Theory:SJA television discontinuity and plot holes/The Empty Planet

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.

• Rani acts as though Gavin is so much younger than she is. He can't be that much younger than her?

Rani and Clyde are around 17. Gavin states he is 13 in Part 2. It would be perfectly normal for her to act the way she does.

• Clyde can't leave Earth because he was grounded by the Judoon. However in SJA: Death of the Doctor, Clyde did infact leave Earth.

The Robots left him there legally. The Doctor does not adhere to legal rules, especially when it affects the course of history itself.

There is nothing physically preventing him. The law says he can't leave Earth - that doesn't mean he actually can't. It just means he will be punished if he is caught doing so. In this story, the Robots just chose to leave him on Earth to avoid getting into trouble. The Doctor on the other hand, ignored it.

• Why does Mr Smith not work once everyone has been removed from Earth?

Mr Smith is actually a sapient crystal called a Xylok encased in the computer interface. The Automatons removed every sapient organism on Earth as legally possible via the warp-shunt, which included Mr Smith.