Theory:Doctor Who television discontinuity and plot holes/The Pandorica Opens

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This page is for discussing the ways in which The Pandorica Opens 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:

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* This is point two.
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::Further discussion and query of point two.

... and so on. 

• 5145 is not in the 51st century. (It is in the 52nd.)

River meets Liz 10 in 5145. Liz 10 is clearly old, as Sophie Okonedo's hair was greyed in her appearance, but since The Beast Below was said to take place in the 29th century, the passing of around 2,300 years would make her around 2,600 years old (she was said to be 300 previously).

• While scanning Stonehenge, how did River Song miss the Cyberman head?

The head was shown to be able to move.

There is an image on the BBC website for this episode that shows River holding up the Cyberman head in front of the Doctor and Amy. This suggests she did find the head, but it was cut from the episode.

• How is the Cyberman able to function without a head inside his "helmet"?

The Doctor explained that it was the robotics taking over to find a new head, it is likely that the cybernetic suits are given some form of self-preserving AI when they are created.

• How is a Roman Gladius able to penetrate a Cyberman's armour when 21st century firearms cannot?

It was very rusty and already very damaged.

It was not Roman but Auton in nature, so it may have had greater strength

It's actually shown in there previous apperances that they do.

• If the trap involving Romans, Pandorica and Stonehenge was built from Amy Ponds memories, why are there pieces of Cyberman scattered around?

They were guarding the place from the Cybermens point of view, the trap was organised by the alliance and the Cybermen were acting as sentry.

But why was the one, rusty and nearly-destroyed Cyberman needed if the place was already guarded by the Auton-Romans?

• How can there be a photo of Rory with Amy in the present if he was erased from time?

The Doctor explained that certain things still lived on. He even mentioned a face in a photograph.

• Why were the Judoon among the Doctor's enemies?

They all teamed up because they believed that the doctor was going to destroy the universe, so it doesn't matter if they like him or not, they all want him gone so that they can and everyone else can survive.

But surely not all these species are needed to form an alliance? Some might not even have tiome travel technology. In fact, why don't the Daleks disintegrate the Doctor instead of imprisoning him. They do not even need such an elaborate trap.

If you watch every doctor who story that has ever featured the daleks, they never just shoot him, and reason is that by this point they must of cottoned on to the fact, if the enemy trys to kill the doctor, he always wins, it might be from a plan, from a trick or its just luck, but he alwas wins. The only times that the bad guy gets close to winning is when they don't try and kill, but instead trap him somewhere, of course always gets out, but they get close to winning, and pressumably they have relised this, so thats why lock him in an unescaperble box.

• Can't the species make their own trap instead of using Amy's memories. They have conquered galaxies, they can make their own stupid trap.

Yes, but if you watch previous storys the doctor always breaks out of there trap, so properly they didn't want to risk it,

Either that or perhaps they couldn't decide on one

• Whose love is it "that lasts a thousand years"? If it's talking about Amy and Rory, they're two thousand years away from Rory's "death", and in the wrong direction.

It is not of Rory and Amy's love but the Doctor and River because even though River won't live a thousand years, she time travels along with the Doctor (separately) and they meet up in the wrong order and it could have been hundreds of years since the doctor last saw River but it could be four weeks since she saw the Doctor.

• Despite what she said in DW: The Time of Angels, when River pilots the TARDIS here it does make the dematerialization sound.

River says, "Doctor, there's something wrong with the TARDIS, like something else is controling it." So she may not have caused it to make the dematerialization sound. But in this episode, she also says the Doctor taught her how to fly the TARDIS which directly contradicts her statement in DW: The Time of Angels. So it's also possible she learned the incorrect way from the Doctor and sometime later, she "had lessons from the very best."

In The Time of Angels, it was pretty clear to me that River was just teasing the Doctor, and had in fact learned from him.

The River Song you see in The Pandorica Opens has not yet been to the Byzantium, meaning she has not yet learned to properly pilot the TARDIS.

• Why are the Weevils, Uvodni and Blowfish against the Doctor, they have never met him so why do they have anything against him?

He probably encountered them in off-screen adventures. Also they may not nescessarily be his enemies, they like the Judoon may merely want to stop him destroying the Universe.

• I don't like the way the production error is wrtten, it doesnt make sense to me and also if it means the armless and headless suit is casting a shadow of 2 arms then this is impossible as an amputee wore the cybersuit so a shadow cannot of been cast by this cyberman.

It was shown in the Confidential that the amputee couldn't shoot all the scenes shown so they decided to use green screen to remove the arm at the same time they removed the head, therefore, shadow.

• The Doctor says the cliff-face with Hello Sweetie written on it was made of diamond, however the cliff-face was brown and mud-like.

It could be a different type of diamond.

• River Song was imprisoned in Stormcage before the crash of the Byzantium (from her point of view), so if she had killed the Doctor this would of had to occurred before the Pandorica Opens from her point of view, meaning she can't of killed him, because she was already in prison.
• At the very end of the episode, everything in space fades away quickly followed slowly by the Earth. How is the Earth visible if the stars have all gone? There should be no light, so we would not see anything at all.

Artistic/dramatic license?

• The Silurians are listed as having a ship by River Song when they are UNDER the earth and never actually left.

These Silurians could come from a time period where they are a Space-faring race, possibly as a result of friendship with humanity after their reawakening in 3020.

She doesn't mention the Silurians in that list. They just show up at the end presumably coming from beneath the earth.