the Cybus badge was the heart of steel, not an info-stamp port.

They could have had them added after Canary Wharf.

• How could a Cybershade, a part Cyberman-part animal drag two men up the side of a building?

It's likely that the Cybershades are cybernetically enhanced; the cloak they wear could conceal a lighter and more agile exoskeleton than that of the Cybermen.

• Surely it would have made sense to use the CyberKing during the battle of Canary Wharf?

It was far less likely for the development of a CyberKing to go unnoticed in the 21st century.

• Why are people having a Christmas feast in the middle of the night on Christmas morning, especially considering the city is still recovering from the CyberKing's assault?

Because it's Christmas and because they're celebrating the CyberKing's defeat.

• Why would the Cybermen want to convert the brain of an animal to make a Cybershade when the thought process behind a Cyberman is to make everything exactly the same as them?

The Cybermen do not want to make everything exactly the same as them. They want to upgrade humanity to Cybermen, but perhaps found a need to diversify with a different type of life form.

• What did Jackson Lake's Doctor think he could do to the Cybershade at the beginning of the episode, with his 'Sonic screwdriver'?

He thought he was the Doctor. So he thought his 'Sonic Screwdriver' would be able to do something. Evidently not, but Jackson was very confused.

• In Doomsday the Cybermen were shown to have updated themselves with wrist-mounted lasers, yet they only resort to electrocuting the participants of the funeral with their hands.

The lasers may take a lot more energy than the electricity needed to kill a human, and the Cybermen are low on energy.

• If there was no CyberKing in The Age of Steel, Doomsday and Made of Steel how does the Doctor know about it?

The Doctor states that CyberKings were the front line of Cybermen (Mondasian) invasions, so the Doctor connected the dots and made an assumption.

• Why do the Cybermen want to delete the workforce after they have done their work when they are not hostile and can be sent to be upgraded.

They may have viewed children as weak and incompatible for upgrading. The upgrading equipment may only have been designed for adults.

• How did the CyberKing rise up from/get built in the Thames? It is enormous, far higher than any of the buildings anywhere nearby, and the river isn't even close to being that deep. Somehow the Cybermen and their children slaves dug a CyberKing sized hole and built a massive lift for it too? Wouldn't that have taken a really long time and been very hard to hide?

The hole may have been bigger on the inside. If the Daleks stole Time Lord technology, then who says the Cybermen didn't find the Genesis Ark in the void and adapt it?

Or the CyberKing could have been folded up, its knees flexed at 180°, etc. much like the Zygon ship in the Thames in one of the novels. (In fact, given the time periods of the two stories, they might have even got the idea from the Zygons.)

• Before the opening credits the Jackson Lake Doctor says of the Cybershade "that's new" suggesting he has never seen one before but straight after them he says he has been hunting it for two weeks.

Lake might have meant its strength as it managed to break through a strong metal door.

In his hunting it's quite possible he hadn't had the opportunity to sight it yet.

• Why is there a Cyber Leader with part-black face, and yet the Cyber Leader from the Battle of Canary Wharf only had black handle bars?

That wasn't a Cyber-Leader, it was a "Cyber-Lord", so it's probably a different rank of leader.

• Why did the Doctor chase after the CyberKing in a primitive balloony TARDIS instead if his real TARDIS?

It's possible his TARDIS was parked too far away to reach it quickly enough.

That's not really a discontinuity, the Doctor wanted to fly it as I'm sure he said he hadn't flown one of them before.

• Why did the Doctor speculate that Jackson might not be his next incarnation, but instead one after that? By this point he only has 1 regeneration left (Because of the War Doctor and the Meta-Crisis Doctor), so he could not be anything but the very next one, as this is before he was given a new regeneration cycle.

Just an idea, but maybe he didn't know that yet? I mean, there'a chance he wasn't sure if the 8-War regeneration really counted because it was granted by the Karn Sisters. He could think the elixir simply gave him an additional regeneration, some additional special energy so he could regenerate when normally he wouldn't be able to, and choose who to become while normally he can't. He could simply assume he hadn't spent much energy of his own on that and there's plenty left. And, another idea, he could believe so until the very 'Let's Kill Hitler' where he wants to regenerate but the TARDIS says regeneration is impossible. Then we thought that's because of the certain kind of poison, but the theory sort of fits in, if I'm not mistaken. After dealing with Teselecta he could think about those words again and check his energy somehow, so after that he knew he was the last one. And he was the one and only person who knew, so he had to fake regeneration as Teselecta at the lake.

As said above, he simply may not have known this. With it being so recent since the meta-crisis regeneration, the Doctor may have forgot (seeing as all it did was heal him) or may not have realised it used up a full regeneration.

I swear something like that is mentioned at some point in Journey's End. The Tenth Doctor ultimately had no clue that his Meta-Crisis used up a full regeneration. He just assumed he canceled the process since his face didn't change.

• Why would the Cybermen craft an intricate deal with a specific human like Mercy Hartigan, especially when they weren't planning to be faithful, considering the risk involved? Wouldn't it have been much easier to fit her with earpods to ensure her compliance and be done with it?

Maybe she found them when they fell from the void and they decided to forge an “alliance” (especially considering her resource of children the Cybermen used).