Theory:Doctor Who television discontinuity and plot holes/Terminus

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This page is for discussing the ways in which Terminus 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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• If the Doctor is correct that Terminus created the universe while time traveling, then the entire universe is a predestination paradox.

That's the point. Doctor Who is full of predestination paradoxes, so it isn't an error.

• As the Doctor points out, the engines of Terminus must be incredibly powerful to move a ship that size through time. The builders of Terminus must have known that an emergency necessitating a fuel dump was possible for them to build in systems to handle the process. It sounds as if the only reason that the first explosion didn't destroy the universe is that, at the time it happened, there was no universe to destroy. Did the builders of Terminus not realize that they had built engines so powerful that a catastrophic failure - something any engineer should take into account - could threaten the entire universe?

It's possible that the original builders had a whole string of failsafes to prevent accidentally destroying the universe, but, because of the tampering by Terminus Inc. (possibly including explicitly overriding a bunch of safety features they didn't understand), or the fact that nobody around knew how to use the systems properly, they didn't come into play.

• Olvir appears completely oblivious to the gigantic Garm and Nyssa's screams at the start of episode four, even as it occurs about a meter from where he's standing. He doesn't even look at the Garm as it walks away.

Olvir's clearly in shock and unable to react properly. Despite his posturing, he's not quite as used to these dangerous situations as he makes out.

• Did Tegan really stop the space liner's launch just by pounding on the ship's console as if it were an old TV?

The ship seems to think that it is under attack, and needs to abort the launch to avoid damages.

It is possible that the launch was actually aborted by Turlough opening the door between the ship and the TARDIS, which is shown as having occurred while the abort announcement continues.

• The origin of the Terminus station is left a little unclear. What was its original function? How did its original pilot/owners and their ability to travel in time get forgotten? How did it come into the possession of Termius Inc?

It originally belonged to some alien race. It's pilot was killed in the way postulated by the Doctor. It was found floating in space as a derelict and salvaged by Terminus Inc., and partially adapted for their needs. They then installed the Garm and the Vanir, without bothering to make a full check of the interior due to the radiation levels in the forbidden zone, and because they didn't really care what happened to the Lazars.

• How does Turlough's tampering with the electronics on board the transport ship at the climax of episode three, lead to the triggering of the automated fuel-dumping proceedure within the Terminus control room, in the forbidden zone?

It doesn't. It is just a coincidence that the two events occur simultaneously.

• What happens to Kari and Olvir at the end of the story? We last see them destroying Terminus's control cables to ensure it no longer poses a threat to the Universe, and then having to work out how to get home. They just disappear from the narrative with no explanation as to their fate.

Goodness only knows! It seems Steve Gallagher forgot all about them towards the end. Presumably, as Kari and Olvir couldn't go back to their old lives as space pirates, they decided to go straight and stay on Terminus to work alongside Nyssa, the Garm and the Vanir in helping the Lazars.

• A major plot point is that Nyssa gets infected with Lazar's disease just by being on Terminus, yet Tegan has an infected put their hand in her mouth and she never seems to get so much as a cough.

Terminus (TV story) is set in the far future. We don't know how far into the future, but it seems likely from the cultures, technology, and apparent lack of central governance over the Company concerned, that it is far enough advanced to be after the Great Break Out in 5000 AD, at least. We also do not know what Lazar's Disease actually is- it may potentially be some infection to which Tegan, and other twentieth century humans, have immunity, an immunity which has been lost over the intervening centuries and millennia, as with Dodo's cold in The Ark (TV story), or, indeed, never possessed in the first place by the alien Nyssa of Traken.