Theory:Doctor Who television discontinuity and plot holes/Day of the Daleks

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This page is for discussing the ways in which Day of the Daleks doesn't fit well with other DWU narratives. You can also talk about the plot holes that render its own, internal narrative confusing.

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• The Doctor speaks of Napoleon Bonaparte, as though he were a good friend, or at the least, a friendly acquaintance. Would he be friends with a tyrannical dictator?

He is only joking around to cheer Jo up and lighten the mood.

In any case, the fact that the Doctor was on first-name terms with Chairman Mao (mentioned in "The Mind of Evil") suggests a former lack of principle concerning the ruthless politics of his social circle. One could easily imagine the adventurous and superior-minded First Doctor, prior to his better acquaintance with human beings (through his relationships with Ian and Barbara), having been quite content to socialise with the most notable (and cruel) figures of Earth history.

In Revolution Man, the Doctor talks about how Mao has changed since his idealistic youth, and says something like, 'I could try talking to him, but he probably wouldn't listen to me now'.

Sounds like we're inferring quite a bit from a casual, off-hand remark. The Doctor name-drops all the time, so how close he was with Napoleon is unknown. The fact that he called him by a flip nickname doesn't mean that he was close to him. He tends to do that with a lot of people.

A few things to remember: History is written by the victors, and may have been unduly harsh about Napoleon. Who universe history may differ from ours. Finally, we don't know when the Doctor met Napoleon; people can change.

Napoleon was a relatively complex and deeply charismatic figure. For all his massive ego, he did a considerable amount of good (emancipation of the Jews, for one thing) and is hardly in the same league as Hitler and Nero (not that Nero gets a particularly fair portrayal in "Doctor Who" ...).

Come to that, Richard the Lionheart was scarcely the stainless hero of courtly romance (the Butcher of Acre would be more apt), and God alone knows how the Doctor and Henry VIII ended up hurling parsons' noses at each other. At any rate, when your favourite planet is Earth and you want to explore the most interesting aspects of its history, it pays to be able to turn on the diplomacy when fate steers you in the way of some of humanity's more "colourful" notables. At least the Doctor and Susan never played mixed doubles with the Goerings, as far as we know...

The Doctor may have met him whilst in exile.

• There are only three Dalek props, not an issue...until it comes to the main action scenes.

The Daleks likely have a small garrison on Earth with the bulk of the Dalek force concentrating on conquering the rest of the universe, so the Daleks need the help of Ogrons to fight their battles.

At any rate, there's no plot discontinuity here. The TV episodes are a representation of what actually happened, not a documentary. Otherwise, the fact that they were Dalek props rather than actual Daleks would be a discontinuity.

• During the scene at UNIT HQ, when the Brigadier is speaking to his female subordinate about the canteen being closed, the plainly audible sound of the alert going off can be heard for several seconds before anyone acknowledges it.

The Brigadier either didn't notice for a few seconds or was simply finishing his train of thought before acknowledging it.

The alarm was a radio notice, not a local alert, and the brig did only take about 3 steps before turning back to the radio room. Judging by the condition of his uniform and his need for coffee it has been a long night and his reaction is naturally a couple seconds slower than normal. The radio operator also looked like she was half asleep at the beginning of the scene, slowing her reaction time as well.

• How can it be so easy for the future guerrillas to, a) approach the house unseen, and b) remain in the house undetected with hostages? Surely in preparation for a summit meeting of so many important international delegates, more stringent security and more thorough searches would have been implemented.

They proceed stealthily.

The guerrillas seem a far more formidable army than the ragtag resistance cell seen in The Dalek Invasion Of Earth; they have uniforms, bombs that actually can kill daleks, and spies in fairly high-ranking positions. Such an attack doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility.

• Why have the Daleks not re-instigated 'Operation Degravitate' (See The Dalek Invasion of Earth) during this alternate occupation of the Earth?

They either had no need of it in this timeline, or they did implement it and it simply does not come up in the story.

• The Doctor's success in preventing the global war which would pave the way for a Dalek invasion of the Earth seems something of an empty victory, since we have already seen in the series that the Daleks are destined to invade the Earth anyway in the 22nd century (See The Dalek Invasion of Earth).

In this story's alternate future timeline, the Daleks have already been occupying the planet for some time; probably since the late 20th/early 21st century. If the war had happened, the Daleks would have invaded Earth much earlier. So the Doctor is sparing the human race from decades of additional subjugation, which unlike the sequence of events portrayed in The Dalek Invasion of Earth may not have ended with the Daleks being defeated.

• How can the Daleks in this story have any knowledge of the First and Second Doctors? They come from an alternate timeline in which Earth was devastated by global wars in the late 20th century, meaning that all the past stories in which the Doctor encountered the Daleks could not have happened. Remember, "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" took place in the year 2164, and the Daleks then did not know who the Doctor was.

The events in The Dalek Invasion of Earth took place around 2174, ten years after the Dalek's 2164 invasion. The Day of the Daleks starts in then contemporary 1972. The Doctor says to Jo that they were transported into the future by "200 years to be precise" meaning the year 2172, two years before the First Doctor meets the Daleks. THEORY: Having being driven off Earth by the First Doctor and crew, and after encountering the Second Doctor, the Daleks decide to create an alternet timeline making their invasion of Earth more successful. By changing the events of the past the Daleks were able to invade sooner and exploit more of the Earth's resources. Also with the knowledge of their defeat in 2174 they could avoid it. Thus, instead of using Robomen which the Doctor and crew could reprogram to turn against the Daleks, they used Ogrons which, as the Controller noted, are known for their loyalty.

Evil of the Daleks, with the Second Doctor, took place well before these events (1800s and 1960s). Clearly, the Daleks could know of him. They knew of the events of the "other" invasion of Earth, so clearly they could know the First Doctor from there. They also had encountered the First Doctor during the events of The Chase and The Daleks' Masterplan, which involved a fair amount of time travel.

• The Unit search of Auderly house for the Doctor, Jo and the other men is pretty pathetic if they don't even bother looking in the cellar.

They may not have the complete plans.

It may be a secret place for Sir Reginald Styles to hide his wine and cheese.

This makes sense. I would not want Daleks, Ogrons or future rebels stealing my cheese or wine. Who would? Hmmm. I see the rebels and Ogrons taking cheese and wine. Daleks.... Zero. It be funny if someone presume this, and the gold one makes comments on Daleks not taking cheese or wine with obvious annoyance before shooting the man for wasting their time when they were searching for the Doctor, Jo, and the representatives.

• How come Jo neglect to attack the Controller and scold him? He lied to her and used her. Any sane person mighta react to this with anger. And cried over betraying their friends.