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

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This page is for discussing the ways in which Evolution 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.

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 a counter-argument to point one.
:::This is a counter-argument to the counter-argument above
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• The lift takes a lot longer to bring the pig slaves up the tower, than it did to bring the Doctor.

The Pigs are a lot heavier than the Doctor, and the lifts in 1931 were not as powerful as today's.

• Why do the Daleks not kill the Doctor after revealing that the Human Daleks will be full Dalek?

Emergency Temporal Shift drain most of the Daleks power source. Maybe they didn't have enough power to exterminate him.

That's not true, because they were capable of launching an attack on Hooverville and didn't show any signs of weakening. Also they killed Dalek Sec and some of the Dalek-Humans with ease as well.

There are actually fan theories (whether or not they are actually true is unknown) that the Daleks can't kill the Doctor; he was there when they were first created and was thus a part of their early history, so they are prevented from exterminating him.

• The Doctor chastises the Daleks for exterminating Dalek Sec, but he makes no attempt to save him when the Daleks first turn on their leader.

It was revealed in a deleted scene that the Doctor considers it ironic that Dalek Sec faced the same cruelty and merciless punishment that he endured when he was a Dalek. Also, there was very little the Doctor could do in that situation anyway.

• Why did Dalek Caan flee rather than kill the Doctor?

Perhaps he was building up power to make the Temporal Shift and exterminating the Doctor would use up needed power. Also it has been stated in the past that the Daleks fear the Doctor, so maybe Caan was just being smart in escaping rather than continuing to face down the one person that he's afraid of.

Or maybe Caan came up with the idea to save Davros from death.

• Lazlo refers to the elevator as the lift, though he is an American.

Martha is British and as such he could have picked up the word from her, the same as the Doctor saying "Allons-y!".

• Dalek Caan's voice changes from a deep voice to a voice like Dalek Sec's.

Nick Briggs, who voices the Daleks, said in one of David Tennant's video diaries that he originally gave Dalek Caan a deep voice because he didn't think that Dalek Caan would have a particularly large part in the show, and then said he was going to gradually raise the pitch as Caan took control, as a way of showing that he is slowly going insane with power. After he returns to the Time War to save Davros, his voice is of a higher pitch after he lost his mind.

• Dalek Sec was a Dalek, and Diagoras was not a very pleasant person, so why is their combined form so enlightened and wonderful?

Diagoras is still a human, and subscribes to a Human morality rather than a Dalek fascist mentality. Humans have the capacity to grow, develop and evolve. Daleks do not.

• When Martha, Frank and Tallulah are going to the top floor of the Empire State Building in the lift the sign behind them reads "in case of fire do not use lift." In America it would say "in case of fire do not use elevator".

The TARDIS may have translated American English into UK English.

A British person could have created the sign.

• How does the Doctor survive the massive electric shock?

The Doctor has survived electric shocks before, in Genesis of the Daleks, Terror of the Zygons, World War Three, The Christmas Invasion and The Pandorica Opens, due to his Gallifreyan physiology, he even says that he can survive more electricity than humans in World War Three.

• Towards the end, Dalek Caan remotely kills all of the Dalek Human Hybrids in mere seconds, so why didn't he do that when they first turned on Jast and Thay, before his fellow Daleks were blown up?

It is possible that he didn't think the Hybrids were a threat to a proper Dalek.

It is possible he did not know until they were destroyed.

• The Human-Dalek, regarded by Dalek Sec as an urgently needed way for the Dalek race to survive, has one massive flaw lacked by both Daleks and Humans - his brain is exposed.

That is not necessarily his brain. The flesh around the brain could have simply been shaped around the brain.

The only ones which would have exposed brains were the Cult of Skaro. The rest of the Human Daleks would be Human in form and Dalek in DNA and mind.

• When the Daleks attacked Hooverville a Dalek fired off a shot and caused an explosion but moments later there is another explosion but without another explosion but there was no laser.

A fire caused by a previous explosion could have set a light to a gas canister or petrol container.

• When Tallulah looks out to see the view from the empire State Building, the Empire State Building is clearly visible in front of her.

That's the Chrysler building.

• How did the Daleks get to the theatre so quickly, in like under a minute, after the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to tell them where he was, and it showed them all in the laboratory? If they had Dalek Sec (hybrid) they couldn't fly or anything, so how?

The Daleks could of had teleports.