Theory:Doctor Who television discontinuity and plot holes/Invasion of the Dinosaurs

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This page is for discussing the ways in which Invasion of the Dinosaurs 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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• When Sarah says the dinosaurs died out millions of years ago the Doctor replied "63 million years ago to be precise." How is that precise?!

Saying '63 million' is more precise than just saying 'millions'.

• The dinosaurs don't 'roar' they just say "roar!".

Since no human has in reality ever heard a dinosaur roar, it would be difficult to say what they truly did or did not sound like.

• If a t-rex did fall over like in episode 3, it would never be able to get back up, and when it does it seems to float.

Strong abdominal and side muscles could hypothetically account for the movement. Also, this was before it was known that T-Rex didn't stand upright with its tail dragging.

Nobody knows what a dinosaur actually looks like, let alone how it would "get up".

• Why send all the dinosaurs when the other humans on board the spaceship are going to a time afterwards?

The dinosaurs were to get people out of London so that they would not be protected from the time change.

• London has been evacuated effectively for sometime before the Doctor and Sarah arrive. What is taking Whitaker so long to begin the final phase of his operation?

It takes time for the energy/equipment to build itself up for such a huge time-field to be generated.

• Also, how would they generate a time-field big enough for the Earth and even if they did, they would have to alter the whole universe as well.

No, it is only London that will be inside the field and hence taken back in time to start again on an Earth of the past. Although this does raise the question of how Whitaker and the others were planning to explain to the 'astronauts' what all the buildings and other London landmarks are doing on their strange new world!

Actually, it's only some of London and the spaceship.

• Dinosaurs may be tough, but bullet-proof is pushing the boundaries of plausibility.

Dinosaurs have incredibly thick skin (as recorded in the fossil record), which allows to take many hits. It's not bullet-proof, just able to take a lot of tthem.

Also, most bullets are designed to shoot humans and animals which are both much smaller and more thin-skinned than most dinosaurs were.

• The inaccuracies concerning the dinosaurs are legion. To be fair though the prevailing idea about dinosaurs at the time of production was that they were sluggish cold-blooded creatures. The T-rex has three fingers on its arms instead of two. But here again, it was not known for a certainty that T-rex had two fingers until quite recently.

In 2007, a Tyrannosaurus rex was unearthed with three fingers on each hand.

• It is painfully obvious that the dinosaurs are just toys.

This is a production issue, not a continuity one. The television shows we see are dramatisations, not documentaries.

Yellow screen was in its infancy, and the budget for the show was very small compared to current standards.

Basically, you're supposed to just politely suspend disbelief and assume that the models are actually "real" dinosaurs. (This is, admittedly, somewhat easier said than done in this case.)

• If the group creating the dinosaurs are so concerned about the Doctor trapping a dinosaur - why not just stop bringing dinosaurs? They've already got London cleared.

They want it to stay cleared. If they stop bringing dinosaurs, the emergency will be deemed to be over and people will start to return.

• There are some incredibly quick cross London journeys - particularly Yates (who manages to get from UNIT to the other base in a few minutes - several times.)

Completely evacuating a city would have the side-effect of clearing the roads, so Yates can take the most direct route very quickly.

It also means that speed limits become more of a suggestion than a necessity, especially if you are part of the forces attempting to resolve an emergency situation. If the roads are empty and you have the freedom to travel at top speed wherever you go, even London becomes quite quick to navigate. To illustrate, the distance between Kensington and Chelsea Town Hall to Tower Bridge is about 10 km. According to Google Maps, it would take about half an hour to get from one to the other by car under normal circumstances, but that's because there's usually lots of traffic on the roads, and all the things that traffic suggests (red lights, traffic jams, accidents, pedestrian crossings, etc.). However, if the roads are all completely empty and you're able to travel at speeds of upwards of 100km with no stops and no worries about crashing into another car or hitting a random pedestrian, you can make it in about ten minutes.

This is also simply a result of editing/storytelling convention. We don't necessarily see the entire journey in grinding accuracy, we just see the "highlights", so to speak, to establish that the character is travelling from one place to another and the circumstances under which they are travelling. We're not necessarily meant to assume that the the time we see, say, Yates travelling is the only literal time he spend travelling, it's just enough to give us the idea that he's travelling across London and that London is deserted / filled with dinosaurs at the time.

• In episode 6 when there are supposed to be lots of dinosaurs about, characters seem to be able to travel with no difficulty.

No traffic!

• When Sarah returns to the "spaceship" in episode 6 she tells Mark that they are "somewhere" under London. (She even stresses the word "somewhere".) This seems odd as she knows exactly where they are.

There are many corridors. It could be like a maze.

She could also just be speaking a bit imprecisely out of a sense of urgency.

• When the doctor and Sarah arrive in the wrong place - why not just try again?

See below.

It's specifically because that simply how the Doctor works. If there's a problem, hefixes it. How do you not know this?

Also, because "the wrong place" is just across town in this case. Why use a complex space-time vehicle to get where you're going when it's easier just to catch a bus and send someone to pick up the complex space-time vehicle later? They're just assuming it's a quiet weekend in London, not that armed soldiers and dinosaurs are wandering around.

• Why not use the tardis instead of vehicles during the story itself? (particularly in episode 6 where the doctor is racing to get to the base as quickly as possible)

The TARDIS isn't an accurate travel device. This isn't RTD/Moffat Doctor Who.

This is one of those phases in the machine's history where it is particularly poor at managing "these short hops".

Also, why use the TARDIS when a car will do the job just as well, a car is closer, a car is easier, and there's no urgent need to? It would be a bit like building a railway line to take you to the house next door; sure, it might get you there a bit quicker, but it's a lot more fuss and a lot more complicated than just walking there.

• Why did Sarah scream on the T-Rex waking up when she's brave, and also smarter than the primitve?