Theory:Doctor Who television discontinuity and plot holes/Turn Left

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This page is for discussing the ways in which Turn Left 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.
  • If Donna never appears inside the TARDIS in The Runaway Bride, what draws The Doctor's attention to The Racnoss?
Russell T Davies states in the Confidential episode that another temp presumably got dosed.
  • If the Doctor met another temp, why did he die? Would not the other temp have fulfilled Donna's role and saved the Doctor's life?
Not necessarily. Donna is a very confident person, if the other temp was more submissive or shy, she may have accepted the Doctor's way of dealing with a problem she didn't understand, or may not have even have been with him at the moment he needed "stopping".
Since when is the Doctor so useless he needs stopping? The Doctor has been in far worse situations than this in the past. Donna didn't even save his life in "The Runaway Bride", not the way the Doctor has been saved in other stories like "Smith and Jones", "Rose" and "The Ark in Space". Though the Doctor has come close to death, it has never been because he is so vicious and reckless.
Thee Doctor is out of control at the end of The Runaway Bride, when he floods the pit to kill the Racnoss. The room was flooding, and fires were burning around him, but he didn't notice/care (bear in mind this took place shortly after he had lost Rose, and so wouldn't be feeling at his best). It isn't until Donna shouts "Doctor! You can stop now!" that he comes to his senses and escapes before being killed.
  • If Rose has been appearing in that reality since Christmas then she should logically have been doing the same in our universe, there's no reason why she shouldn't that has nothing do with Donna. Why hasn't she found the Doctor throughout the whole of series 3? Furthermore why wasn't she around in "Last of the Time Lords" during the year that never was? She could have been a big help to martha with her technology from the other universe, even if she couldn't it's not like rose to just give up and she would know who martha was considering martha was meant to be a legend in the year that never was. If rose could find the doctor in donna's world on christmas day she should have been able to in our world the time lines were the same at that point, why didn't rose go to torchwood or unit throughout the whole of series 3 and 4. For instance if she had gone to unit during series 4 when martha who had a phone that could summon the doctor to earth was there why didn't she go introduce herself to martha get her to phone the doctor then warn him about the darkness several months before it happened, when he would have had a better chance of stopping it.
  • Why aren't there cybermen ruling the Eartg, there would have been no doctor to stop them in the next world [if in Donna's world Rose is still able to cross reality's then the cybermen would still be able to end up in victorian england] there should also be daleks since the doctor would be dead and unable to stop the cult of skaro in Manhattan in the 1930's. Though it could be argued that the Trickster stops catastrophies he might stop these invasions [final experiment cyber king] however is the trickster really a match for either the daleks or the cybermen he seemingly cant stop them when the darkness is coming in Donna's world, and furthermore if he was able to defeat them wouldn't he stop the cult in the thirties in such a way that they would all die and therefore there would be no Caan going back in time to rescue Davros [it would be very unlikely that only caan would have survived again] hence no reality bomb.
This was written out of time by the Time Cracks.
Even if the Trickster stopped the Cult of Skaro in the 30s, the Reality Bomb was detonated in another universe (the main continuity) and spread to every universe. The Trickster couldn't prevent it from happening if it were in another universe.
The bomb was stopped in the main reality. Also Donna's world is the main reality, with its history changed if it was some different world were there was no reality bomb then donna would not have to go back and change it so that she met the doctor.
Also the cyberking wouldn't be written out as the time cracks would never have happened in this reality due to the doctor having died before the Tardis was blown up.
Why would the Trickster (or his Brigade, for that matter) stop the cult of Skaro/Pyroviles conquering Earth, when they allow the Titanic to crash, the Sontarans to invade, the humans to be turned into Adipose, the MRI machine to irradiate the entire Earth, etc all of them events just as bad (particularly the Sonataran invasion), if not worse, than the cult of Skaro trying to revive the Daleks/Pyrovile invasion?
  • Donna lives in Chiswick in West London. Presumably, the job with Jival Choudhury is also in Chiswick, as Sylvia says at the beginning of the episode that "it'll only take a minute" to turn right and see him. The Thames Barrier is on the other side of town 13 miles away in the Docklands area of East London. When Donna sees the web she follows it on foot, so how does she get from Chiswick to the Thames Barrier?
No indication is given where she started from (i.e., what pub they were at), nor where she ended up (i.e., where UNIT recovered the Doctor's body).
  • If Mr Saxon never existed in this timeline, how was the Racnoss ship shot down?
Presumabley someone else gave the order.
Could have been Torchwood.
  • In Voyage of the Damned, it's stated that everyone except the Queen and Wilf have left London, so why is everybody dead when the Titanic hits the earth?
Possibly because they've not gone far away enough to avoid the blast/radiation etc. Roughly how many nuclear bombs would an exploding nuclear storm be worth?, Also, everyone leaving could have been influenced by the Master confirming aliens, which wouldn't have happened in this timeline, as Yana wouldn't have been reminded. OR it could just be that in this univerce, for whatever reason, the people of London decided not to leave.
  • The Doctor died in Donna's World, but he survived in the real world, so shouldn't he still be able to stop the reality bomb with the real Donna?
The parallel world was created "around" the real Donna---and there may also have been a parallel reality bomb. If the Trickster stops catastrophies that affect his plans wouldn't he stop the bomb Also where are the daleks. If the stars are supposed to be going out because of the reality bomb then in order for the bomb to work wouldnt the daleks have snatched the earth and thus Donna and Rose should be living under a Dalek ruled earth. There would be no reason for the Daleks not to use Earth as it is weaker now without the Doctor the Valiant, Torchwood Sarah Jane and Martha.
  • The stars were going out in the alternate reality, but would the Doctor be dead so he wouldn't have been able to stop the Final Experiment so it would have gone through and Dalek Caan wouldn't have gone and rescued Davros.
It was said in the main reality that the blast would spread to all realities. But the bomb was stopped in the main reality
  • The sound and shaking of the Royal Hope disappearing is heard before it actually vanished, whereas in Smith and Jones the sound was heard during the incident.
Different perception of the same incident.
  • How is it possible for the Doctor to die too quickly to regenerate?
In DW The End of Time (TV story) the Doctor states that regeneration is impossible if he dies before the process can start. A sudden death, perhaps an impact injury while being caught up in the flood, could have killed him in this instance. The only time the Doctor has been declared dead in a regeneration episode was in the 1996 TV movie, but his body functions may have been greatly slowed by the anesthesia.
The possibility of the Doctor dying forever is also necessary to maintain dramatic tension, otherwise the "Superman as God" dilemma arises. In recent years there have been several references to the possibility that the Doctor can die, without regenerating. For example, the Ninth Doctor expresses a fear of dying in DW: The Unquiet Dead.
  • The Doctor revealed that the Nuclear Storm drive would wipe out all life on Earth. This is incorrect as it only destroys London.
Someone on board the ship could have prevented it having such a bad effect - perhaps Astrid or Frame. This can possibly be proven by the fact that the Titanic pulls up in the news report. Although in real-life this is due to the fact that it was the same footage from The Voyage of the Damned, if taken from an in-universe perspective, someone might have tried to pull-up the Titanic, and although they ulitmately failed, it wasn't a direct impact, and so the effect were reduced. In The Voyage of the Damned, the Doctor could have been explaining what could happen in the worst-case senario, i.e. a full impact. It's also possible that the Doctor exaggerated or was mistaken. Or, in SJA: Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? it's established that the Trickster intervened during this time period to prevent world-ending catastrophes caused by his meddling; perhaps he did so in this case as well. Then wouldn't the Trickster make sure the bomb didn't happen as it would obviously compromise his plans.
  • Why would an emergency government, greatly limited in funds already, install the probably expensive ATMOS in all its vehicles?
The UK government doesn't install ATMOS nationally. That's why Britain is not as strongly affected by its activation. This is stated in dialogue.
  • Why is Captain Jack transported to Sontar?
For study, most likely. Invincibility would be a handy asset for Sontaran soldiers.
The beetle was part of the Trickster's brigade - perhaps the Trickster stopped those invasions. And once again, in his previous appearance it was established that the Trickster intervenes to prevent world-ending catastrophes caused by his meddling if the alternative would be more chaotic. This can apply to all post-Runaway Bride incidents directly caused by the Doctor, except for the Master trilogy, which is discussed below. Alternatively, for the Pyroviles, there planet was never taken in Donna's alternate reality, so they didn't crash to Earth.
  • What about the reality bomb though surely that would compromise his plans more than any other alien invasion and he would do something i.e. stop the bomb or put time back to its normal place.
This could be how Rose ended up in Donna's alternate reality. Remember she said "this is wrong, this is all wrong".
Same rationale as above; the Trickster likely intervened. Also, some of the events depicted in Series 1 of SJA may not have happened, or happened differently, due to the collapse of UK society and the destruction of London which is where most of the adventures took place.
  • Donna looks at the sky and the stars were disappearing. It is also revealed the same happened in Rose's universe. If the stars got destroyed, it would take many years at the speed of light for the people of Earth to begin seeing the stars disappearing, and the stars would disappear very very slowly over many many years. By that time Earth would be destroyed before anyone can see it coming. This also leads to a big plot hole in later episodes as to why Rose began to search for the Doctor.
Could The Darkness be something that destroys not only the stars but also (or conceivably even rather) the light as it travels to Earth? If the Reality bomb cancels out Atoms, as said in Journeys End, stars would be some of the first to go as their atoms are widespread, whereas Earths' are compact(stars are gas or plasma, and earth is solid and liquid.
The reality bomb works by canceling the electromagnetic field that holds atoms together. In other words, canceling photons. This would also eliminate all light (which is also photons).
  • It's established that (at least prior to the March of the Adipose) the UK is the only part of Earth in dire straits after the "Titanic" crash. Why, then, don't the Nobles, and their friends, simply leave the country?
It's established that some countries have closed their borders, so presumably others did the same. Also, it still takes money to travel, something the Nobles and friends do not have. And it's also established that restrictions on movement have been established, suggesting they couldn't leave if they wanted to.
  • It is stated in Journey's End that the Dimension Jump needs 30 minutes to recharge. But Rose used it at the start and the end of her second meeting with Donna, which only lasted under 5 minutes.
Rose didn't use a dimension jump, she used the machine UNIT used to send Donna back in time.
  • What about the Lazarus creature? After Smith and Jones the next 'present day' episode is The Lazarus Experiment. Surely the Lazarus creature would have attacked the people of London without the Doctor to stop him?
It would not have happened. The Lazarus Project formed part of a plan by Harold Saxon,, to trap the Doctor and Martha. With the Doctor dead, Professor Yana would not have reverted to the Master, and so Lazarus didn't get funding for his project.
  • It is never explained in this or either of the following episodes how Rose was able to manifest the Bad Wolf imagery.
(As stated in The Parting of the Ways, the words "Bad Wolf" had been scattered by Rose "throughout time" as a reminder of the connection between herself and the Doctor.
Then shouldn't Rose have known about the darkness since series 4 and tried to warn the Doctor sooner like say when the Cult of Skaro first arrived.
The Parting of the Ways, just before the regeneration, establishes that Rose forgot much about her experience as the Bad Wolf.
It's also possible, remembering that Rose had access to the TARDIS in the alternate timeline, that she somehow got it to communicate with the real-time TARDIS and have it project the imagery, perhaps as a fail-safe in case Donna was unable to remember the message.
  • In Donna's universe, the Adipose still came to Earth. In this universe, the Adipose breeding planet would not have been lost (not stolen by the Daleks) and they would have no reason to come to Earth.
The Adipose breeding planet could have been lost or rendered unusable by other means.
  • How did Sarah Jane, Luke, Maria and Clyde all die if Maria and Luke had not yet met Clyde? Also, presumably Maria had no contact with Sarah Jane and Luke between the defeat of the Bane and the attack by the Slitheen.
It's never specifically stated when in the timeline Maria meets Sarah Jane, though it's generally assumed that the events of Invasion of the Bane and Revenge of the Slitheen take place after the Battle of Canary Wharf, but before Saxon's election. This episode would seem to put them before Smith and Jones. Also, with the Doctor being dead, it's made clear that Sarah Jane took on a more proactive role, so events may have progressed differently.
  • How did the Sontarans put their ATMOS plot in motion if Martha was dead (She was used as a clone to infiltrate UNIT) and Britain (Where Luke Rattigan is from and the main ATMOS factory is located) was economically crippled?
The Sonatarans could just have easily set up their plans with another genius and clone in another MEDC.
  • Wouldn't the swarm from Planet of the Dead still come through the wormhole in London causing the whole world to be turned into a desert?
This timeline ends (i.e., UNIT sends Donna back in time) before the swarm arrived on Earth.
  • The police would have noted Donna's death and reported it to her family. At some point someone in the real world would have noticed that there are two Donnas, one of them dead.
Since she stopped herself turning right, she never would have walked in front of the car (basically a paradox). Even still it is not definite that the police could identify her since Donna was not missing at that time, therefore her body would most likely be put on an "unknown" list. Also there's a possibility UNIT or Torchwood or whomever Rose works for would have covered it up; Rose might have even taken Donna's body back to Pete's World for burial. Or the alternate Donna might have simply vanished.
  • Once Titanic hits, Donna, Sylvia and Wilf go outside to see the explosion, but however their clothes are different so they must have changed them but this would take a few minutes, by then the mushroom cloud would have vanished.
The Mushroom Cloud caused by a Nuclear Storm may take a while longer to dissipate than that of a Nuclear Bomb.
  • When the Titanic hits, The TV gets cut off then they feel the shockwave, why the delay?
Light travels faster than shockwaves. Television broadcasts are at the speed of light. Same reason you see lightning before you hear thunder.
  • In Voyage of the Damned, everyone in London went to the countryside at Christmas. When the Titanic crashed, the only people who would have still been there is the Queen. Why do they apparently stay in this episode when there is nothing has changed since the Doctor's death to make it so?
::Changes in time create different scenarios, though some things can be assumed or shown to have changed we do not know for sure what happens in this one. the people of London may have decided to stay out of a misguided attempt at defiance or some other reason. it is perfectly reasonable to assume that the time line being changed created a slight change in persona of the London people.
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